PECOS WILDERNESS TRAILS
Overview

The Pecos Wilderness Trails program was established by Troop 285 of Albuquerque in the early 1980's. This excellent series of trails became the first series in the Order of the Arrow Lodge 66 Trails Program. As such it set the standard of excellence for future trails to be measured. Troop 285 should be commended and be very proud of their efforts to promote hiking and backpacking with this Pecos Wilderness Trails program.

Pecos Wilderness in Northern New Mexico offers excellent hiking and backpacking in a beautiful mountainous wilderness area. Hundreds of miles of well-developed trails take the hiker or backpacker from elevations as low as 8,500 ft. to over 12,500 feet with spectacular views of the plains and mountains of New Mexico. The terrain is very rugged in many areas.

Many of the trails are above 11,000 ft. elevation. Lightening is always a danger at this elevation, particularly in the meadows, along ridges and on the peaks. Dehydration is also a problem at these elevations and you must guard against this at all times.

Most trails start and end at the same location. Starting points include the Cowles, NM, area (5 trails), Camp Frank Rand (4 trails), and one trail each from Borrego Mesa Campground, Elk Mountain, Santa Fe Ski Basin and Tres Ritos.

Be prepared for wet feet when hiking along the Rio Frijoles (Trail 154) as there are numerous river crossings. You should consider tennis shoes with good ankle support for this portion of the hike and then switching to hiking boots once you leave the Rio Frijoles.

Several of the trails can be hiked either as day hikes or as backpacks. All hikers must have both the Visitor's Guide to the Pecos Wilderness, available at Forest Service Offices, and the USGS topographic maps in their possession when planning and hiking in the Wilderness. Know Pecos Wilderness Rules and Regulations. Camping and campfires are not permitted in lake basins, Beatty's Flats or the Pecos Falls area.

You are also strongly urged to read about the trails you intend to hike. The book Trail Guide: Pecos Wilderness/Santa Fe National Forest listed in the reference section is very informative.

No attempt was made to indicate hiking time in this booklet. Instead, the length and elevation change encountered for each hike is shown in graphical form. A degree of difficulty is also given, but these should be used as a rough guide also. What is easy for one person, may be difficult for another. The mileage was determined by measuring distance on the appropriate USGS topo maps.

The notation used in describing the trails to follow is as follows:

Trail A (2 mi.) ->Trail B (3 mi.) -> End of trail

Read this as take Trail A two miles to Trail B. Take Trail B three miles to the end of the trail.