Tijeras, New Mexico: Musical Road

This is the type of tourist attraction that you'd probably only discover by reading Roadside America's web site. A big thank you goes to that group for this.

Because, how else would you hear music coming from a road?

You have to follow the instructions exactly right. The area in question is on Historic Route 66 east of Albuquerque. Get off of Interstate 40 at Exit 170, and then go east for about 3.5 miles. You'll see a two-part sign. The first says "Go exactly 45 mph," and the second one is shown above.

Then you must drive on the rumble strip that is close to the white line while sticking to the 45 mph guideline. We missed the strip the first couple of times, and heard a little noise on the third. But we persisted, turning around again and again. On Try Number Four, we heard the final few bars to "America the Beautiful." It only works when going east.

The New Mexico Highway Department teamed up with National Geographic for this stunt, which was installed two years ago. This video is a good way to experience it; the author notes that the second strip used to play the Nationwide theme, but thankfully does not any more.



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