U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 60.

U.S. Route 60 (US 60) is an east–west United States Highway within New Mexico. It begins at the Arizona state line and continues east to the Texas state line.

U.S. Highway 60
US 60 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NMDOT
Length	366.982 mi[1] (590.600 km)
Existed	June 8, 1931[2]–present
History	Original route of US 70[2]
Major junctions
West end	US 60 at Arizona state line
Major intersections	I-25 / US 85 in Socorro NM 47 US 285 in Encino NM 3 in Encino US 54 in Vaughn US 84 in Fort Sumner US 70 in Clovis
East end	US 60 at Texas state line
Location
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
Counties	Catron, Socorro, Torrance, Guadalupe, De Baca, Roosevelt, Curry
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided New Mexico State Highway System Interstate US State Scenic
← NM 59 → NM 61

Route description

US 60 enters New Mexico in Catron County east of Springerville, Arizona. The road makes an arc through Catron County, with the apex at Quemado, avoiding Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and Escondido Mountain. East of Pie Town, the road crosses the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,796 feet (2,376 m).^[3]

US 60 eastbound at the junction with NM 603 in Pie Town

Between the divide and Datil, US 60 cuts through Cibola National Forest and the Datil Mountains. In Datil, US 60 serves as the eastern terminus of New Mexico State Road 12 (NM 12).

East of Datil, US 60 traverses the northern end of the Plains of San Augustin, then crosses the county line into Socorro County. The road bisects the Very Large Array complex and a track used in rearranging the antennas that make up the Array crosses the highway. Some 36 miles (58 km) into the county,^[4] the highway passes through Magdalena.

US 60 looking west, west of Socorro

It then enters the county seat of Socorro, where it meets Interstate 25 (I-25). US 60 heads north, running concurrently with the Interstate.

US 60 splits from I-25 near Bernardo, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Socorro. Most of the route of US 60 from Abo Canyon to the Texas line parallels the Southern Transcon of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It turns back eastward, rising through Abo Pass at the southern end of the Manzano Mountains before crossing into Torrance County and passing through Mountainair, where it intersects NM 55. After passing through Willard, it sets out across the Pedernal Hills. In Encino, it begins a concurrency with US 285. Just after crossing into Guadalupe County, US 54 joins the concurrency. The three highways pass through Vaughn and then go their separate ways; US 285 heads southeast towards the direction of Roswell, US 54 heads northeast towards both Santa Rosa and I-40, and US 60 heads east towards Clovis.

US 54, US 60 and US 285 in Vaughn.

US 60 angles southeast toward Yeso, entering De Baca County en route. Curving back towards the east, the road enters Fort Sumner, the county seat, 21 miles (34 km) later.^[4] Just west of town, it serves as the northern terminus of NM 20, and in Fort Sumner proper, it overlaps US 84, which will persist until just before the Texas border. East of town the two highways encounter NM 212, a spur to Fort Sumner State Monument, and NM 252 in Taiban.

US 60/US 84 passes through Tolar near the De Baca–Roosevelt county line. The two routes do not stay in Roosevelt County for long, however, proceeding into Curry County west of Melrose. The highways pass through Melrose, St. Vrain, and Grier before widening out to a four-lane highway as they approach Clovis, the Curry County seat. In Clovis, the home of Cannon Air Force Base, the highways meet up with US 70, which joins the concurrency. The three highways proceed through Texico, and just before the Texas state line, US 60 leaves the concurrency and heads northeast while US 70/US 84 continues eastward.

For the distance of more than 300 miles (480 km) between Abo Pass and Amarillo, the highway parallels the Southern Transcon, one of the busiest transcontinental railroads in the west.^{[citation needed]}

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[5]	km	Destinations	Notes
Catron	​	0.000	0.000	US 60 west – Springerville	Continuation in Arizona
	​			NM 601
	Quemado			NM 32
		34.5	55.5	NM 36
	Pie Town	55.5	89.3	NM 603
	Datil	77.0	123.9	NM 12
Socorro	​	92.4	148.7	NM 52
	Magdalena			NM 169
				NM 107
	Socorro	138.7	223.2	I-25 BL
				I-25 south (US 85 south)	Western end of I-25/US 85 concurrency
	Escondida			NM 408
	​	165.1	265.7	I-25 north (US 85 north)	Eastern end of I-25/US 85 concurrency
	​			NM 116
	​			NM 304
	​	182.5	293.7	NM 47
Torrance	​	194.4	312.9	NM 513
	Mountainair	204.2	328.6	NM 55
	​			NM 41
	Willard	218	351	NM 42
	Encino			US 285 north	Western end of US 285 concurrency
		253.1	407.3	NM 3
Guadalupe	Vaughn			US 54 west	Western end of US 54 concurrency
				US 285 south	Eastern end of US 285 concurrency
				US 54 east	Eastern end of US 54 concurrency
De Baca	Fort Sumner			NM 20
		327.0	526.3	US 84 west	Western end of US 84 concurrency
				NM 272
	​			NM 212
	Taiban	340.7	548.3	NM 294
		341.5	549.6	NM 252
	Tolar			Old NM 86
Roosevelt	No major junctions
Curry	Melrose	362.9	584.0	NM 268
		363.9	585.6	NM 267
	​	367.9	592.1	NM 224
	Clovis	380.8	612.8	NM 311
		383.9	617.8	NM 467
		388	624	US 70 / NM 209 north	Western end of US 70 concurrency; southern terminus of NM 209
	Texico	396.3	637.8	NM 108 north
		396.6	638.3	NM 348
		396.7	638.4	US 70 / US 84 east	Eastern end of US 70/US 84 concurrency
	​	396.8	638.6	US 60 east – Hereford	Continuation into Texas
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Template:Attached KML/U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico

KML is from Wikidata

1. "Posted Route–Legal Description" (PDF). New Mexico Department of Transportation. March 16, 2010. p. 20. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
2. Weingroff, Richard (June 18, 2003). "U.S. Route 666: "Beast of a Highway"?". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
3. "Ride the Divide, New Mexico".
4. Rand McNally (2008). "New Mexico" (Map). The Road Atlas (2008 Large Scale ed.). Chicago: Rand McNally. p. 130.^{[full citation needed]}
5. "TIMS Road Segments by Posted Route/Point with AADT Info; US, USX-Routes" (PDF). New Mexico Department of Transportation. April 3, 2013. pp. 5–7. Retrieved October 20, 2018.

U.S. Route 60
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