The road to Sawmill Mountain in NM isn’t an easy one
Sawmill Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.153m (10,344ft) above the sea level, located in Taos County, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It’s one of the highest roads of New Mexico.
Set high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, within the Carson National Forest, the road to the summit is totally unpaved. It’s called Forest Road 597 (Sawmill Road). This road is usually closed from late October through late June or early July (depending on snow). It is not generally snow-free until late June or even July in some years.
Located north of Red River, the road runs entirely above 2.700m above the sea level. It’s 12.2km (7.6 miles) long, running east-west from Forest Road 54 to Forest Road 134. The drive is steep, hitting an 11% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps.