Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway

County Road 42 arcs around the west edge of El Malpais National Monument past thirty-odd cinder cones on the Continental Divide. Sandy two-track with rocky lava stretches, badly rutted after rain and impassable wet. No water, no fuel, no services. Fill up in Grants and carry everything. Dispersed camping along the byway on BLM/NM state land; the CDT crosses the road twice. Pair with the paved SR 117 side (La Ventana arch, sandstone bluffs) for a full El Malpais loop. Best in spring and fall; summer is exposed and hot.