July Gila Trails Update

In this Newsletter:

- Current Conditions

- Day Adventures

- Backcountry Adventures

- Fall Trail Project Schedule

McKnight Canyon Trail #92 Photo Credit Marion MacDonald

Current Conditions

Turkey Feather Fire

This fire has evaded many passing rainstorms and grown substancially over the past weeks. Thankfully, most of the fire is reportedly a healthy burn. And some of it reburned areas of the 2012 fire that were an impassible pile of downed logs such as near Turkeyfeather Mountain. It is hopefully improved by the fire.

Watch Duty Map - Turkey Feather Fire

Despite this positive news, water is minimal in the area. Gilita Creek is dry and Iron Creek only has puddles here and there but is mostly underground.

With the ongoing drought, it is unclear how trees in low-intensity soil burn areas will respond. In the Trout Fire low-intensity soil burn area, trees continued to die because they were already stressed before the fire.

Will that happen in the Turkey Feather Fire footprint also?

Are you familiar with the area where this fire burned?

If not, Ty Lee, Grant County native, rode through this area just a few weeks before the burn.

Check out his YouTube videos of the Jerky Mountains and Clayton Mesa to Snow Lake.

Have you ever wished for a nice coffee and a freshly-baked muffin or scone after the winding road to Gila Hot Springs, en route to many Gila Wilderness adventure opportunities?

Now that is an option, if you are traveling through Gila Hot Springs from

9:00 a.m. to noon on weekends.

Patsy's Magic Diner in Gila Hot Springs

They are set up next to the Red Barn in the RV Park.

And once they are done renovating their food cart, sometime this fall, there will be additional breakfast and lunch options. Stay Tuned.

Trail Accomplishments - January to June 2025

Check out the list for ideas of where to adventure next.

Huge Thanks to ALL the volunteers who helped with the trail projects... "Keeping Trails Open for ALL."

Trail Accomplishments

Fire Danger and Drought Levels

While fire restrictions have been recinded for the Gila National Forest, fire danger remains Very High and the drought rating is between Exceptional and Extreme depending on the area. Exceptional is the highest drought rating possible.

Learn more about Catron and Grant County Drought Levels and view map of drought.

It can be confusing to hear about flash-flooding in areas and also hear about mega drought. The monsoons have been very spotty at best. And because this drought is multi-year, the springs and dry creeks have not had enough water to recover. That will take a substantial amount of rain in most cases.

In many areas, despite a high percentage of rain, the hourly forecast shows only .02 or .01 rain for the day. This is not enough to recharge springs.

Map from: Grant County, NM Drought Monitor | mansfieldnewsjournal.com

This drought is having a visible effect on the trees. The hillsides are now dotted with brown, dead trees that were green just a few weeks ago. And more are rapidly turning brown as the heat and lack of rain persist.

Hoping for more rain!

Learning Wild Film

Natural Curiosity, a non-profit located on the east side of the Aldo Leopold Wilderness, has a film on PBS:

LEARNING WILD

"In the rugged backcountry of the Gila National Forest, Dr. Travis Perry of Furman University runs a unique field school, allowing biology and ecology students to live and work in this remote and challenging environment. See what happens when they interact with wolves, bear and other wildlife on their journey to become the conservation leaders of the future."

Watch Now

Trout Fire Trail Conditions

Please remember that the Trout Fire Closures are still in effect.

For those who are wondering what happened to this great network of trails, below is an update sent from the Forest Service BAER team.

The highest-impacted trail will be Allie Canyon. High severity burn in the upper watershed is projected to see the most outflow once that area gets significant rain. It's already rained well over 2" on that area, and we've seen considerable flood damage in the canyon bottom. The access road from 35 is currently impassable.

Other impacts include the CDT near the Black Peak/Lockney Road area. We will definitely see an expansion of the locust patch from the Signal Fire footprint. Some areas in high-severity burns appear likely to experience erosion impacts.

Another area of potential issues is the upper section of the Woodhaul Wagon Road Trail, where the old roadbed has some insloping and berming that will be an issue with significant rainfall. There is also a spot that will probably blow out if we get a big enough rain event before we can do any kind of treatment.

Another big takeaway is that the soil burn severity map does not match up with the mortality of trees in the "low severity" areas. The trees were already stressed due to the drought conditions, so it's likely that deadfall will be a consistent issue on the CDT south of Sapillo in the years following this fire.

Overall, the effects of this fire on our trails system are pronounced but not nearly on the scale we've seen with some of our past fires.

Adventure at your own risk.

Trail conditions change.

Recreate Responsibly

Day Adventures

Mcknight Canyon Trail #92

This trail has a flowing creek, green grass, flowers and more!

2.7 miles maintained.

This trail drops off Kelly Mesa into McKnight Canyon. Despite a recent burn in the canyon, the trail still passes through a diverse ecosystem featuring large oaks, ponderosa pines, and juniper trees. The trail alternates between crossing the flowing creek and then climbing above it to travel along a high bench for a while. Along the trail, you will also see large piles of flood debris. Amazing to visualize how high the water was at one point. Stay out of the canyon if there is a risk of flash flooding.

Note: Be aware that the road to the trailhead requires at least a medium clearance vehicle and can get slippery in places after big rains. Also, at the turn off of highway 35 - be sure to take #151 and NOT #152 or the road up the Mimbres.

Trail Info

East Railroad Canyon Trail

East Railroad Trail #130 - 1st mile maintained.

This trail is 2 miles up from the Railroad Campground, so it's a great 6-mile round-trip adventure. Thanks to Conservation Corps New Mexico for all their work - retreading, brushing and logging the trail.

This trail needs hikers to help keep the tread established. Please consider enjoying this trail in the near future.

Some flowing water in Railroad Canyon. The only downside is that there are cows and cow poop all along the creek and trail in Railroad Canyon.

Interactive Map

Backcountry Adventures

There is so little water, it may be best to wait till another time to explore the backcountry unless you are staying along the riverways. Hopefully, August will bring the rain we need.

Thankfully, there are still lots of day adventure options!