Holy Ghost campground loop

Diana in a field of wildflowers along the trail

A short loop around the Holy Ghost campground. If the weather has been right, you will be rewarded by an amazing diversity of wildflowers. If you are staying at the campground, this is a loop you should consider.

Hike data

Waypoints

Maps

Getting to the trailhead

About the hike

Plants along the trail

Comments

Hike data:

Controlling agency:

Santa Fe National Forest; Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District

Region:

North-central; Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Elevation:

start:	8133ft; 2479m	end:	8133ft; 2479m
min:	8133ft; 2479m	max:	8395ft; 2559m

elevation gain/loss: 639ft; 195m.
Altitudes from GPS.

Length:

1.93mi; 3.11km.

Trail:

surface: mixed dirt/rock

condition: narrow

ease of following: easy

obstacles: Occasional small stumps to trip you. The trail sometimes slopes with the canyon side meaning you are walking at an angle.

Fee:

$0.00. Park at the trailhead before the campground or you have to pay $8.00/day.

Season:

April 01 to November 30. Actual season depends on snow.

Dogs:

Yes. on leash

Bikes:

Unknown.

Handicapped accessible:

No.

Trailhead facilities:

water. In the campground trash can(s). In the campground vault toilet(s). In the campground

Hike attractions:

wildflowers, scenery, stream.

When we hiked it:

Date:	2012-08-14
Time it took us:	0:56. moving time. We were stopped (photos, plants, etc) for 1:24.
Usage (people/hour):	0.00. We saw nobody on the trail.
Cleanliness:	9. The only litter was in the campground.

Waypoints:

Waypoint	Type	Description
Holy Ghost TH	Trailhead	Holy Ghost trail #283 trailhead

Maps:

Paper maps:

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.
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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Getting to the trailhead:

You are going to just outside of the Holy Ghost campground.

Otherwise, from the town of Pecos, NM, take New Mexico 63 north. This road is narrow and it has many sharp turns.

After about 13 miles, you will see a sign indicating Holy Ghost is to the left. Take this even more winding, one-lane pothole-filled road (Forest road 122) about 2.2 miles to the trailhead right before you reach the Holy Ghost campground which is at the end of the road.

The trailhead is across the road from all of the tall, large signs. I was standing near them when I took this photo. There are a lot of false trails near the signs; they all seem to go to the stream.

About the hike:

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Plants we saw along the trail:

Box elder, ash-leaf maple, or three-leaf maple (Aceraceae Acer negundo)
Western poison ivy (Anacardiaceae Toxicodendron rydbergii)
Mountain parsley or alpine false springparsley (Apiaceae Pseudocymopterus montanus)
Indian hemp (Apocynaceae Apocynum cannabinum)
Western yarrow (Asteraceae Achillea millefolium var. occidentalis)
Thistle (Asteraceae Cirsium)
Common dandelion (Asteraceae Taraxacum officinale)
Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon or Salsify (Asteraceae Tragopogon lamottei)
Creeping barberry or Oregon Grape (Berberidaceae Mahonia repens)
Thinleaf alder (Betulaceae Alnus incana tenuifolia)
Harebell or Bluebell bellflower (Campanulaceae Campanula rotundifolia)
Mountain snowberry (Caprifoliaceae Symphoricarpos oreophilus)
Alpine Juniper (Cupressaceae Juniperus communis)
Red clover (Fabaceae Trifolium pratense)
Gambel oak (Fagaceae Quercus gambelii)
Pineywoods geranium (Geraniaceae Geranium caespitosum)
Richardson geranium (Geraniaceae Geranium richardsonii)
Wax currant (Grossulariaceae Ribes cereum)
Rocky Mountain iris (Iridaceae Iris missouriensis)
Nodding onion (Liliaceae Allium cernuum)
Star solomon seal or starry false lily of the valley (Liliaceae Maianthemum stellatum)
Lewis flax or blue flax (Linaceae Linum lewisii)
Woodland pinedrops (Monotropaceae Pterospora andromedea)
White fir (Pinaceae Abies concolor)
Engelmann spruce (Pinaceae Picea engelmannii)
Blue spruce (Pinaceae Picea pungens)
Ponderosa pine (Pinaceae Pinus ponderosa)
Douglas-fir (Pinaceae Pseudotsuga)
Scarlet gilia or scarlet skyrocket (Polemoniaceae Ipomopsis aggregata)
Leather flower (Ranunculaceae Clematis)
Meadow-rue (Ranunculaceae Thalictrum)
Alderleaf mountain mahogany (Rosaceae Cercocarpus montanus)
Chokecherry (Rosaceae Prunus virginiana)
Wood's rose (Rosaceae Rosa woodsii)
Thimbleberry (Rosaceae Rubus parviflorus)
Quaking aspen (Salicaceae Populus tremuloides)
Indian paintbrush (Scrophulariaceae Castilleja)
Beardlip penstemon or scarlet penstemon (Scrophulariaceae Penstemon barbatus)
MacDougal verbena or spiked verbena (Verbenaceae Verbena macdougalii)
Canadian white violet (Violaceae Viola canadensis)

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