60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque

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David Ryan left his conventional job in the business world at the age of 49 to rearrange his life into a mixture of income-producing and personal activities. Since making that change, he has found time to walk the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail from end to end, walk the Camino de Santiago from France to Santiago de Compostela in the west of Spain, become involved in archaeology, earn a black belt in aikido, and pursue several other outdoor and walking activities. For the past 18 years he has explored the New Mexico backcountry, looking for previously unknown archaeology sites as a volunteer for the Bureau of Land Management. He is the author of Long Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail for the Older Adventurer, The Gentle Art of Wandering, The Bisbee Stairs, and a blog on walking and wandering at gentleartofwandering.com. David lives in Albuquerque with his wife, Claudia, and his three dogs, Paddy, Petey, and Sparky. To contact David Ryan or receive hike updates, please visit 60hikesabq.com. Stephen Ausherman has worked as a public-health assistant in Iraq, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania; a teacher in Korea and China; and a journalist in India and the United States. He was a writer-in-residence at Buffalo National River in Arkansas, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, and Bernheim Forest in Kentucky, and an artist-in-residence for Cornucopia Art Center in Minnesota, Blue Sky Project in Illinois, and Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. Born in China and raised in North Carolina, Stephen took an unscheduled detour to Albuquerque in 1996. He has lived there ever since.

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Get outdoors with this guide to 60 of the best hikes within an hour or so from Albuquerque, leading you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings.

Résumé
The best way to experience Albuquerque is by hiking it! Get outdoors with local authors and hiking experts David Ryan and Stephen Ausherman with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque. These trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. Each hike description features key information on length, hiking time, difficulty, configuration, scenery, traffic, trail surface, and accessibility, as well as information on the history and natural history of the area. Detailed trail maps and elevation profiles, along with clear directions to the trailheads and trailhead GPS data, help to ensure that you always know where you are and where you're going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you're a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Albuquerque and the surrounding communities.

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BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT: Falls Trail THE EXTENSIVE TRAIL SYSTEM in Bandelier National Monument allows for a wide range of hikes, from leisurely strolls among ancient cliff dwellings to weeklong treks into backcountry wilderness. The Falls Trail is geared for casual hikers and has many rewarding views.

• DISTANCE & CONFIGURATION: 3-mile out-and-back plus optional 3-mile extension
• DIFFICULTY: Moderate
• SCENERY: Waterfalls, canyon woodland, tent rocks, majestic cliffs, ruins
• EXPOSURE: Some tree cover and canyon shade
• TRAIL TRAFFIC: Heavy
• TRAIL SURFACE: Packed dirt
• HIKING TIME: 23 hours
• DRIVING DISTANCE: 98 miles via San Ysidro or 104 miles via Santa Fe from the Big I
• ELEVATION GAIN: 6,088' at trailhead; 5882' at Upper Falls
• ACCESS: All trails open daily, sunrisesunset, except December 25 and January 1. Day-use fees (subject to change): $25/vehicle or $15/person traveling on foot or bicycle. Annual Park Pass available. Federal Recreational Land Passes are accepted.
• WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No; limited access on the Main Loop
• MAPS: Brochure map available at park entrance station; USGS Frijoles
• FACILITIES: Visitor center, gift shop, snack bar (subject to seasonal closure), restrooms, campgrounds, interpretive exhibits and programs
• CONTACT: National Park Service, nps.gov/band, 505-672-3861
• LOCATION: White Rock
• COMMENTS: No dogs allowed on trails. Shuttle bus from White Rock runs during the busy season, mid-Maymid-October.
• LAST-CHANCE FOOD/GAS: All services in White Rock (11 miles northeast); convenience store in La Cueva (32 miles northwest); gas station in San Ysidro (58 miles southwest) DESCRIPTION Bandelier is an obligatory day trip for many Santa Fe vacations. And for good reason: when you drive in from NM 4 at the top of Pajarito Plateau down to the Bandelier visitor center at the bottom of Frijoles Canyon, it's like you've dropped into Shangri-La. You almost have to pinch yourself to make sure you're not in a dream. The pockmarked sheer canyon walls of volcanic tuff look like the bubbles and crevices inside an English muffin and are worth a drive across the country to see! The abundant ponderosa on the canyon floor fill the air with the scent of pine. The perennial stream running the length of the canyon makes it feel cooler on a warm day. The abundant Abert's squirrels with their big tufted ears and the mule deer with their short tails only add to what makes Bandelier special. And all of this is accented by the bright blue New Mexico sky, high above the canyon walls. The combination of being a special place, abundant Ancestral Puebloan ruins, and great hiking trails makes Bandelier very popular. During the busy summer season (mid-Maymid-October) visitors arriving between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. need to take the shuttle bus from the visitor center on NM 4 in White Rock to enter the canyon. The ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings and large ruins on the floor of the canyon are clearly the main attractions at Bandelier. By the mid-1200s people were coalescing into larger groups and began building small villages. The height of development was in the 1400s, and by the mid-1500s the people had moved on to the Rio Grande. The people of Cochiti Pueblo consider the people of Frijoles Canyon to be their ancestors. As for hiking, the hike described in this book follows the Falls Trail downstream to the upper falls and then visits the main ruins in the heart of the canyon. It is a good introduction to Bandelier. There are many more hiking options, and with 70 miles of trails to choose from, picking a route in this 33,750-acre monument can be tough. To thoroughly appreciate Bandelier, you need at least three daysyour pass is good for a week. Keep in mind, however, that Bandelier trails are not to be taken lightly. They wind in and out of numerous canyons cut 500 feet deep into the southernmost Pajarito Plateau. Formed by the ash flow on the eastern flank of the Valles Caldera, this sloping plateau is not as flat as you might guess. The good news is that the trails are easy to follow. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, they seem as sturdy today as the day they were constructed. More about that project, and everything else you could possibly want to know about the monument, can be learned in the visitor center. Spend some time with the exhibits and dioramas to prepare for any questions that might pop up on the trail. For this hike, be sure to pick up the 15-page booklet A Guide to the Falls Trail. Keep in mind that weather in the park can be unpredictable. So please make sure that you are prepared for sudden changes. Snow and ice buildup add extra challenges in the winter, especially in canyons. Sun exposure and thunderstorms can get fierce in the summer. Park rangers are diligent about monitoring current conditions, so it's worth stopping by the visitor center before hitting the trail. This hik…