Albuquerque, Jemez, Mt. Taylor, or Cabezon

[craftycoder]

Originally Posted by nmdave7

I would definatley like to hear of some more stuff in NM maybe down towards Socorro for the cold months. Anybody have some?

nmdave, this looks like what you were looking for.

[el tortuga]

Originally Posted by craftycoder

Jethro, did you already forget about dualsportmaps.com? You can post as much as you want there.

I thought about using your site but I wasn't sure if you intended it to be used for adding a lot of trails for a specific area. Most of these tracks are pretty short and I didn't want clog up your site with a bunch of 30-minute ride tracks. I thought it may not have been your intent when you created it.
If your cool with that though...

jeff

[craftycoder]

Little tracks are no problem. I'm going to be implementing a tool to easily allow you to tie together lots of little tracks into one big route so lots little tracks are, in fact, a necessary and desirable inclusion to the site.

You can put all you little tracks into one file or not. It really makes no difference in the end.

Originally Posted by Jethro

I thought about using your site but I wasn't sure if you intended it to be used for adding a lot of trails for a specific area. Most of these tracks are pretty short and I didn't want clog up your site with a bunch of 30-minute ride tracks. I thought it may not have been your intent when you created it.
If your cool with that though...

jeff

[nmdave7]

Need to update my browser this week. Looks like a cool site

[usagi]

I'm gonna go ahead and zombify this thread. This is a collection of trails from dualsport maps for the Sandia Ranger district south of Tijeras

[gregdee]

Hi all - new here. Back in November I rode out the Cabezon Rd. from San Ysidro a couple of times. Been teaching my wife to ride and this is the perfect area. We managed to circumnavigate Cabezon Peak. Nice ride, fun roads, awesome scenery! When it warms up and dries out I am looking to find a way through to Mt. Taylor. By map it's possible but I fear there will be many locked gates along the route. We did run into roads that dead ended into locked fences that were posted No Trespassing even though the maps show the roads go through. It appears the folks that live out there block off roads wherever they see fit. Anyone have experience with this area or no if it is possible to get through to the Ciblola NF north of Mt. Taylor?

Also, a year or so ago we went and explored the Penta Picate WSA which is ~20 miles southwest of Hwy. 6 where it intersects I-40. By map it appears one could get through to Magdalena. Anyone have any experience with this area?

[thor.i.am]

gregdee,

It is great to hear someone else loves that area. I have driven that area a lot with my Jeep and wanted to take my KLR out there but that never came to reality.

I know that you can drive from Cabezon to Mt Taylor, I have done it in my Jeep. It is a great ride! On a dual sport the only spot that is rocky enough to cause caution is the route that takes you to the top of the mesa just south of Cabezon. I dont remember the route (as someone else lead me) but I do remember taking the paved road from 550 that goes to Cabezon, but then going straight instead of turning to the peak. From there we dropped into a wash then climbed onto the mesa and headed over to Mt Taylor. There are some gates (close them behind you if they were closed or leave them open if they were open). I dont remember any locked gates but that area does have some rouges that like to lock access. There are lots of cow pies and cattle so keep an eye out! There is also a great little loop you can take once you get into the Mt Taylor forest. It takes you around to the peak and look out tower then back into Gallup. It is a long trip and gas could be an issue too so be safe!

As for taking a off shoot road from HWY 6 south to Magdalena, I have done that as well. It was a long time ago and I did it in a S-10. From what I remember of that one I took the HWY 6 exit from I-40 and headed south, just as the road curves east there is a right hand turn that goes over the railroad tracks. Take that and stay on the biggest road. It will take you all the way to Alamo, NM. It is an awesome drive! Bellow is a


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[wbbnm]

There are two roads from the Cabezon area to Grants. FR 239 goes up on top of San Mateo Mesa. This road is not open all the time. The BLM controls when it is open and closed.

There is another road further west that is open barring snow. It is variously called FR 555 and CR25 and maybe other CR designations. This road has a lot of gates and No Trespassing signs. We have taken this to mean stay on the road. The gates have not been locked. I haven't taken it for a couple of years but the guys I ride with generally do it once a year or so.

I will try to find some tracks if I get time later and post them.

[gregdee]

I looked real closely at my maps again and noticed that the area between Cabezon Peak and Mt.Taylor has a huge land grant section in it, north and east of the BLM land that runs north of Mt. Taylor. Assuming this is correct it is not surprising there are locked gates and what not. Nonetheless, it sounds possible and I will try to make it through in a few months when the weather improves.

[thor.i.am]

I will contact the guy who lead the run that took us from Cabezon to Taylor and see if I can get some GPS tracks or some sort of directions. I want to do this run again for sure, but waiting until it is warmer or even in the fall is a good idea.

Good Luck!

[Dubl-A]

Nice, another KLR rider from NM!! This spring we'll be doing a lot of riding in these mentioned areas and also camping... PM if you're interested

Aaron

[SteveO]

[wbbnm]

Yes you generally cannot get thru that land grant area. I have done it couple of times a long time ago, but it was quite a hassle getting around the locked gates.

Here is the track I promised but forgot.

I am also a KLR rider, but gave up camping about 25 years ago.

[Countdown]

Originally Posted by wbbnm

Yes you generally cannot get thru that land grant area. I have done it couple of times a long time ago, but it was quite a hassle getting around the locked gates.

Here is the track I promised but forgot.

I am also a KLR rider, but gave up camping about 25 years ago.

I have these same basic tracks in my CDR file. If you are interested, I scouted a new way much closer to the divide.