Home / States / New Mexico / Taos County
New Mexico
Mini trucks in Taos County, New Mexico
Kei trucks in New Mexico earn their keep on farms, ranches and private land.
Taos CountyNew Mexico
Can I own one here
Owning one in Taos County.
On your own land, yes
Owning a kei truck and working it on a ranch, a farm, a mine or private property does not depend on a road title. Some states still ask for a title or an off road registration.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use unclear. New Mexico has no kei truck law. The MVD's written procedure for a vehicle built for sale abroad asks for conformity to federal safety and emission standards and a NHTSA bond release letter, and it has no lane for a vehicle imported at 25 years under the federal age exemption.
A newer governed truck
Private land only. The two statutory OHV definitions disagree on a governed work truck, so no OHV title path is settled.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Taos County.
Roads open. Taos County opens its paved county roads to ROVs and ATVs and Questa and Red River open their streets, while the Town of Taos keeps its streets closed and stretches of NM 38 near Red River are reported open to side by sides.
In town Some
- Closed Taos. The town's code on eCode360 was searched for off-highway, all-terrain, off-road and UTV and opens no street, so paved streets stay closed to OHVs except to cross, NMSA 66-3-1011. town code as published on eCode360, no OHV act, read 28 October 2026
- Open Questa. All village streets are open to OHVs and ATVs except between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. State highways are closed except to cross at a village street. Ordinance No. 2016-147, effective 24 January 2017, read 28 October 2026
- Open Red River. Town streets are open to ROVs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a licensed driver of sixteen or more, single file, never on NM 38, Main Street, between Caribel Trail and Jayhawk Trail except to cross. ATVs are forbidden in town. Read on a town rules sheet, not the ordinance text. Town of Red River ROV rules sheet the department hosts, the ordinance itself not read, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Taos Ski Valley. The village is listed on Municode but no code text was searchable there, and no OHV act was found.
County roads Open
Every paved street owned and controlled by the county is open to ROVs and ATVs. Unpaved county roads are not closed by state law. Ordinance No. 2017-3, adopted 1 August 2017, recorded 8 August 2017 in Book 954 at page 246, read 28 October 2026
State highways Segments open
- Segments of NM 38 and NM 578 around Red River open to ROVs only. A Commission agenda of 19 May 2022 carries a Red River request to designate new segments of NM 38. No resolution, segment list or outcome was read. State Transportation Commission agenda, 19 May 2022, item 10(f), read 28 October 2026
Getting one here
From Japan to Taos County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 900 road miles.
- The Port of Oakland, about 1,100 road miles.
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 1,400 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
A newer off road truck never lands in California. It comes in through Tacoma or by way of Houston.
Trucks travel in containers, one to a 20 foot box with room for parts or three to a 40 foot box.
Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2.
The ground
Taos County, counted.
Taos County averages 82 inches of snow a year. Farms in Taos County hold 79,730 acres of woodland. Taos County has 622 farms and 223 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
Importing a kei truck
The essentials, in short.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 31 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
Two lanes
A road truck must be 25 years old by its own build date. A newer truck comes in only as governed off road equipment with a certified engine.
The 25 percent duty
Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty at the port, whatever its age.
The paperwork
The customs entry and the two federal declarations, DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1, travel with the truck to your title office.
The title
Keep every stamped paper with the truck. Your state title office asks to see them.
Contact
A question about the law in Taos County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
Reach us
Use the form on this page. We read every message.