US-180: Silver City to Glenwood

US 180 leaves Silver City and heads northwest through Cliff to Glenwood, following the Gila and San Francisco river valleys along the edge of Gila National Forest. The bends are steady and easy and the traffic light. The Mogollon Mountains lie west of the Gila River and east of the San Francisco River, and the highway runs alongside the San Francisco River.

Glenwood, a community of about 300 on the San Francisco River, is the end of the drive: it sits about 65 miles from Silver City and 39 miles south of Reserve. The area is ringed by national forest and known for hiking, fishing, birding and dark night skies.

In Glenwood, NM 174 turns east to the Catwalk, a trail in Whitewater Canyon built along the route of an old pipe that once carried water to an ore processing plant. The Civilian Conservation Corps rebuilt it as a recreation site for the Gila National Forest.