TMS Byway: Plans for the Future
The Trail of the Mountain Spirits Byway is a cherished part of the landscape in southwest New Mexico. We invite you to review our marketing and management plans and help us insure the Byway's future for coming generations to enjoy.
Byway Documents:
Byway Marketing Plan Corridor Management Plan
The Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway is located in mountainous southwestern New Mexico's Grant and Catron Counties in an area rich in scenic, historical, cultural, geological, natural, and archeological points of interest. Silver City is the "Gateway" to the Byway. Approximately one-half of the Byway's total area falls within the boundaries of the Gila National Forest, one of the nation's largest (approximately 3.3 million acres) and most scenic year-round recreation and natural areas. It contains more federal land than any other national forest outside Alaska.
Originally, the Byway was started as a Forest Service Byway in 1994. It was called the Gila Cliff Dwellings / Inner Loop Byway and became part of the State Byway Program in 1996. There were minimal improvements and no funding during this period. In response, a group of business owners and local tourism supporters formed an organization to support the Byway. The group worked closely with the State Byway Program to get funding to create a corridor management document. In 2000, the group applied for and received National Scenic Byway designation. The State Byway Program has 27 byways. Our byway is now one of eight federal byways in New Mexico and part of an elite group of federal byways stretching across the U.S. and included in "The National Geographic Guide to Byways."
The Byway was named "The Trail of the Mountain Spirits" to reflect the spirit of those who walked this way: the Apache and Mogollón peoples, the Salado Indians, and later, Spanish, Mexican and American explorers, soldiers and settlers. As one travels the Byway through the rugged mountains of the Gila National Forest, one can almost sense the presence of the spirit of these past peoples, as well as the spirit of the land itself.
The Trail of the Mountain Spirits Byway is a cherished part of the landscape in southwest New Mexico. We invite you to review our marketing and management plans and help us insure the Byway's future for coming generations to enjoy.
Byway Documents:
Byway Marketing Plan Corridor Management Plan
The Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway is located in mountainous southwestern New Mexico's Grant and Catron Counties in an area rich in scenic, historical, cultural, geological, natural, and archeological points of interest. Silver City is the "Gateway" to the Byway. Approximately one-half of the Byway's total area falls within the boundaries of the Gila National Forest, one of the nation's largest (approximately 3.3 million acres) and most scenic year-round recreation and natural areas. It contains more federal land than any other national forest outside Alaska.
Originally, the Byway was started as a Forest Service Byway in 1994. It was called the Gila Cliff Dwellings / Inner Loop Byway and became part of the State Byway Program in 1996. There were minimal improvements and no funding during this period. In response, a group of business owners and local tourism supporters formed an organization to support the Byway. The group worked closely with the State Byway Program to get funding to create a corridor management document. In 2000, the group applied for and received National Scenic Byway designation. The State Byway Program has 27 byways. Our byway is now one of eight federal byways in New Mexico and part of an elite group of federal byways stretching across the U.S. and included in "The National Geographic Guide to Byways."
The Byway was named "The Trail of the Mountain Spirits" to reflect the spirit of those who walked this way: the Apache and Mogollón peoples, the Salado Indians, and later, Spanish, Mexican and American explorers, soldiers and settlers. As one travels the Byway through the rugged mountains of the Gila National Forest, one can almost sense the presence of the spirit of these past peoples, as well as the spirit of the land itself.