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Tucumcari Mountain, New Mexico

Nature & parks
Near Tucumcari, New Mexico
2.6 mi from Route 66

Tucumcari Mountain is a mesa that rises just outside Tucumcari, NM, about 3 miles off the old road. Long before cars, it guided people across the plains: Puebloan peoples, Plains Indians and later Comancheros all used it as a landmark. Explorers and survey parties noted it in the late 1700s and 1800s. For Route 66 drivers it forms the backdrop to the town that shares its name.

What is Tucumcari Mountain?

Once called Tucumcari Peak or Mesa Tucumcari, the mountain is a flat-topped mesa. The origin of the name is uncertain. One theory ties it to a Comanche word, tukamukaru, meaning to wait for something to come near. A burial record from 1777 mentions a Comanche mother and child taken captive in a fight at a place called Cuchuncari, thought to be an early form of the name.

History of Tucumcari Mountain

Comanche people climbed the mesa as a lookout, scanning the land for game. In 1793 Pedro Vial referred to the mesa as he blazed a route linking Santa Fe with St. Louis. In 1849 an expedition under Captain Randolph B. Marcy passed by. Geologists argued over its age. Jules Marcou studied it in 1853 and called its rock layers Jurassic; Robert T. Hill, who came in 1887 and 1891, decided they were younger Cretaceous deposits.

Visiting Tucumcari Mountain: tips

The mesa is about 3 miles off the old road, and it is easiest to enjoy as a backdrop from town. The Blue Swallow Motel is about 2.8 miles away and the Arch Hurley Conservancy District Office Building about 3.3 miles.