Anywhere within 5 hrs. of Santa Fe (South) ????

[ekloco]

 I live in Santa Fe....I am wanting to do a 3-day (4?) weekender Bike pack in southern NM or AZ During late Feb early March.... I have a very outdoorsy female friend as a Partner who has bike toured before but not true Bikepacking. This will be her first time out and I.want to make it a Primo experience...Moderate Trails w/ two track/ dirt / minimum  pavement mix preferred.....remote w/ground water but no grocery refuel OK .....Hot Spring would be over the top perfect....80-150-ish miles long

   
I just read the Dirt Rag Black Canyon Trail article .... Looks perfect....how tough are the hard parts??  All the way to Phoenix might be to much road time...But if it is truly awesome I would make the trip.  Any Opinions??


 To keep the Highway hours down.....Any thing Near Gallup / McGaffey  Zuni MTN ?......Ruidoso/ White Sands??.... The Gila / Mogollon.......Arizona's White Mtns.

Any suggestions of anywhere within 5 Hour Max drive time from Santa Fe would be appreciated...warm-ish and dry in Feb/March

Thanks    E K Loco

[SlowDave]

There is lots of nice areas in the Gila.  A loop starting from Reserve would be cool.  Mostly Forest Service roads. 

White Sands and the whole area east of 25 is nice if you like desert (I do) but water and supplies are an issue out their. 

You could start in Limitar crossing the Rio Grande and then head south staying close enough to the River to get water.  When you get to San Antonio, actually just past it, you hit a refuge.  I am not sure how they feel about bikes so I would check first.  Stop at the Buck Horn for the best Green Chili Cheeseburger in the state.  At San Antonio you can cross 25 and head west on BLM land all the way to Magdalena on Hwy 60  From there you could head back to Limitar going on BLM roads or on pavement.  There is also a little known network of roads that are part of a flood control project that is on the west side of the Rio Grande between Limitar and San Antonio.  There is a BLM office in Santa Fe and one in Socorro too.  Also there is that cafe/map store in Santa Fe that would have maps for planning.

Normally I would also suggest the Jemez but with the fire I just don't know what it is like now and it is probably a little early too.

Another idea would be to exit 25 at exit 175 and you could park at the RV park for security and then head SW on the BLM roads toward Rio Salido and Riley etc.  Re supply at Magdalena and head back.  Not as pretty as the Gila but lots of open spaces.

A little later in the season consider going north and ride along the Conejos.  It is absolutely beautiful and good fishing too.

Dave

[AZTtripper]

Not sure how far you'll have to drive to pick up the northern end of the BCT but there's no need to drive all the way to PHX to ride it. My limited experience has been one trip we did a shuttle from Black Canyon City south. Then we drove up and found a camp site north of town. IMO the best parts are farther north. I wouldn't bother going south of the Little Pan Loop area. As far as I know most of the trail is pretty moderate. Could be just what your looking for.

Hope that helps
Tim

[jaybob]

Hey ekloko,

Got your email.

We just got back from an overnight on the BCT.

We pedaled from Black Canyon City and camped along the river by Little Pan.

It is singletrack, and in all of my awesomeness, I would never concede that it's "technical."  With gear and someone not as awesome as myself, it's a tough pedal with some exposed edges and big climbs.  We found a beautiful spot to camp, but it's a popular area for 4x4s and guns, so I wouldn't do it on a weekend.  On a Wednesday, there was a plenty of shooting to be heard, but nobody around partying at night.   

If the weather holds, you might consider the GDMBR between Cuba and Grants, or continue south through the malpais as well.  It's beautiful and all two track.

Jay - in case you couldn't sense my sarcasm...I'm not really all that "awesome."

[scottcan]

Hey there, I grew up in Quemado, and the ride from Quemado Lake over the top of slaughter mesa down to Valle Tio Vinces, then to Horse springs is a great ride. 

[tonymason]

In the Gila around Silver City you can hook up some forest service roads with the continental divide trail for a nice tour

[fastmtnbiker33w]

As tonymason stated, check out the actual Divide Trail (singletrack portion skipped during TD) down around Pinos Altos.  I've got some good route beta for that area as I've ridden most all but a couple weird sections.   Snow is still an issue as is lack of water but I can point you to some great spots for water in the Gila that would allow you to hook up some great rides.   

I've been checking out some of that big stuff around Socorro, NM.  Check out the map of Magdalena peak.  I've explored some of it.  There may be too much snow right now.  You could do something in the Quebradas (dirt road and some singletrack east of I-25) and link it to magdalena/obervatory south west of town via about 20 miles of pavement.  Water is the limiter....as it is anywhere south of you. 

I can also give you good beta on Cloudcroft.  It usually dries up pretty quick in regards to snow but has lots of water sources.  I did a 3 day trip there awhile back and have done a bit of hunting and lots of big day rides there.

[SlowDave]

I have a place near Magdalena and I agree Magdalena Mt probably has snow now.  West of town before you get to the Plains of San Augustine is and interesting area called Bear Trap, it is left off of 60.  Another area is Bear Mt. which is north of town.  You drive toward the Alamo Reservation.  There are a few forest service roads that take off and at the 10 mile mark is forest rd 123 which will take you out toward Riley and even Grants.  One nice thing is there are water sources.  There are several springs, Rio Salido and a bunch of cattle tanks some with windmills.  My place is off of 123.

To give you an idea as to drive time it took me 3.5 hr to get to my place from Los Alamos.  From Santa Fe Socorro is double the time it takes you to get to ABQ.  Magdalena is 26 miles west of Socorro.  DO NOT SPEED in Socorro or Magdalena both have really bad speed traps.

March is usually when the snakes start moving again near Magdalena.  You will see many in the mornings warming up on the forest roads.  Not a big deal but when it heats up and you want to take a break behind a juniper or pinion look carefully before you sit down, something may have beaten you to the spot.