Best day hikes in New Mexico (This weekend)

[DuctTape]

I'm driving through New Mexico this weekend and I'm looking for some ideas on where to go for a good day hike.

(Mods, I posted this in General because it's sort of a time-sensitive post...sorry)

[fiddlehead]

Gila can be great. I'd go to the hot springs and head south although you'd have some fords that could be very cold this time of year.

Depends what part of NM you are going through.

In the north, the Chama river canyon is great.
In the boot heel, there is some real desert (less than one inch a year i think)

My experience there is only from my 2 cdt hikes so i don't know about the Santa Fe area or Taos. I'm sure there's some good stuff there too.

[skinewmexico]

Which part of NM? It's as big as New England. Most of the hikes I know in the Taos area are snowed in right now.

[DuctTape]

Well I'm in Oklahoma City tonight and I need to be in Flagstaff AZ on Monday night, so that leaves two full days of driving and one day to hike.

Since making the original post I'm now considering going all the way down to Guadalupe Peak Texas, athough that may be stretching it a bit... so anywhere in New Mexico is doable.

[fiddlehead]

Since Flagstaff is in northern AZ, i doubt you'll be hitting the bootheel.
I think you will find too much snow in much of NM CDT as it is fairly high elevation.

I would try to drive through Chama River Canyon and perhaps do some hikes nearby.
Perhaps from Ghost Ranch heading northeast would be pretty awesome if the snow level is ok.
You probably don't have any maps. Do you have a GPS? Do you know how to create a route on Google Earth and transfer it? Or maybe you can download and print a map from topozone or something???

Sounds like fun.

[fiddlehead]

I see there's two Ghost Ranch(es) in NM.
I'm talking about this one near Albiqui

many more trails than the one shown from my recollection

[DuctTape]

I just have a state road map. That area around Sante Fe looked interesting from the get-go because there's lots of dotted roads for scenic routes on the map and green spots for national forests concentrated up there, though I was second-guessing the area because it's toward the north and looks like it's at elevation - though the word "canyon" sounds promising in that regard. Thanks fiddlehead.

[riceNbeans]

Valle Vidal in the far northern portion of New Mexico is GREAT. Go to Cimarron, go to the "Wooden Nickel" (a curio shop) and ask for Val. She can give you directions.

[DuctTape]

Valle Vidal in the far northern portion of New Mexico is GREAT. Go to Cimarron, go to the "Wooden Nickel" (a curio shop) and ask for Val. She can give you directions.

Won't the area be snow-covered this weekend?

P.S. I just drove through Fort Smith this evening.

[skinewmexico]

Valle Vidal is snowed in. There were 2-3 feet of snow around my house in Red River back at Christmas, and VV is 20 miles north. If I was you, I'd take I-40 to Albuquerque, then up north towards Cuba on US550, and go to Chaco Culture NP. Lots of loops, and not much snow around there 2 weeks ago. There are some trails in Albuquerque to the Indian paintings, but I don't know anything about them. You could stop at REI and ask. I do like Guadelupe though, but it's pretty far out of the way.

[Marta]

If you're passing through Santa Fe, the Dale Ball Trails make nice day hikes.

http://blog.santafewalkabouts.com/20...rra-del-norte/

I have no idea what the snow level is right now, if any.

[Funkmeister]

Chaco is completly great. Car camping with day hikes galore. I've never been there this time of year, though.

North of Pie Town is a dirt road that's gotta be more than 50 miles long, and you can just park anywhere and walk into the scrub. Don't tell your car rental company about this, as dirt roads are often verboten. Don't forget where you parked the car, either.

Northwest of Cuba is a hot spring about four miles from the car.

With a high-clearance vehicle, you can get to Surprise Cave. Worth the effort, and camping is next to car. If you want to have a drink, bring water.

New Mexico is a great place.

Happy trails, Jamie.

[Tractor]

Several trails on the Sandia ridge just east of Albuquerque. There is snow on the east side right now tough. A hike up and back in a day, too-from the tramway. Not far off I40-I25.

[LBJ]

Try the Florida (pronounced flor-eeda) Mountains near Deming, NM just off of I-10 in the bootheel of NM. Weather is usually conducive to hiking.

[DuctTape]

Leaving OKcity now - I'll probably end up at Chaco. It's so small on my map that I had forgotten all about it. Thank you everybody for the help! Funkmeister, get back to the tarptent forum!

[skinewmexico]

You'll drive by REI, you can get some better maps there.

[Sly]

Since it looks like you're taking I-40 I'd hit the Zuni-Acoma Trail near Grants in El Malpais National Monument. It's part of the CDT, about 8 miles over a lava field. Take water.

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/u...m/hik_elma.htm

Here's a map. The south eastern trailhead is off 117 near The Narrows

[DuctTape]

I just wanted to follow up and say that I ended up going to Chaco. With all the ruins there to see along the loop road, I only had time for a single backcountry hike on the trail to Pueblo Alto. Thanks again for all the suggestions.