NM 549 largely follows the path of the old
US 80 built in late 1920-early 1930s. NM 549 begins at the junction with
I-10 Business (Business Loop 22) on the Deming's east side as a four-lane, divided highway, right across from the
Deming Municipal Airport. The road starts out by heading east for about before turning southeast, and intersecting
NM 377. The road travels through unincorporated residential area and passes by St Clair Winery at a 3-mile mark. Continuing southeast the road intersects
NM 143 at which point the highway is reduced to two lanes. The road slowly turns east, skirting the Little Florida Mountains from the north, and for the next traverses sparsely populated desert plains, passing by occasional agricultural fields, ranches and
BLM-owned land. Eventually NM 549 converges on
I-10 then passes by Arroyo Seco Motorplex and an interchange with I-10 near ghost town of
Akela. From this point, NM 549 continues following I-10 for approximately before reaching the railroad tracks of the
Union Pacific Railway. The highway turns sharply to the southeast and continues shadowing the railroad for the next until it makes another sharp turn to the northeast and crosses the adjacent tracks of the
Union Pacific Railway over a timber bridge, built in 1930, near the community of
Cambray. The highway continues travelling northeast through the arid desert for about before reaching its eastern terminus at the juncture with Frontage Road (FR 1028) on the south side of the
I-10 exit 116 interchange. ==History==