State Road 264 (NM 264) is a
state highway in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
. The highway extends from the
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
state line at
Tse Bonito, where the road continues west as
Arizona State Route 264
State Route 264 (SR 264) is a state highway in northeastern Arizona, that runs from a junction with US 160 near Tuba City to the New Mexico state line at Window Rock, where the highway continues as New Mexico State Road 264 (NM 264).
Ro ...
(AZ 264), east to
U.S. Route 491 (US 491) at
Yah-ta-hey. NM 264 connects the
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
capital of
Window Rock
Window Rock ( nv, , ) is a census-designated place that serves as the seat of government and capital of the Navajo Nation, the largest territory in North America of a sovereign Native American nation. The capital lies within the boundaries of the ...
immediately west of the state line with US 491 north of
Gallup in western
McKinley County.
Route description
NM 264 begins at the Arizona–New Mexico state line just northwest of the
unincorporated village of Tse Bonito. The highway continues west as AZ 264 into Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation. NM 264 begins within the main body of the Navajo Nation but heads southeast out of the
Native American reservation
An Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a federally recognized Tribe (Native American), Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not ...
and passes through Tse Bonito. The highway is four lanes, either divided or with a center turn lane, for its entire length, and it passes through an area of
checkerboard land ownership in which alternating
sections
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
of land have Navajo and non-Navajo ownership. NM 264 passes to the north of
Rock Springs, and the route passes through the village of Yah-ta-hey immediately before it reaches its eastern terminus at a
trumpet interchange
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...
with US 491. The interchange primarily serves the movement between NM 264 and US 491 south toward Gallup, although the U.S. Highway is entirely four lanes from Gallup north to
Shiprock
Shiprock ( nv, , "rock with wings" or "winged rock") is a monadnock rising nearly above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. Its peak elevation is above sea level. It is about southwest ...
.
Junction list
References
{{reflist
0264
Transportation in McKinley County, New Mexico