Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Traveling from West TN to Raton NM

Tomorrow I'm spending the next 4 to 7 days going back and forth between West TN and Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron New Mexico to pick up my son. I'll be passing through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Any thoughts or suggestions on the trip would be appreciated.

Any "must see" places to visit? Any thoughts on routes, logistics, or places to spend the night? Mainly looking for local or historical sites I/we would regret not visiting.

Thanks in advance for any help -tnscouter

Well, it should be a good time to talk with your kid.
I would say to haul @$$ going west, going east try some "back road" or "two lane" where you swing off the freeway for a couple hundred miles. Take a really good detailed atlas with you, study it in the motel at night. Side trips are always worthwhile, even in boring places.

AC in tip top shape........?

hotter than the gates of hell out here !

The NRA Whittington Center is less than 30 miles from Philmont and worth the time.
Make sure that he gets plenty of souvenirs from the Tooth of Time Traders on the ranch.

Cowboy museum in OKC.


https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/

The OKC bombing memorial. I've seen the cowboy museum years ago and liked it. We stopped by the bombing memorial once after hours while passing through. Couldn't go in, but were able to walk around.

https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/

You can eat a free 72 oz steak in Amarillo. If you can eat it in an hour. If not I'm thinking it is about $72. To be honest there are better places to eat, but if you have time worth the stop.

https://www.bigtexan.com/72oz-steak-rules/

The Cadillac ranch is just west of Amarillo.

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220

It doesn't cost anything. Park and look. Feel free to bring spray paint and add to the graffiti.


You'll pass right by this volcano in NM. Drive to the top, walk down into the center.

https://www.npca.org/parks/capulin-...ApYjv4wIVBJ6fCh0trQ2xEAAYASAAEgL4ufD_BwE

Double post

Nothing between Memphis and Fort Smith worth stopping for. Usually from Memphis to Colorado, I don’t stop much to sight see. Maybe OK or TX have something good. I-40 gets rather boring. Stay safe and watch out for the orange cones.

Oklahoma City bombing museum
Mt Capulin in NE New Mexico

As mentioned before, enjoy your time with your son !

Drive up Rabbit Ear Mountain east of Raton!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Ears_(Clayton,_New_Mexico)

Drive up past the star over Raton and see the K-T boundary marked by the iridium line and the end of the dinosaurs.

capulin mt got some dino stuff pretty dang neat and my backyard the Wichita mts wildlife refuge.

NE New Mexico, Hwy 72, called the Johnson Mesa road between Folsum and Raton is a beautiful drive. There is a little museum in Folsum focused on the "Folsum Man" and is very interesting, if you're interested in dinosaurs and stuff.

OKC Bombing Memorial is very well done and would be worth your time. Same with the Western Heritage Center (Cowboy Hall of Fame).

The Elkin Hotel in Clayton, NM is pretty cool.

Get off I-40 in Elk City, OK and begin a NW approach to Raton through the TX panhandle. Hwy 64 from Clayton to Raton is where the Folsum Man museum and Capulin Volcano National Monument is located.

Buy some Hatch Chilis while you're in Raton. They will be roasting them in the parking lot of the local grocery store.

Go to the Stockman Cafe in Oklahoma City for any meal. It is a fantastic place to eat and not expensive either. I think it can also
be known as the Cattleman's Cafe.


https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...ds_City_Cafe-Oklahoma_City_Oklahoma.html

Oops. Forgot another place.

There is a pizza place in downtown Raton about 100 feet off the main street. Really good pizza and cold beer there. I think
the name is Bruno's or something close to that.

The Oasis has a great breakfast and lunch but has reportedly sold since we were last in Raton. Reviews are mixed now.

Best Western Plus in Raton is the best place to stay-also it has Mulligan`s, the best restaurant/bar in town.

I’d recommend all of those places except the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo. It’s a tourist trap and not a representation at all of what a really good TX mesquite grilled steak is like.

Also, the Volcano is definitely worth the drive to the top and they have a neat little museum and the cleanest nicest restrooms to take a dump in 🤠

Right down the road from the Volcano there’s a neat museum of very early Native American artifacts and the discovery sight of some of the earliest made arrow heads in N. America

Also, if your In Amarillo, your very close to Palo Dura Canyon
It’s the second largest canyon in the US and definitely worth the short drive from Amarillo
https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palo-duro-canyon

Also, you’ll be close to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument

https://www.nps.gov/alfl/index.htm

tnscouter,

The Washita Battlefield National Historic Site in Oklahoma is well worth a visit, or at least my wife and I thought so. It's where George Armstrong Custer thought he learned how to fight large camps of Plains Indians in 1868, which ultimately led to his death on the Little Bighorn in Montana eight years later.

Better yet is to visit both sites, but Montana is a long side-trip from your basic route.

The area between Clayton NM and Raton ushers in a GORGEOUS geographical transition. From barren brown plains to gorgeous green groomed looking meadows to Sierra Grande giving you a welcome to the Rockies to the snow covered peaks of the Sangres in the western sky. Capulin Volcano is close and elk are a common site at Sugarite SP.
The herds of Antelope I saw there a week and a half ago were huge. Take some binos and scope out some trophy bucks.

We always swing in and eat at the Big Texan in Amarillo TX on our way to Raton

Drive down to Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo. You can do a quick “driving tour” of the park and get a good look at the Canyon. Skip the Big Texan. It is a tourist trap. Coyote Bluff is a real “dive” hamburger place, right off I-40. Get the onion bun, and onion rings NOT fries. The Panhandle Plains Museum, on the campus of West Texas A&M, is cool, too. Huge natural history museum.

There’s a ton of really nice cabins in Angel Fire, NM. Just 30-45 mins from Philmont, and a nice place to stay if you’re resting before heading back.