Four National Parks can be accessed on the highway,
Grand Canyon National Park,
Petrified Forest National Park,
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and
Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It also passes through the
San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountains in Arizona.
Arizona In
Flagstaff, US 180 is
concurrent with
Interstate 40 Business and historic
U.S. Route 66 for a short distance through the city. US 180 joins the former routing of Route 66 in the center of Flagstaff and follows the roadway to where it merges with
Interstate 40 east of the city. From the western terminus of the overlap, the intersection with eastbound
Interstate 40 is two miles (3 km) to the east, and the intersection with westbound
Interstate 40 and with
Interstate 17 is three miles (5 km) to the southwest. US 180 shares numbering with
Interstate 40 from
Flagstaff, Arizona, to
Holbrook, Arizona. At
Holbrook, US 180 follows
Interstate 40 Business along South Navajo Boulevard. Shortly after following South Navajo Boulevard, however, US 180 follows a south-southeast route, running by the
Petrified Forest National Park and continuing South-Southeast to and through a small branch of the
Zuni Indian Reservation, to
St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona where it meets
U.S. Route 191. After meeting up with US 191, US 180 continues south to the town of
Springerville, Arizona, where the routes meet
U.S. Route 60 the 3 routes begin a triple concurrency through Springerville. On the east side of Springerville US 60 leaves the concurrency and US 180 and US 191 head south through
Eagar, Arizona where the two routes enter the
Apache National Forest and finally split at the town of
Alpine, Arizona, roughly 6 miles from the Arizona-New Mexico border.
New Mexico/West Texas (El Paso area) After entering
New Mexico from just east of
Alpine, Arizona, US 180 continues south until
Silver City, New Mexico. From Silver City, US 180 travels just east for roughly 7 miles, meeting up with
New Mexico State Road 90,
New Mexico State Road 15, and
New Mexico State Road 152. US 180 now travels southeast for roughly to
Deming, New Mexico, where it meets up with
Interstate 10. From Deming, US 180 follows
Interstate 10 through
Las Cruces, New Mexico, and enters
Texas at
Anthony, New Mexico. The route is concurrent with Interstate 10 through the west and central portions of
El Paso, Texas, and separates from I-10 at Paisano Drive, joining
U.S. Route 62. US 62/180 is concurrent with Montana Avenue in East Central El Paso (after the intersection with Paisano Drive), and continues to be called Montana Avenue until it reaches RM 2775 (Hueco Tanks Road). US 62/180 then travels east, going past the spur
RM 2775 (which goes north to
Hueco Tanks) through the southern end of the
Guadalupe Mountains National Park (90 miles east of El Paso), and past the southern face of
Guadalupe Peak (the highest point in Texas) towards
New Mexico and
Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Continuing though
Carlsbad, New Mexico, US 180 and US 62 travels toward
Texas running through
Hobbs, New Mexico, and exiting New Mexico just east of Hobbs. US 180 used to be a two-lane highway until around 2008 but is now a divided highway in the entire state with a speed limit of 70 mph for most of the length.
Texas After re-entering Texas from just east of Hobbs, New Mexico, US 180 splits from US 62 at
Seminole, Texas. US 180 continues eastward running through the towns of:
Lamesa,
Gail,
Snyder,
Roby,
Anson,
Albany, and
Breckenridge. For the last portion of its length, the road runs through the scenic
Palo Pinto Mountains, exiting them at
Metcalf Gap. Towns in this final portion include
Palo Pinto,
Mineral Wells and
Cool. US 180 comes into contact with
Interstate 20 just east of
Weatherford, Texas, and ends in
Hudson Oaks, Texas. In Texas, US 180 intersects
U.S. Highway 385,
U.S. Highway 87,
U.S. Highway 84,
U.S. Highway 83,
U.S. Highway 277,
U.S. Highway 283,
U.S. Highway 183,
U.S. Highway 281, and
Interstate 20. The speed limit is 75 mph in Hudspeth and Culberson counties except through Guadalupe Pass. beginning just over 1/2 mile east of mile marker 52 to the state line at FM 652. ==History==