Need help selecting Farmington to Santa Fe route
 

I will be driving from Farmington to Santa Fe, and am trying to decide which southern route to take: Farmington---Chama---Santa Fe, which uses Highway 84; or Farmington---Bernadillo---Santa Fe, which uses Highway 550 (also known as Hwy.44). According to Mapquest, the Hwy.84 option takes a little longer to drive, but it may also be safer, because there seem to be more towns along the way, in case of problems with my rental car. (I once had a car breakdown while driving in an unpopulated area, and do not want to risk repeating the experience.)

I have these questions:

1) According to my AAA map, both of these driving options have long stretches that are completely unpopulated, with no towns. I have concerns about this. Is it true that the Bloomfield-to-Chama stretch is completely empty, with no towns along the way?

2) My same question applies to Bloomfield-to-Bernadillo Rt. 550, which my map shows as having only 2 small towns. Is this AAA map correct?

3) Do any of these routes require driving up or down mountains?

4) Is one route more scenic than the other?

ttt

I haven't travelled on either, but on US84, there are at least 5 towns between Bloomfield and Chama: Blanco, Gobernador, Dulce, Tumberton and Monero.

On US550 between Bloomfiled and Bernalillo, there are Blanco Trading Post, Nageezi, Counselor, Cuba and San Ysidro.

So, there is civilization along the way. I'll let others who know the area which is the "safer" route.

Thank you for the names of the towns.

If anyone has driven on Highway 44 (Rt. 550) I would appreciate it if you would let me know if it has any mountainous sections (steep grades).

I have the same question about Rt. 4, which goes west from Highway 44 towards Los Alamos.

What I really need to find is a good map, one that shows more about driving conditions. The AAA map I have is not very helpful.

Correction: I meant Rt.4 heading east.

joyce, where is your sense of adventure? all these roads are in very good condition, no mountain driving. you will have no problem, cars go by all the time since there are very few side roads. very friendly people out there.

the route through chama has nice views of mesas and the san juan mts. in colorado and sangre de christo mts. north of santa fe. also go by abiquiu and georgia o'keefe country, subject of her famous paintings.

highway 44 is fine, no mountains. a scenic drive, 128, branches off east from cuba to los alamos. it passes by jemez hot springs and valle grande, a stunning view of the center of a volcano, now grassland. beyond los alamos is bandelier national monument, site of many pueblo ruins.

if itson a weekend there is a giant flea market just north of santa fe on the right-hand side, next to the s.f. opera.

an outstanding map is "indian country guide map of az, co, nm, ut" by AAA. you can pick it up in any book or tourist store in the area.

i am a 72-year old gal from michigan and have traveled these roads alone the past 5 falls. wonderful country, you will love it!

Thanks for the information. I'll try to get the map you mentioned. Maybe it's an improvement over the one I have now.

joyce: i was incorrect on the route through jemez (haymez) springs and valle grande. it branches off south of cuba on highway 4 to the east. it is a good road, very scenic, some winding sections but no big dropoffs.

Of the two options you mentioned, I'd take the Chama route, just because it's prettier. The route to Bernalillo is a 4 lane highway. It has a few marginally winding roads, one steep grade around Cuba, and no dropoffs. It is pretty desolate in terms of surrounding towns, but is heavily travelled. I try to avoid all these roads at night, whenever possible, just because they are so desolate and I worry about deer and other animals on the road. (From Bernalillo to Santa Fe is interstate highway.)

You don't have to drive all the way down to Bernallillo, however. As seniormsuedu wrote, you can cut across from Cuba to just north of Santa Fe. This highway does have winding areas and probably some steep grades, but the surrounding mountains are lovely. I drove it in underpowered rental car without a problem.

Some of the towns mentioned by rkkwan are actually single building trading posts that are on the map because of local importance. As a woman, I would be comfortable driving any of these routes alone in the daytime, but not at night.