Seasons and Sights Seen Along Valles Caldera Southwest Rim
Spring
Southwest Rim on Cat Mesa
Near the southwest corner of the rim, in Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF), tent rocks are on Cat Mesa with Virgin Mesa’s cliffs, above San Diego Canyon, on the skyline.
Battleship Rock Below Cat Mesa
Below Battleship Rock, in San Diego Canyon, is where the East Fork of the Jemez and San Antonio Creek join to become the Jemez River which eventually winds up at the Rio Grande.
Battleship Rock, along with El Cajete and Banco Bonito, are the youngest of the Valles Caldera’s moat rhyolites that erupted around Redondo, the resurgent dome.
Battleship Rock anchors, in the most literal sense, the southwest corner of the caldera rim. There is a rough trail, accessed off East Fork Trail 137, not far from Battleship Rock Picnic Area, to the top of Battleship Rock--quite an aerie! I was in a group of hikers that walked to the top years ago. Currently, though, for safety reasons, the Santa Fe National Forest, Jemez Ranger District, prohibits hiking to the top of Battleship Rock.
Cerro Colorado on Southwest Rim below Cat Mesa
View from Cat Mesa Cliff of Cerro Colorado and Battleship Rock with Virgin Mesa’s Cliffs Beyond
Cerro Colorado is the heavily treed, reddish undulation below Cat Mesa. It is part of the true Valles Caldera southwest rim. A route needs to be explored off Cat Mesa, 8400’, down to Cerro Colorado, 7789’, and across the Jemez River, to the base of Battleship Rock, approximately 6800’, to make possible a walk down the true rim in the southwest corner of the Valles Caldera.
To continue on the west rim, which runs along Forest Road (FR) 144, one would have to climb back up to approximately 8700’. How do you do it--climb Virgin Mesa, in the background here, climb Cebollita Mesa above La Cueva ? Walk along busy, paved roads, NM-4 and NM-126, up to FR 144? Will you be a rim trail purist and only hike on the true topographical Valles Caldera rim? Or, will you have an official route but also an alternate route like in Bandelier National Monument’s hike up Cerro Grande that has both a steep, heavily used, official route and a less crowded, less steep unofficial route?
All is not lost, however! Recently, Valles Caldera Rim Trail volunteers had a beautiful explore down a very good trail off Cat Mesa to the Jemez Falls picnic area. We were able to cross the Jemez River on a fishermen’s bridge of rocks and logs without breaking out the Tevas!
To get to this trail, the group followed the Valles Caldera rim along FR 135, Cat Mesa Road, just off FR 10, up from Vallecitos de los Indios. There was a spectacular viewpoint, off FR 135, of Cerro Grande, Rabbit Ridge, Los Griegos, South Mountain, Redondo, and the Banco Bonito lava flow. We could also see the Copar Pumice Mine and the mine’s reclaimed land. Further along, Cerro Pelado could be spotted south of Los Griegos. Right beneath the trail going down to Jemez Falls, which skirts along a drainage off Cat Mesa, we could look down on impossibly tall and skinny tent rocks. We could also see to the west the spectacular cliffs above San Diego Canyon. (I did not take any photos on this Cat Mesa Road-Jemez Falls explore.)
Three Photos of Cat Mesa’s Formidable Cliffs
Cat Mesa's cliffs, above the East Fork of the Jemez River, are beautiful and breathtaking and walking along them feels like flying! On one stretch, though, the cliffs were so steep and slathered with prickly bushes that we we could not follow the rim but had to bypass downhill, behind the line of cliffs.
In the bottom photo, that’s Redondo peeking around the corner! We did not get soaked by the storm clouds.
Valles Caldera Southwest Rim: Cat Mesa, Cerro Colorado, Battleship Rock
The portion of the Valles Caldera Rim that's along Cat Mesa Road, FR 135, and Cat Mesa, is southwest of Vallecitos de los Indios and is accessed via FR 10, the road to Ponderosa, which begins at the turn-in for the Sierra de los Piños housing development, off NM-4.
Cat Mesa Road turns west (right) off FR 10 and you can park anywhere and head north to walk along the rim. Cerro Colorado and Battleship Rock are to the northwest below Cat Mesa's cliffs. The hot springs upstream (east) from Battleship Rock is McCauley Warm Springs and is a very popular destination year-around. It can be accessed either from Battleship Rock (hikers park free just off NM-4, north of the actual entrance to Battleship Rock Picnic Area) or from Jemez Falls Trailhead.
It would be best to buy a current Santa Fe National Forest map for any serious explorations of all that the Jemez Mountains have to offer. They are widely available at bookstores, travel stores, sporting goods stores, and at Santa Fe National Forest office locations.
Special thanks to Donald and Dorothy Hoard for their encouragement and help on this project.
Spring
Southwest Rim on Cat MesaNear the southwest corner of the rim, in Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF), tent rocks are on Cat Mesa with Virgin Mesa’s cliffs, above San Diego Canyon, on the skyline.
Battleship Rock Below Cat MesaBelow Battleship Rock, in San Diego Canyon, is where the East Fork of the Jemez and San Antonio Creek join to become the Jemez River which eventually winds up at the Rio Grande.
Battleship Rock, along with El Cajete and Banco Bonito, are the youngest of the Valles Caldera’s moat rhyolites that erupted around Redondo, the resurgent dome.
Battleship Rock anchors, in the most literal sense, the southwest corner of the caldera rim. There is a rough trail, accessed off East Fork Trail 137, not far from Battleship Rock Picnic Area, to the top of Battleship Rock--quite an aerie! I was in a group of hikers that walked to the top years ago. Currently, though, for safety reasons, the Santa Fe National Forest, Jemez Ranger District, prohibits hiking to the top of Battleship Rock.
Cerro Colorado on Southwest Rim below Cat Mesa
View from Cat Mesa Cliff of Cerro Colorado and Battleship Rock with Virgin Mesa’s Cliffs BeyondCerro Colorado is the heavily treed, reddish undulation below Cat Mesa. It is part of the true Valles Caldera southwest rim. A route needs to be explored off Cat Mesa, 8400’, down to Cerro Colorado, 7789’, and across the Jemez River, to the base of Battleship Rock, approximately 6800’, to make possible a walk down the true rim in the southwest corner of the Valles Caldera.
To continue on the west rim, which runs along Forest Road (FR) 144, one would have to climb back up to approximately 8700’. How do you do it--climb Virgin Mesa, in the background here, climb Cebollita Mesa above La Cueva ? Walk along busy, paved roads, NM-4 and NM-126, up to FR 144? Will you be a rim trail purist and only hike on the true topographical Valles Caldera rim? Or, will you have an official route but also an alternate route like in Bandelier National Monument’s hike up Cerro Grande that has both a steep, heavily used, official route and a less crowded, less steep unofficial route?
All is not lost, however! Recently, Valles Caldera Rim Trail volunteers had a beautiful explore down a very good trail off Cat Mesa to the Jemez Falls picnic area. We were able to cross the Jemez River on a fishermen’s bridge of rocks and logs without breaking out the Tevas!
To get to this trail, the group followed the Valles Caldera rim along FR 135, Cat Mesa Road, just off FR 10, up from Vallecitos de los Indios. There was a spectacular viewpoint, off FR 135, of Cerro Grande, Rabbit Ridge, Los Griegos, South Mountain, Redondo, and the Banco Bonito lava flow. We could also see the Copar Pumice Mine and the mine’s reclaimed land. Further along, Cerro Pelado could be spotted south of Los Griegos. Right beneath the trail going down to Jemez Falls, which skirts along a drainage off Cat Mesa, we could look down on impossibly tall and skinny tent rocks. We could also see to the west the spectacular cliffs above San Diego Canyon. (I did not take any photos on this Cat Mesa Road-Jemez Falls explore.)
Three Photos of Cat Mesa’s Formidable Cliffs Cat Mesa's cliffs, above the East Fork of the Jemez River, are beautiful and breathtaking and walking along them feels like flying! On one stretch, though, the cliffs were so steep and slathered with prickly bushes that we we could not follow the rim but had to bypass downhill, behind the line of cliffs.
In the bottom photo, that’s Redondo peeking around the corner! We did not get soaked by the storm clouds.
Valles Caldera Southwest Rim: Cat Mesa, Cerro Colorado, Battleship RockThe portion of the Valles Caldera Rim that's along Cat Mesa Road, FR 135, and Cat Mesa, is southwest of Vallecitos de los Indios and is accessed via FR 10, the road to Ponderosa, which begins at the turn-in for the Sierra de los Piños housing development, off NM-4.
Cat Mesa Road turns west (right) off FR 10 and you can park anywhere and head north to walk along the rim. Cerro Colorado and Battleship Rock are to the northwest below Cat Mesa's cliffs. The hot springs upstream (east) from Battleship Rock is McCauley Warm Springs and is a very popular destination year-around. It can be accessed either from Battleship Rock (hikers park free just off NM-4, north of the actual entrance to Battleship Rock Picnic Area) or from Jemez Falls Trailhead.
It would be best to buy a current Santa Fe National Forest map for any serious explorations of all that the Jemez Mountains have to offer. They are widely available at bookstores, travel stores, sporting goods stores, and at Santa Fe National Forest office locations.
Special thanks to Donald and Dorothy Hoard for their encouragement and help on this project.