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Link to Trip Report on New South Mountain Hike at Valles Caldera National Preserve

September 01, 2009

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Here's a link to a trip report on a recent hike done on the Valles Caldera National Preserve's new South Mountain hike.

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Valles Caldera West Rim--San Antonio Hot Springs, San Antonio Canyon, FR 144

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 ...

Valles Caldera West Rim: Virgin Mesa Above Battleship Rock

This is FR (Forest Road) 607 (Santa Fe National Forest, Jemez Ranger District ). It looks benignly flat where we parked to begin the hike but don't believe it. Dorothy's Honda CRV got quite a workout on a steeply downhill, wretchedly rutted, rocky stretch just before this. My gasps were no help; I suppose it was more helpful when I excitedly pointed out boulders that studded the road's side wall. Dorothy's objective was to finish the Valles Caldera west rim by doing this last short section, all on national forest land, to an overlook of Battleship Rock from high up on Virgin Mesa. The views from the rim made me want to shout "Hallelujah!" I was grateful to get to tag along! That tiny, insignificant peanut of a volcanic rock formation (looking like an alligator's snout) approximately 1,600' below the rim of Virgin Mesa is Battleship Rock , nearly 7,000' in elevation. Standing beneath it down below, it's a behemoth! That's Cat ...

San Antonio Canyon near Valles Caldera National Preserve Boundary

I had the good fortune last week of driving in on the Thompson Ridge Road, FR 106, to Mushroom Basin in the Jemez Mountains . The road is dirt and wasn't bad for a passenger car--a couple of rough spots. There are good views of Redondo and Redondo Border while you're driving in. You access Thompson Ridge Road, FR 106, off NM-4. It's on the right before you get to La Cueva, New Mexico. There's a housing development there--Sulphur Estates, I believe it's called. I parked at the Santa Fe National Forest boundary and walked 4 miles, approximately, to this beautiful spot in San Antonio Canyon, on Santa Fe National Forest land that is below the west rim of the Valles Caldera. This is literally just outside the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) boundary fence and near the signed and locked gate that forbids you from entering the Preserve. The sign says temporarily closed to the public and has said that for 7 years now. It's odd but in the Preserve, ...

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