The Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway
Johnson Mesa to Folsom

The Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway is a scenic back road in northeastern New Mexico that traverses high mesas and wide canyons, along the way showcasing a lot of what makes New Mexico the Land of Enchantment. In driving this scenic byway myself, I was surprised at the diversity of landscapes that I passed through (and I've only driven about 3/4 of the byway).

The top of Johnson Mesa is pretty flat: there's a few small hills and a few low spots but seeing as how the mesa top exists because of a thick layer of volcanic lava, I guess it should be pretty flat. I was also surprised by all the grass (and it's really good, thick grass) and so few trees.

Johnson Mesa is large with very little population on it. There are the remnants of old ranches but today's population density is very low. The photo to the left lists some of the families involved in the construction of the St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church (built in 1896). I don't know if there's this many people now living on Johnson Mesa, although I did see this many men involved in driving cattle along the road heading for summer pastures.

It's a beautiful drive across the mesa with regular glimpses of the rock walls that rim the mesa and views into some of the water-carved canyons that lead downwards to the drier landscape below. It's a very pastoral setting with only a very few buildings of any sort in sight.

Arrival at the eastern end of the mesa is heralded by the approach of trees. The road heads down into a tree-lined canyon through the lava rock walls and then levels out before hitting the T-intersection at the edge of Folsom.