California is known for its Gold Rush, but New Mexico also had its mining fever. 

Lake Valley Back Country Byway delves deep into the heart of the mineral-rich Black Range Mountains. A drive through shady, tree-lined streets reveals many buildings from the late 1800s. Many places in New Mexico called ghost towns are actually now repopulated, but Lake Valley is the real thing. Its last residents moved to Deming in 1994. The byway continues east to Nutt, paralleling a spur line of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, built in 1884 to transport supplies into Lake Valley and ore out. In 1934, the tracks were removed but the grade is still visible.