New Mexico North - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 490

transport miners to Colorado's bountiful lodes, but today it carries tourists to ogle such
sights as the shimmering aspens.
If you prefer to drive, State Rte. 17 more or less parallels the part of the train's route
that stretches between Chama and Cumbres Pass.
6. Brazos Cliffs
FromthelittletownofTierraAmarilla,tuckedinavalleybesidetheslopesoftheSanJuan
Mountains, Rte. 64 curls upward past aspen-fringed lakes, fields of buttercups, and graz-
ing cattle. The road crests at an elevation of over 10,500 feet, where turnouts and picnic
spots along the ridge afford splendid views of the Brazos Cliffs. A part-time waterfall, the
product of melting snow in spring and thunderstorms in summer, spills down the face of
the cliffs. From here the drive breezes east through Carson National Forest. Its 1.5 million
acres of aspen, fir, and spruce—punctuated by sunny fields and murmuring streams—are a
paradise forbackpackers andanglers.Amongtherecreational areasthatentice motorists to
the forest is Hopewell Lake, set in a lovely mountain meadow.