Hi
Seems to be lots of options getting to Red River from Austin. Anybody have suggestions on what route to take, or avoid?
Appreciate any advice-
IMHO, the most direct route:
Take US-183 from Austin to Early,
leave US-183 for US-84,
Take US-84 to Abilene & I-20
Leave I-20 in Sweetwater,
Take US-84 to Lubbock, Clovis, Santa Rosa and I-25 South of Las Vegas.
Take NM-518 from Las Vegas to Mora, NM.
Take NM-434 from Mora to US-64 N. of Angel Fire,
Take US-64 to Eagle Nest and NM-38,
Take NM-38 to Red River.
Longer, but maybe less PITA route:
(more service stations, better roads, etc.)
I-35 from Austin to Ft Worth & US-287,
Take US-287 thru Amarillo to Dumas & US-87,
Take US-87 to Clayton, NM,
at Clayton pick up US-56/US-412,
drive West to I-25 at Springer,
go North on I-25 a few miles to Exit 419,
take NM-58 West to Cimarron and US-64,
take US-64 to Eagle Nest,
Take NM-38 to Red River.
Coming from Austin, I would guess you're going to ski, because that's what Texans do up there. The route will somewhat be dictated by the weather. The roads do sometimes close, and it's often I-25 as it's below the mountains and is more affected by drifts.
I would personally suggest the route via Angel Fire. It's very, very pretty, particularly 434. That Taos/Eagle Nest/Questa circle is known as the "Enchanted Circle" for good reason.
I would not go through Fort Worth. You go a long way out of the way and there's still a lot of construction happening on I-35. There are plenty of services along US 183 and US 84, and they're mostly either 4 lanes or 2 lanes with alternating passing lanes.
There is a little shortcut around Abilene via Coleman that we always take