La Bajada Hill

La Bajada Hill is Spanish for "the descent". This hill was possibly the most difficult segment of road on the famous route 66 and struck fear into the hearts of road-weary travelers. The route is most likely thousands of years old.

The road was first built by enlarging an old Indian trail in 1598 and was originally part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Royal Road to the Lands of the Interior. It ranks as the oldest European built highway in the United States.

The long history of the trail is chronicled on the rocks along the route. Basalt boulders were etched by pueblo artists with deer, lizards, and birds, as well as symbols such as spirals.

La Bajada Hill represents a key change in New Mexico landscape. It separates two regions the Spanish colonial world called the Rio Abajo (or down river) and Rio Arriba (or up river). These regions represent two individually distinct climates and ecologies.

Early pioneers braved the 500-foot ascent with their mule and oxen pulled wagons, doubling the animals to make the ascent. On the way down, ropes were tied to large boulders and dragged behind the wagons to act as breaks.

The route began receiving regular use until just after the civil war, when the United States military designed a new wagon road to make the task of climbing the hill easier.

As technology improved, automobile drivers were making the ascent by 1910. There are stories of Santa Feans who offered to drive the cars of terrified motorists down the narrow switchbacks, (in exchange for some monetary compensation of course).

The route bears the marks of these early motorists, with initials and dates etched along side the ancient pueblo pictographs.

It wasn’t until 1934 that the highway department moved the road to its present location, becoming part of Interstate 25. The old road is still accessible for mountain biking and hiking.