BLM Land - Las Cruces NM

Let’s talk BLM land in Las Cruces NM.

A few weeks ago on another The Great American Crawl we were wheeling public BLM land in Las Cruces NM. It was a fantastic trip with no shortage of pretty rad obstscles.

Admittedly I did not get out with any of the moderate groups but my understanding from those that did is that there is plenty there for easier wheeling. The more intense harder stuff, there is definitely no shortage of.

It’s ummmm… warm there. Yeah, we’ll go with that because saying it’s hotter than blazes doesn’t begin to describe it. But it is a very dry heat in comparison to what we see in the Midwest so it honestly wasn’t horrible but I’d still recommend an early or late year visit as opposed to mid summer.

There are numerous spots to drop into BLM land and wheel. We only visited 2 spots, each with more than enough trails & obstscles to keep you busy for a few days.

We stayed in what I would consider central Las Cruces. Depending on where you’re leaving from you’ll either take 44 across Oklahoma then Texas into New Mexico or 70 into Kansas then 35 into NM both routes will dump you onto 70 in MN which dead ends into hwy 25. Las Cruces is at 70 & 25 with lots of hotel options and its a typical large town with plenty of grocery, parts stores, food choices etc.

While we personally did not experience any problems , a local LEO did approach us while parking our trucks and trailers at Walmart behind our hotel and said he’d recommend we secure items in / on our jeeps and trailers and lock them in the trucks. Again, none of us had any issues at all with spares, powertanks, pop ups, coolers, etc that were left on our trailers but the warning was out there.

The BLM drop ins all offered large parking lots with plenty of trailer parking. Friday we shot down hwy 25 a good ways to the first stop. The hotel is at mm3 , we drove to mm51. You will pass through a CBP inspection station on this route. We were all waived right through, but definitely make sure you’ve got your ID and everything in order in the event you’re flagged for inspection. Fuel on 25 between the hotel area and wheeling exit is scarce so be sure to fill tow rigs and jeeps before heading that way. Day 2 we stayed closer to town and hit a blm drop that was only about 15 minutes from the hotel. Again, there are numerous drop in points so if you make the trip and have time, definitely do some exploring.

The terrain includes some pretty awesome views of the Rio Grande and surroundings area when on top of the canyons. Tons of very large rock formations and shelves make for lots of challenging obstscles. ( pics are from Habanero Falls ) From my experience there, I did not notice many instances of bypasses around extreme obstacles, so different skill levels will want to plan accordingly and be prepared to winch smaller rigs through some spots if running harder trails.

There are not facilities at drop in points so hit the restroom in town and pack some TP / wipes for while out. Load coolers with plenty of water for the day especially if going in summer. There are also lots of campground options for folks taking that route. Everything from blm land if you want to run a generator or go primitve to full hookups at private campgrounds.

Overall a solid 9/10 from me and I hope to get back when I’ve got time to cover more ground. The locals clubs and folks were very friendly and eager to help / get out with visitors to show them around.