Borrego/Bear Wallow Trail
| This hike is a pleasant short-ish loop with some vertical relief (about 800 ft elevation change) in an aspen-fir forest. Because of the aspen, this hike would be especially nice in the fall. You could extend the length of this hike by taking one of several other trails which intersect this trail. |
| Hike data | Waypoints | Maps | Getting to the trailhead | About the hike | Plants along the trail | Comments |
|
| Date: | 2001-10-13 | 2014-09-07 |
| Time it took us: | 3:00. | 4:54. 2:00 moving, the rest of the time taking notes, photos, eating lunch, etc |
| Usage (people/hour): | 0.00. No usage data recorded. We saw several other hikers. | 18.78. This trail is popular both with mountain bikes as well as hikers. 12 of the people in the people/hour calculation were on bikes. |
| Cleanliness: | 0. No cleanliness data recorded. | 9. We picked up 7 pieces of litter, one of which was an old, decomposing shirt. |
| Waypoint | Type | Description |
| 150254 | Trail junction | Santa Fe National Forest tails 150 and 254 |
| 150TC | Trail junction | Unsigned trail intersection |
| 150TH | Trailhead | Santa Fe National Forest trail 150 trailhead |
| 150Y1 | Trail junction | Junction near 150TH |
| 254182 | Trail junction | Santa Fe National Forest trails 254 and 182 |
| Map name | Cartographer | Year | Scale | Topo map? | Online access | Notes |
| Guide to Indian Country of Arizona Colorado New Mexico Utah | Automobile Club of Southern California | 1998 | 1:0 | N | from Amazon (purchase) | Good overview road map for northwest NM. No scale is given on the map. The corner coordinates are approximate. |
| McClure Reservoir | USGS | 1976 | 1:24000 | Y | from sar.lanl.gov (free) | |
| Pecos Wilderness, Santa Fe and Carson National Forests | US Forest Service | 2004 | 1:54000 | Y | from Amazon (purchase) | |
| Santa Fe | BLM | 1996 | 1:100000 | Y | from Amazon (purchase) | |
| Santa Fe | USGS | 1954 | 1:250000 | Y | from sar.lanl.gov (free) | |
| Santa Fe National Forest | US Forest Service | 2004 | 1:126720 | N | from Amazon (purchase) | East half |
| Wildernesses of New Mexico | US Forest Service | 1981 | 1:1000000 | N | No online copies. | Base map with national forests, wilderness areas and highways. |
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From the Santa Fe plaza, head north on Washington Ave. Just past the
pink Scottish Rite Temple (pictured here), turn right on Artist road; the
sign says that Hyde State Park and the Santa Fe Ski Basin are this way.
|  |
 | Just after you leave Hyde Memorial park, there is a parking area on your
left. This is the trailhead parking area. The trailhead is shown here
in the photo, and it is at the edge of the parking area.
|
 | Right at the trailhead is a fork. One branch goes slightly up, the
other down. You want the branch that heads down.
After about half a mile (~700m) (it took us 11 minutes
of walking), you arrive at a fork in the trail (GPS: 150Y1). You can see Diana, Sue,
and Steve approaching the Y in the photo to the left. At this fork,
go right. You will be returning on the left fork. The trail has been
all downhill to this point. Now, you begin climbing slightly. However,
the climbing is only for a short period of time, and then you are slowly
descending again.
|
The trail is dirt, occasionally eroded. You are walking through an
aspen/fir forest.
|  |
 | About 45 minutes after you left the trailhead, you reach another
intersection (GPS: 150TC).
You can take this to see Tesuque Creek, but continue on the main trail.
|
At 1.77mi (2.85km) from the trailhead (about 46 minutes of walking),
you come to a bridge across the Rio Tesuque (GPS:
150Bridge). Cross here.
When the trail meets the stream, it makes a sharp right turn to get to
the bridge. If you continue straight you can cross on a log, with the
bridge about 20 ft to your right.
|  |
 | After you cross Tesuque Creek, continue for another few minutes for about
0.1 mi (190m). You will then reach the trail junction with trail 254
(GPS: 150254).
Go left.
|
The trail parallels Tesuque creek in the bottom of the valley. It is
more open here than when going up or down from the trailhead.
|  |
 | After about half an hour from the last trail junction (about a mile
or 1.53km), and you come to the junction with trail 182 (GPS: 254182)). This is the lowest
point of the hike. Turn left.
|
Cross the Tesuque Creek on this bridge and head uphill. After about 50
minutes, you will be back at the first Y in the trail and only a few
minutes from the trailhead.
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Plants we saw along the trail:
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