Continental Divide Trail Ride

2015 Continental Divide Ride

Come join us for a beautiful fall ride at Continental Divide on Nov. 7^th, 2015.

We will ride out at 10:30 am and ride for about 2 hours.  We will have lunch in camp, so bring your lunch and something to share with the group.  There is no water up there, so bring water for your horse.

There is plenty of room at the trail head to park trailers, and an easy turn-around.  There is also plenty of room to camp, so you may want to come early and camp Friday night or stay Saturday night too.

It is high (about 7500 ft.) so it will be chilly.  Dress accordingly.  Also wear bright colors, as there may be hunters out there.

Directions to the trail head are as follows:

Follow I -40 towards Gallup.  Take exit 47 at Continental Divide.  Turn South from the exit and then turn right.  You will pass a building with a blue roof ( used to be a Stuckey’s) on the left.  Go  0.2 miles and turn left onto FR 464.  You will go over a cattle guard and onto a one lane paved road.  Follow this road for 3.8 miles.  At 3.3 miles you will go through a gate into USFS land.  There are some corrals on the left.  Turn left here to the parking area.  There are flat areas on the right that are good for camping.

There is a gas station and a shop at Continental Divide where you turn off I-40.

If you have questions, or you need a weather report on the morning of the ride, call

Jackie @ 870-4671  or  Ken @ 870-4670

This ride is hosted by the Zuni Mountain Trail Riders and the Back Country Horsemen of NM – Northwest chapter.  We welcome interested trail riders who want to join us.

Continental Divide Equestrian Trails

1.     Radar Hill Lookout Loop. This loop starts on the southeast side of the hill near the camping area and follows the old paved road to the top of the hill. There is an open area at the top were you can take photos of the valley below. Then you can follow the road back around the northwest side of the hill back down to one of two connector roads.  0.6 miles

2.     Connector to Rim Road- An old dirt road that connects to the Road 1 or to Rim Road. 0.4 miles

3.     Rim Road- An old two track road. 0.4 miles to the Rim Loop road.

4.     Rim Loop- Follows the edge of the cliff and dead ends at a private property fenceline. 0.3 miles round trip.

Rim Road and Rim loop total mileage 0.7miles

5.     Off the Rim- Trail is unmarked and undeveloped. We just followed the edge of the rim back to a safe place to descend into the valley. 0.5 miles

6.      Road 1 Currently existing USFS road leaving the west end of the parking areas down the hill and into the valley. 1.2 miles to junction with Easy Loop

7.     Shortcut- Additional two track trail connector between Road 1 and Easy Loop 0.4 miles

8.     Easy Loop- Follows designated USFS road to junction with East Road. 2.2 miles

9.     Hill Climb- Follows old logging/two track trail until it fades out near the south end. Junction with East Road is not developed and difficult to locate. Does climb in elevation and has rocky climbs. 1.6 miles

10.  East Road- Junctions with Road 1 at the bottom of the hill and heads east past the stock tank. Follows a designated USFS road past the junction with Easy Loop. Near the junction with Hill Climb, the road fades and the trail becomes undeveloped. Difficult to locate a junction with Hill Climb. 3.2 miles one way.

11.  Lost Shoe Turnaround- Difficult rocky area. We didn’t ride much in this area after one of the horses lost a shoe 0.6 miles both ways.

12.  Corral Trail- Two track trail with a small portion through private land around a livestock corral and joins with East Road. 0.6 miles

13.  Homestead Road- Two track trail continues west from the junction of Easy Loop and Road 1. It zig-zags around some pretty rock formations and then follows an old railroad spur. You will see old rail road ties along the way. When you come to the gate/fence at the spring, you cross into State of NM land and then a short while later it cuts back into USFS land. You will see the remains of several cabins and or corrals along both sides of the road. 1.2 miles one way. So far I haven’t worked out a loop back from there.

Trail loops from parking area to down Road 1 to Easy Loop and back around to East Road then back up Corral Trail – 4.4 miles.

From parking area down either East Road or Road 1 to Hill Climb and back to Easy Loop then back to parking area – 7.2 miles. Keep in mind that the junction between Hill
Climb and East Road has not been marked or developed.