By Susie Morgan
For more information visit our Trail Rides page.
Northern New Mexico offers some of the most diverse riding terrain to be found in the United States. In the immediate area, and within a 2 hour circumference, the terrain varies from high desert, to pine and aspen covered forests, boasts one of only three active volcano calderas in the US, the mighty Rio Grande and other rivers, lakes, and the multi-colored picturesque arroyos.
Santa Fe is surrounded by several National Forests and BLM lands, so the riding opportunities cannot all be experienced in a two week timeframe.
Santa Fe trailheads include Headquarters Trail beneath the Caja Plateau, Dead Dog Trail up to the top of the Caja Plateau, Diablo Canyon through the giant Basalt Rock sentries down to the Rio Grande River, Galisteo Basin Preserve, Soda Springs Trail, Cerrillos Hills State Park which is filled with old turquoise and minerals mines – some of the oldest mines in the United States, and in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Big and Little Tesuque Trails, Windsor Trail, and Aspen Vista Trail. Petroglyphs can be spotted by a very sharp eye on many of these rides.
Branching out to the north, the Chama area boasts four New Mexico Wildlife Preserves open to horsemen: Bill Humphries, Sargent’s, Rio Chama, and Rio de Los Pinos. In the Abiquiu area is Copper Canyon and the magnificent Ghost Ranch made famous by Georgia O’Keeffe with its inspired rock formations of tan, terra cotta, grays and blacks.
To the west, the highlight is the Valles Caldera National Preserve where horsemen can ride into the belly of the active caldera – Valle Grande – where the grasses are belly high in the summer, or use the old logging trails to ride up into the pine mountains. Valles Caldera has the largest elk herd in New Mexico.
To the South is the Bosque preserve with trails running through the cottonwood trees or ride up along the canal bank, and the Ojitos Badlands with its strange tent rock formations and were some of the oldest dinosaur bones in the United States have been discovered.
Moving east, Jack’s Creek in the Pecos has corrals for overnight camping and a full days ride to Baldy Lake.
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For more information visit our Trail Rides page.