Kingston starts high, and this stage gives the elevation back step by step. The route follows NM 152 east out of the Black Range, first through tight bends, dry cuts and slopes above the road. Hillsboro comes early as a small mining-history town; after that the road opens and continues toward Caballo. The first 40 kilometres lose clear height, but not as one simple descent: short rises remain, and the landscape shifts from mountain flanks to lower desert and ranch country. After Caballo, the stage turns south. The character changes again: less mountain terrain, more valley floor, irrigation, fields and long straight sections. Hatch is a practical finish on the edge of the Rio Grande valley – small, agricultural and known for chile.
