It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, approximately 180 miles (290 km) northeast of Santa Fe.

The pass crosses the line of volcanic mesas that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the state line, and furnishes the most direct land route between the valley of the Arkansas River to the north and the upper valley of the Canadian River, leading toward Santa Fe, to the south.

In the late 19th century, Raton Pass was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (AT&SF) primary route through the mountains.

While it is still used by Amtrak's Chicago–Los Angeles Southwest Chief, freight traffic shifted from Raton Pass to the Belen Cutoff (1908), whose gradients do not exceed 1.25%.

At 7,834 ft (2,388 m) above sea level, the highway is subject to difficult driving conditions and occasional closures during heavy winter snowfalls.