Continental Divide, New Mexico

The Continental Divide is crossed by Interstate 40 at a community called Continental Divide. Nowhere is the Continental Divide more celebrated, signified, and visited (intentionally or not), then here. The town of Continental Divide is located at exit 47 of Interstate 40, 47 miles from Arizona, 108 miles from Albuquerque, and between exit 44 (Coolidge) and exit 53 (Thoreau). Signs in the middle of the interstate mark the Divide at 7,275 feet. On the service road, it is marked with the usual terse state of New Mexico historic roadside sign, one on each side of the interstate. Over the years it has been called Campbell Pass, Gonzales, and Summit. But the local post office makes it official: this is Continental Divide, zip code 87312. Though the route was used by Indians, wagons, and emigrants, the trail was fixed when the railroad chose this low pass over the Divide for a line connecting Albuquerque to Southern California, in 1880. It remains one of the principal transcontinental routes for the BNSF. Starting in 1926 this was Route 66, and the remnants of the pre-interstate roadside abound. Two, and sometimes three, gift shops offer Indian souvenirs, as it is near the Navajo Nation, and Indian lands are checker-boarded around railroad land, state land, and forest land.