Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
73
chapters for details about outfitters, guides, llama-trekking services, and whom to contact
for maps and other information.
In the Santa Fe area, one of the most pleasant hikes is the
Aspen Vista Trail.
It's an
easy hike through aspen forests that offers long views of New Mexico's broad eastern
plains. See chapter 7 for details. If you're looking for something more challenging in the
north-central region of the state, head up to Taos and give
Wheeler Peak
your best shot.
The hike up New Mexico's highest peak is about 15 miles round-trip. If you want a much
less difficult hike in the Taos area, try hiking down into
Rio Grande Gorge.
It's beautiful
and can be hiked year-round. See chapter 8 for details on these two. In the northeastern
region of New Mexico, try the 1-mile loop around
Capulin Volcano.
The crater rim
offers stunning views, and you can look down into the dormant caldera (see chapter 10).
If you're heading to the northwestern region of the state, try hiking the
Bisti/De-Na-Zin
Wilderness,
37 miles south of Farmington. Though there are no marked trails, the hik-
ing is easy in this area of low, eroded hills and fanciful rock formations. See chapter 6 for
details. This region is also home to
El Malpais National Monument,
where you can hike
into great lava tubes (see chapter 10). In the southwestern region is the
Gila National
Forest,
which has more than 1,400 miles of trails with varying ranges of length and dif-
ficulty. One favorite day hike in the forest is the
Catwalk National Recreation Trail,
a
moderately strenuous hike along a series of steel bridges and walkways suspended over
Whitewater Canyon. See chapter 11 for details. In the southeastern region, you'll find
one of New Mexico's cherished places:
White Sands National Monument.
Hiking the
white-sand dunes is easy, if sometimes awkward, and the magnificence of the view is
unsurpassed. See chapter 11 for more information.
Arizona also has fascinating and challenging hiking. In northern Arizona, there are
good day hikes in
Grand Canyon National Park
and in the
San Francisco Peaks
north
of Flagstaff (see chapter 16). Hiking is the order of the day in Sedona, where such places
as
Boynton Canyon
offer red-rock beauty and ancient ruins (see chapter 15). In the
Phoenix area, popular day hikes include the trails up
Camelback Mountain
and
Squaw
Peak
and the many trails in
South Mountain Park
(see chapter 13). In the Tucson area,
there are good hikes on
Mount Lemmon
and in
Saguaro National Park, Sabino Can-
yon,
and
Catalina State Park
(see chapter 12). In the southern part of the state, there
are good day hikes in Chiricahua National Monument, most notably the
Heart of Rocks
Loop,
which meanders through formations that could have been created by Dr. Seuss.
Also in the south are the
Coronado National Forest,
the Nature Conservancy's
Ramsey
Canyon Preserve
and
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, Cochise Stronghold,
and
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
(see chapter 14).
The state's two most unforgettable overnight backpack trips are the hike down to
Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and the hike into Havasu Canyon,
a side canyon of the Grand Canyon. See chapter 16.
Hiking is the best—and sometimes the only—way to see many of Utah's most beauti-
ful and exciting areas, and the state is interlaced with hiking trails. In particular, check
out
Natural Bridges National Monument,
where numerous trails take hikers through
magical stone formations (see chapter 6). At Zion, the
Lower Emerald Pools Trail
takes
you along emerald-colored pools, and at Bryce, the
Navajo Loop/Queen's Garden Trail
is an intermediate trail that traverses the park's magical beauty. (See chapter 17.)
The
Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA)
(
&
888/909-2382
or 303/838-
3760; www.cdtrail.org) is building a trail—using volunteers—along the mountains of
the Great Divide, from Canada to Mexico, and that means right through the middle of
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