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By Root 719 0

referred to as T or C, Truth or Consequences is a kooky little high-desert oasis on the banks of the Rio Grande. It was called Hot Springs until the 1950s, when the town changed its name to that of the era’s most popular radio game show, Truth or Consequences, in a tourism gimmick. More than half a century later, the stunt has paid off. The town has gained a reputation as the place for arty-holistic types to move to and drop out – the geothermal energy is said to be comparable to that found at Sedona’s vortexes. Crystal shops, herbalists’ offices, yoga studios, eclectic art galleries and off-the-wall boutiques clutter the shabby-chic main drag. They are the offerings of the spiritual seekers, healers, writers and painters who came here to find their vision, but need to earn their bread and butter at the same time. After paying the well-respected Geronimo Springs Museum a quick visit – get the scoop on the name change and info about the byway – hit the road. Oh, and don’t worry that you haven’t properly explored T or C, you’ll be back.

Head north out of T or C on the I-25 frontage road heading west into the Cuchillo Mountains. Turn left onto Hwy 52 and get ready to explore the ghosts of centuries past. The road winds over the mountain tops and through scrub-oak desert to the eccentric former mining town of Winston, named in honor of a former shopkeeper who gave out generous lines of credit at his store after the silver market crashed in 1893 and prospectors lost everything. Today the town is little more than an array of old wood buildings fronting a wide meadow. It’s home to just a few residents. A few miles further up the road is Chloride, which went bust just 20-years after it boomed in 1879. It’s even more ghostlike than Winston. About the only thing left to see is the “hanging tree.” Standing on Wall St in the center of town, this 200-year-old tree was used to hang criminals during the 19th century.

Backtrack to T or C for the night. Native Americans, including Geronimo, have bathed in the area’s mineral-laden hot springs for centuries now, and you should too. Long said to boast therapeutic properties, the waters range in temperature from 98°F to 115°F and have a pH of 7 (neutral). Most of T or C’s hotels and motels have hot mineral pools. The swankiest place to sleep and soak is the masterfully renovated 1920s-era Sierra Grande Lodge & Spa. Rooms are relaxing, and the holistic spa serves everything from Reiki to massage on its menu. Grab dinner from Los Arcos. The 1960s-era steakhouse is as posh as T or C gets, and serves delicious freshly caught local fish with its New York strips and tenderloins. If you’ve still got energy after dinner, head to popular local watering hole the Pine Knot Bar. There is live Mexican music and dancing, and all the usual cocktails.

South of T or C, Hwy 152 heads west, following the austere cactus and mesquite desert of the Rio Grande Valley before winding through piñon and juniper forests, then climbing in a slow, serpentine series of hairpin turns up New Mexico’s most rugged chain of mountains, the densely forested Black Range, where many a bloody battle between the United States military and Native American warriors went down.

Hillsboro is 17 miles west on Hwy 152, and the first in a series of almost ghost towns stretching between T or C and Silver City. Precious ore, including gold, silver and copper, was discovered in these mountains in the mid-1800s, and by the 1880s the white man had wrested the last remaining land from Geronimo’s people and set mining camps up all along what is now Hwy 152. The boom didn’t last long, and when the silver market crashed in 1893 so did most of these towns. Today they are in various stages of revival (or decay). Hillsboro is one of the larger remaining towns, although with a population of just 330 it’s hardly big. The residents who do still call the pretty mountain village home make their living farming or catering to tourists on the ghost-town trail – there are a few galleries and shops open on the old-fashioned main street. Hillsboro