05/20/2026
🚨New Community Route Alert 🚨
Matt Mason, creator of the popular Monumental Loop and Rollin & Tumblin bikepacking routes has created a new route in Southern New Mexico called Wayfaring Stranger.
Wayfaring Stranger utilizes quiet gravel roads providing access to a sparsely populated region with expansive views, solitude, archaeological sites, and a large intact Chihuahuan Desert grassland on Otero Mesa.
This route was born out of a collaboration with the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. As part of their work to protect vulnerable and cherished landscapes across NM, they’ve been leading a process to secure protection for the fragile and unique grasslands on Otero Mesa. They reached out to Matt to create a bikepacking route to raise awareness for the Mesa and the surrounding mountains. Wayfaring Stranger is a route born of our mutual desire to see Otero Mesa receive long term legal protection.
Visitors will see a variety of wildlife, archaeological sites, and experience a quiet remote area that feels a bit like traveling back in time. Night skies are extremely dark with only the faint glow of El Paso off to the west.
Don’t let the relatively smooth roads and lack of climbing lull you into a false sense of security! Wayfaring Stranger presents challenges via potential strong winds, lack of water and services, and extreme solitude.
With elevations ranging from 3,500 to nearly 7,000 feet, this route is best ridden during the shoulder seasons, with late September through November and March through April being ideal.
See more: https://bikepackingroots.org/project/wayfaring-stranger/
You can also explore all of our Community Routes, as well as the criteria for submitting your own route on our website.
