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Madrid, NM Pilgrimage

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If you're a "Longmire" fan, the bar/café they use for the "Red Pony" in the series is actually in Madrid.
 
Cool... did not know that. Heard there wasn't much to the whole town, but I gotta do it once. Plus riding to Taos and Coyote seem pretty fun on the map.
 
I used to live 15 miles out of Tierra Amarilla, NM on 64 towards Taos. That was back in the days when folks shot up the courthouse on horseback and escaped into the mountains. Honest. It was about bout 2.5 hours north from Madrid. Never been to Madrid but do love riding in NM. If it was not for very poor health care, and a overdose of crime, I'd probably move there again.
 
Madrid has a public radio station... https://kmrd.fm/about/
One of our station engineers in Marfa set that up a few years back. Maybe worth stopping in to say hi as they likely have the pulse on whats going on in town.
 
There are a couple of serious western movie set towns near there:

bonanzacreekranch.com

Home - Bonanza Creek Ranch

Bonanza Creek Ranch is an iconic film location nestled in the foothills of northern New Mexico. The ranch is spread out over several thousands of acres and features a large Western Town set, three separate homestead sets, one of which overlooks a natural pond, and Spanish Fort set, with a dugout...
bonanzacreekranch.com bonanzacreekranch.com

CERRO PELON RANCH | SANTA FE, USA | SILVERADO MOVIE TOWN

Cerro Pelon Ranch by architect Tadao Ando located southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Property sale is being handled by Kevin Bobolsky.
www.kevinbobolskygroup.com www.kevinbobolskygroup.com
 
Justified R.W.M.J. said:
Planning on riding out to Madrid... just to say I did it... looking at some roads around there... any input from anyone familiar with this part of new Mexico?
Click to expand...
When are you planning to ride this? The only reason I ask is that it's a bit "chilly" right now.

You'll be just south of Taos so if you jog to the east a little bit you'll hit the Vietnam Memorial at Angel Fire; one of the finest veteran museums in the entire country and well worth a visit whether you're a vet or not.
2013_107_Angel Fire_NM.JPG



Your route will take you past the Georgia O'Keeffe House Museum; south of that a few miles and looking to the west you can see the mesa that she constantly painted.
O'Keeffe Butte.jpg



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Time of year was a question i had... thanx for reminding me! looking at early-mid may this spring. Didn't want to see snow in the elevations...grew up in Northern Maine and lived in Indiana ten years after that... had enough of the white stuff to exceed my expectations.

this picture is from Indiana in the winter... crazy (Not me by the way). DUI's will make people do silly things.
snow.jpg
 

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Mid-May should be okay but be sure to check the weather as you're going to be in higher elevations than you're used to in Maine, Indiana or Texas, and snow is still a possibility. You're going to be a mile+ high throughout a lot of your loop. Got heated gear? If not, it's strongly advised.

Take your time and enjoy the beauty. Also, take your time and watch out for the deer and elk. I don't recommend leaving very early or riding very late in the afternoons; the elk in N Arizona and N New Mexico tend to be pretty big.

You're going to love 518.

NM Road conditions... https://www.nmroads.com/mapIndex.html It's been a few years but they were working on parts of 518 when I was there. Forewarned is forearmed.

Forest fires will begin ramping up as soon as the underbrush starts drying out and the tourons start hitting the campgrounds with the kids out of school, so watch the fire maps... https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/
 
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We loved Madrid. Left Madrid and did what I think they called High Road To Taos . Don't remember specific fm road # but local can tell you . We rode towards Chama and took right before we got to town and followed signs Beautiful.
 
Been all over north of that loop , 434 north to angle fire from Cleveland on 518 is a lot of fun lots of really fun dirt roads too . Used to camp in Cabristo canyon northeast of Questa for a couple weeks at a time . Last time was 2008 , atv s had pretty much destroyed it with their love for mud bogs .
 
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