Seasons and Sights Seen Along and Near Valles Caldera West Rim
Spring
Below West Rim in San Antonio Canyon
This is San Antonio Hot Springs in San Antonio Canyon. On Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) land, it’s accessed via Forest Road (FR) 376, off NM-126. This is part of the caldera that is freely open to the public because it is outside the boundary of the public land of Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP).
Cliffs below FR 144 and the West Rim
These cliffs are across from San Antonio Hot Springs and are below FR 144, on the west caldera rim. All along FR 144 are single track motor bike trails that parallel the Valles Caldera west rim and can easily be followed by hikers as well. This is the same FR 144 that accesses the north rim from Española. It wraps around both the west and north rims. The part of FR 144 that parallels the Valles Caldera west rim is accessed from NM-126, northwest of La Cueva.
Autumn
Hiking Group on FR 376 along San Antonio Creek
The gate to FR 376 is often closed, making for very long treks into San Antonio Canyon.
Signed Gate at VCNP boundary in San Antonio Canyon: Your Public Land Lies Beyond!
Confusing Sierra de Toledo Domes on Northeast Valles Caldera Rim
The Sierra de Toledo on the northeastern rim of the Valles Caldera is seen from Valle San Antonio. From this view, all I know for sure is that Turkey Ridge, 10,741’, is on the ridgeline above the distinctive triangular bald spot on the right. Indian Point, 10,241’, and 500’ lower, is just to the left of Turkey Ridge and almost a continuation of it. Cerro Toledo, 10, 930’, almost 200’ higher than Turkey Ridge, is one of the two bald spots behind Turkey Ridge and Indian Point. If forced to, I would vote for the one on the right. Someone please invent a peak finder for the Sierra de Toledo range!
Near Single Track Motor Bike Trail on West Rim
This is just east of FR 144, near a single track motor bike trail that runs along the west rim of Valles Caldera, above San Antonio Canyon. Since the motorbike trail is on SFNF land, it’s hikeable now without reservation, fees, or permission.
An interesting observation is how these motorized trails skirt the long way around obstacles like fences, hills, and drainages, sometimes even going back out to FR 144. A hiker’s first impulse, though, is to avoid such long detours and take the most direct route. Another possible issue is that the single track motorbike trails can seem very steep to non-motorized users. The motorbike trails also tend to get quite rutted on uphill sections.
Boxy San Antonio Mountain, beyond the cliffs of Thompson Ridge, is in deep cloud shadow. It’s the westernmost of the ring-fracture domes in the VCNP. The VCNP once had a hike that went up San Antonio Mountain, starting across from the Cerro Seco hike, but I’ve been told it wasn’t very popular because of the heavy tree cover and lack of views. I wish I could have hiked up San Antonio Mountain before they axed the hike as not popular and therefore not profitable. It’s a detriment to have profitability be the bottom line determining where people are allowed to explore in the Preserve.
From this cliffy section of the west rim, nearly above San Antonio Hot Springs, very far off sights can be seen of Los Griegos and Peralta Ridge on the south rim. There are also views of the west side of Redondo-Redondito and Redondo Border and down into the La Cueva area. The west rim itself, however, can be elusive or blocked from view when you try to see it from the other rims because it is lower in altitude and has no prominent peaks. Geologists have determined that the Valles Caldera is a trapdoor caldera that collapsed deeper in the east than in the west which accounts for the other rims being higher than the west rim. The best places to spot it are from the Cerro de la Garita on the north-northwest rim and from the highest points on the south-southwest rim.
While the southern portion of the west rim has cliffs overlooking San Antonio Canyon, on the northern part of the Valles Caldera west rim, you are surprisingly close to the caldera floor. There is an amazing place on the northwest rim where you can stand on a narrow, low divide and simultaneously look at the head of a drainage going downhill into the caldera on one side while just a few yards away, a different drainage runs away from the caldera and the two never meet!
Valles Caldera West Rim: West FR 144
Some have suggested that there could be an alternate route in the area of the Valles Caldera west rim in the vicinity of San Antonio Canyon. One route would follow the true, topographical west rim that goes along and mostly parallel to west FR 144. There are the single track motor bike trails that run along the west rim that could be multi-use trails.
Others suggest that an alternate route could be followed by going from Jemez Falls to the Thompson Ridge Road, FR 106, and following that down into San Antonio Canyon, coming out practically on top of the Valles Caldera National Preserve boundary fence, and then climbing out of San Antonio Canyon on a road that intersects West FR 144. You would have to walk about 8 miles in on Thompson Ridge Road to the Santa Fe National Forest boundary and then it's about 4 miles to the Valles Caldera National Preserve boundary fence. I'm not sure of the distance from the VCNP boundary fence up to West FR 144. On this map, Thompson Ridge is the area bounded by San Antonio Creek on the west, Sulphur Creek on the east, and San Antonio Mountain to the northeast.
This alternate route is not on the true west rim but it has the advantage of providing an easy way of negotiating one's way across the immensely steep San Diego Canyon, starting from Battleship Rock, to connect with the west rim, above La Cueva. Besides which, San Antonio Hot Springs would provide a welcome interlude for hot, tired, dusty thru-hikers! Routing the rim trail through San Antonio Canyon would be a way to have both a Valles Caldera rim adventure and yet also have the experience of being within the caldera.
Special thanks to Donald and Dorothy Hoard for their encouragement and help on this project.
Spring
Below West Rim in San Antonio CanyonThis is San Antonio Hot Springs in San Antonio Canyon. On Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) land, it’s accessed via Forest Road (FR) 376, off NM-126. This is part of the caldera that is freely open to the public because it is outside the boundary of the public land of Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP).
Cliffs below FR 144 and the West RimThese cliffs are across from San Antonio Hot Springs and are below FR 144, on the west caldera rim. All along FR 144 are single track motor bike trails that parallel the Valles Caldera west rim and can easily be followed by hikers as well. This is the same FR 144 that accesses the north rim from Española. It wraps around both the west and north rims. The part of FR 144 that parallels the Valles Caldera west rim is accessed from NM-126, northwest of La Cueva.
Autumn
Hiking Group on FR 376 along San Antonio CreekThe gate to FR 376 is often closed, making for very long treks into San Antonio Canyon.
Signed Gate at VCNP boundary in San Antonio Canyon: Your Public Land Lies Beyond!
Confusing Sierra de Toledo Domes on Northeast Valles Caldera RimThe Sierra de Toledo on the northeastern rim of the Valles Caldera is seen from Valle San Antonio. From this view, all I know for sure is that Turkey Ridge, 10,741’, is on the ridgeline above the distinctive triangular bald spot on the right. Indian Point, 10,241’, and 500’ lower, is just to the left of Turkey Ridge and almost a continuation of it. Cerro Toledo, 10, 930’, almost 200’ higher than Turkey Ridge, is one of the two bald spots behind Turkey Ridge and Indian Point. If forced to, I would vote for the one on the right. Someone please invent a peak finder for the Sierra de Toledo range!
Near Single Track Motor Bike Trail on West RimThis is just east of FR 144, near a single track motor bike trail that runs along the west rim of Valles Caldera, above San Antonio Canyon. Since the motorbike trail is on SFNF land, it’s hikeable now without reservation, fees, or permission.
An interesting observation is how these motorized trails skirt the long way around obstacles like fences, hills, and drainages, sometimes even going back out to FR 144. A hiker’s first impulse, though, is to avoid such long detours and take the most direct route. Another possible issue is that the single track motorbike trails can seem very steep to non-motorized users. The motorbike trails also tend to get quite rutted on uphill sections.
Boxy San Antonio Mountain, beyond the cliffs of Thompson Ridge, is in deep cloud shadow. It’s the westernmost of the ring-fracture domes in the VCNP. The VCNP once had a hike that went up San Antonio Mountain, starting across from the Cerro Seco hike, but I’ve been told it wasn’t very popular because of the heavy tree cover and lack of views. I wish I could have hiked up San Antonio Mountain before they axed the hike as not popular and therefore not profitable. It’s a detriment to have profitability be the bottom line determining where people are allowed to explore in the Preserve.
From this cliffy section of the west rim, nearly above San Antonio Hot Springs, very far off sights can be seen of Los Griegos and Peralta Ridge on the south rim. There are also views of the west side of Redondo-Redondito and Redondo Border and down into the La Cueva area. The west rim itself, however, can be elusive or blocked from view when you try to see it from the other rims because it is lower in altitude and has no prominent peaks. Geologists have determined that the Valles Caldera is a trapdoor caldera that collapsed deeper in the east than in the west which accounts for the other rims being higher than the west rim. The best places to spot it are from the Cerro de la Garita on the north-northwest rim and from the highest points on the south-southwest rim.
While the southern portion of the west rim has cliffs overlooking San Antonio Canyon, on the northern part of the Valles Caldera west rim, you are surprisingly close to the caldera floor. There is an amazing place on the northwest rim where you can stand on a narrow, low divide and simultaneously look at the head of a drainage going downhill into the caldera on one side while just a few yards away, a different drainage runs away from the caldera and the two never meet!
Valles Caldera West Rim: West FR 144
I'm fascinated by the many canyons that feed into Cebolla Canyon --Lake Fork, Barley, Bear, Oat, Hay, Pony, Road, and Twin Cabins--but never enter the caldera. Because the west-northwestern rim is relatively low , I would have imagined that erosion might have breached it by now. But, then again, the Valles Caldera is young--a mere 1.2 million years old. Maybe I should come back in a couple of million years and check out the situation!!
Some have suggested that there could be an alternate route in the area of the Valles Caldera west rim in the vicinity of San Antonio Canyon. One route would follow the true, topographical west rim that goes along and mostly parallel to west FR 144. There are the single track motor bike trails that run along the west rim that could be multi-use trails.
Others suggest that an alternate route could be followed by going from Jemez Falls to the Thompson Ridge Road, FR 106, and following that down into San Antonio Canyon, coming out practically on top of the Valles Caldera National Preserve boundary fence, and then climbing out of San Antonio Canyon on a road that intersects West FR 144. You would have to walk about 8 miles in on Thompson Ridge Road to the Santa Fe National Forest boundary and then it's about 4 miles to the Valles Caldera National Preserve boundary fence. I'm not sure of the distance from the VCNP boundary fence up to West FR 144. On this map, Thompson Ridge is the area bounded by San Antonio Creek on the west, Sulphur Creek on the east, and San Antonio Mountain to the northeast.
This alternate route is not on the true west rim but it has the advantage of providing an easy way of negotiating one's way across the immensely steep San Diego Canyon, starting from Battleship Rock, to connect with the west rim, above La Cueva. Besides which, San Antonio Hot Springs would provide a welcome interlude for hot, tired, dusty thru-hikers! Routing the rim trail through San Antonio Canyon would be a way to have both a Valles Caldera rim adventure and yet also have the experience of being within the caldera.
Special thanks to Donald and Dorothy Hoard for their encouragement and help on this project.