Why this ride
692 km from Santa Fe to Gallup, about 9 h 35 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Historic Route 66: Santa Fe to Gallup
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 692 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 35
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Santa Fe
Route 66 used to go to Santa Fe, and then in 1937 it did not. The original alignment of the Mother Road ran over Glorieta Pass into the old Spanish capital of New Mexico, before dropping south to Albuquerque, and then engineers cut a straight line across the desert from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque, shaving about a hundred miles off the journey and leaving Santa Fe on a bypassed loop. The ride from Amarillo to Santa Fe follows that early route, and this is the end of it, in a city at about seven thousand feet in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Read the complete Santa Fe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Santa Fe is where the day begins. Next is Albuquerque.
2. Albuquerque
Albuquerque lies in the Rio Grande valley at about 1,500 metres, with the long wall of the Sandia Mountains standing to the east, and it is the biggest city in New Mexico. On Route 66 it holds a special place, because in 1937 the highway was straightened here, abandoning a long loop through Santa Fe and sending the road directly across the city along Central Avenue. The change shortened the journey by about a hundred miles and made Albuquerque a boomtown for motels, diners and neon, and a good deal of that survives.
Read the complete Albuquerque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Albuquerque comes up about 223 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gallup.
3. Gallup
Gallup is a long, thin town squeezed between red sandstone cliffs and the railroad tracks, on the old line of Route 66 in northwestern New Mexico. It sits at about 2,000 metres, with a dry, high-desert climate and a landscape of mesas and pale grassland, and it is known as the Indian Capital of the World, since it serves as a trading centre for the Navajo, Zuni and Hopi nations. Galleries and trading posts in town sell turquoise jewellery, woven rugs and pottery, and the quality of the work is high, though prices reflect that.
Read the complete Gallup write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 692 km.
Leg by leg
Santa Fe to Albuquerque
Santa Fe → Albuquerque is 223 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Albuquerque to Gallup
Albuquerque → Gallup is 469 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Casamero and Pierre's site (358 km) · 458 km
- Kin Nizhoni and Kin Ya'a · 217 km
- Casamero and Kin Bineola · 363 km