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Hiking is my passion. I've been to Arizona twice, and may return there again this year. But I am also considering New Mexico for a fall trip. I did pick up a book showing some New Mexico hikes, and found out about Bandalier National Monument which looks great. Can anyone tell me, first of all, if that would be a recommended trip. Secondly, can you tell me if there are any other hikes in NM that you would recommend? Thanks in advance.
With numerous mountain ranges, wilderness areas, state and national parks and forests, the opportunities are endless. Depends on what kind of hiking you like to do, day hikes, long backpacking trips, whether it involves climbing, what level of difficulty, and how far you want to go, and where you want to stay as your base. You can hike the Continental Divide Trail through New Mexico from the Mexican border to Colorado if you have a couple of weeks. There are many hiking trails in Bandelier and all would be worthwhile.
Hiking down from Wheeler Peak (13,159'), New Mexico's highest mountain, looking down at Williams Lake which has a surface elevation of 11,040':
This would be day trips. I don't have a huge amount of time - unfortunately - to dedicate to overnight backpacking trips. The entire trip will be.... fly out early day Friday. With the time differential I should be there around mid day. Therefore a half day on Friday, full day on Saturday, and half day Sunday morning for hiking. Sunday afternoon would most likely be doing something else, and then I would fly back to the east coast on Monday morning.
This would be day trips. I don't have a huge amount of time - unfortunately - to dedicate to overnight backpacking trips. The entire trip will be.... fly out early day Friday. With the time differential I should be there around mid day. Therefore a half day on Friday, full day on Saturday, and half day Sunday morning for hiking. Sunday afternoon would most likely be doing something else, and then I would fly back to the east coast on Monday morning.
Well, you have the right idea, to come in the fall, when it's cooler. You should consider flying right into Santa Fe, if possible. From the Santa Fe ski basin, you can hike along the mountain ridges to lakes up above the Native communities. I don't know how long a hike it is, to go out there and back. It might be doable in a day. There's a travel bookstore in town, that can give you topographical trail maps of the area, and they could advise you.
But, Banelier would be a much "tamer" hike, meaning--safer, well-marked, with much historical and archaeological interest. It's a great daytime hike. I think you chose well. Here's a site for checking on local conditions, how to access the park, etc. Apparently, they're only allowing limited private access (i.e. drive-ins to the parking area), and are requiring most visitors to go by free shuttle from White Rock. Currently the park is closed, due to the federal shutdown, but normally, they run these shuttles to it. Better check the schedule for the last shuttle of the day, for your return from the park, to make sure you don't miss the last shuttle. https://www.nps.gov/band/planyourvisit/shuttle.htm
So, to get to the White Rock/Bandelier area north of Santa Fe, you can either fly in to SF and rent a car, fly in to ABQ, and take an airport shuttle to SF, and rent a car, or fly in to ABQ, and rent a car from there, driving the hour to SF, then additional time to get to White Rock. Depending on when your flight arrives in ABQ, you may have an hour or so wait for a shuttle to SF.
NM and SF are hard to access from the East Coast. There are very few direct flights. I'm not sure, there may be one from Newark to ABQ, if you're in the NYC area. If you're in Atlanta, it's easy, because I think that's a hub with direct flights to NM.
Coming from the lowlands, you do NOT want to try an ambitious hike at altitude, such as Mt Wheeler, right after arriving in NM with no time to acclimate.
Tent Rocks - see https://www.blm.gov/visit/kktr - would be good if you would like to check out a fairly short slot canyon combined with a fairly short climb to a nice view site.
For a good woodsy hike, a pretty easy hike (approx. 3 mile round trip) near Valles Caldera in the Jemez Mtns is the East Fork trail along the Jemez River starting at the east end from the Las Conchas trailhead. See https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/n...chas-trailhead. This is one of my favorite hikes, along the river and mountain meadows with several foot bridge crossings. Just a gorgeous easier hike. Take a picnic lunch along, lots of places to stop and eat along the river. It's at over 8400-ft elevation, so the easier terrain is good for those coming from lower altitude. Not sure what elevation you live at, but the last thing you want to do on a short visit to NM is get altitude sickness.
You can also go up over the mountain at the west end of the easier portion of this trail (the East Fork trail continues for quite a ways - https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sant...75772&actid=51) to make the hike longer and more difficult. But I wouldn't recommend that if you're a lowlander.
We did Bandelier last October with some visitors and it took most of the day driving up from ABQ and back. Still, it was worth it as Bandelier is a great place. The hiking there is what you make it. It can be easy, it can be long and you can do substantial elevation change if desired. We had to use the White Rock shuttle, so check the web site to see when that will be the case. Tent Rocks is a good short hike, easily doable in a couple of hours.
You can fly into Santa Fe, but there many fewer flights a day and more costly than flying into ABQ. You'll have to decide.
Also, remember the elevation difference. Bandelier is at 6-7,000 feet, so pace yourself and stay hydrated.
We did Bandelier last October with some visitors and it took most of the day driving up from ABQ and back. Still, it was worth it as Bandelier is a great place. The hiking there is what you make it. It can be easy, it can be long and you can do substantial elevation change if desired. We had to use the White Rock shuttle, so check the web site to see when that will be the case. Tent Rocks is a good short hike, easily doable in a couple of hours.
You can fly into Santa Fe, but there many fewer flights a day and more costly than flying into ABQ. You'll have to decide.
Also, remember the elevation difference. Bandelier is at 6-7,000 feet, so pace yourself and stay hydrated.
I'd say probably 65% of the visitors to Bandelier stick to the lower end of Frijoles Canyon and the paved, easy trails around the Tyuonyi ruin and adjacent cliff dwellings. Another 20% might make it further up the canyon to the Alcove House ruin, located in an alcove above the canyon floor that can only be accessed by a series of wooden ladders.
But these two areas are only a very small part of the monument as a whole. If you are up for lots of elevation gain, there are numerous longer hikes that take you out of the canyon onto the surrounding mesas, past lots of smaller archaeological sites and with vistas over the Rio Grande Valley to the south and east. You're unlikely to run into many people at all in these areas, and these trails come highly recommended.
Well, you have the right idea, to come in the fall, when it's cooler. You should consider flying right into Santa Fe, if possible. From the Santa Fe ski basin, you can hike along the mountain ridges to lakes up above the Native communities. I don't know how long a hike it is, to go out there and back. It might be doable in a day. There's a travel bookstore in town, that can give you topographical trail maps of the area, and they could advise you.
But, Banelier would be a much "tamer" hike, meaning--safer, well-marked, with much historical and archaeological interest. It's a great daytime hike. I think you chose well. Here's a site for checking on local conditions, how to access the park, etc. Apparently, they're only allowing limited private access (i.e. drive-ins to the parking area), and are requiring most visitors to go by free shuttle from White Rock. Currently the park is closed, due to the federal shutdown, but normally, they run these shuttles to it. Better check the schedule for the last shuttle of the day, for your return from the park, to make sure you don't miss the last shuttle. https://www.nps.gov/band/planyourvisit/shuttle.htm
So, to get to the White Rock/Bandelier area north of Santa Fe, you can either fly in to SF and rent a car, fly in to ABQ, and take an airport shuttle to SF, and rent a car, or fly in to ABQ, and rent a car from there, driving the hour to SF, then additional time to get to White Rock. Depending on when your flight arrives in ABQ, you may have an hour or so wait for a shuttle to SF.
NM and SF are hard to access from the East Coast. There are very few direct flights. I'm not sure, there may be one from Newark to ABQ, if you're in the NYC area. If you're in Atlanta, it's easy, because I think that's a hub with direct flights to NM.
Bandelier looks like the spot if I get out there. I was wondering about the flights and this could wind up being the fly in the ointment with regards to NM this year. In '17 and '18 I flew Philly to Phoenix, non stop flight. Worst part of those trips were getting in and out of Philly. I've never flown out of Newark, it's quite a bit further for me than Philadelphia, but it's a possibility. I'll have to do some more research.
Appreciate the help from you NM people!
Last edited by BeerGeek40; 01-21-2019 at 07:30 PM..
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