Sierra Vista Trail – Trail Maintenance Campout

On October 20-21, the Southern New Mexico Trail Alliance and volunteers did trail maintenance on the Sierra Vista Trail south of the Vado trailhead. This event and trail work was made possible through a National Trails Fund grant from the American Hiking Society. The day was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Trails Act.

The Sierra Vista Trail is a 30 mile long non-motorized trail trail stretching between the Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks National Monument (OMDP) outside of Las Cruces, NM south to the Franklin Mountains State Park in El Paso, TX. The trail is a National Recreation Trail (NRT), designated under the National Trails Act. The trail, a mix of single track, two track and gravel roads, provides a trip through geology and environments while living up to it’s name with expansive views of surrounding mountains in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Near the trail are the towns of Las Cruces, Mesquite, Vado, Anthony, Chapparel, and El Paso.

The trail maintenance day consisted of defining the trail, repairing eroded sections, and signing the trail with new Sierra Vista Trail, NRT, OMDP decals.

Several trail users have commented that this section of trail is hard to follow and have gotten lost due to an overgrown and braided trail. Last spring, SNMTA volunteers and the Bureau of Land Management had signed the trail from Highway 404 (Anthony Gap) north to Webb Gap and the powerline right of way road. On Saturday, the volunteer trail crew worked on a 1.5 mile section of single track. Representatives from the BLM, Friends of Organ Mountain Desert Peaks, Monumental Loop, SNMTA, along with volunteers from Las Cruces, NM and El Paso, TX attended the trail day and cookout. Katherine Bursum, the youngest volunteer of the day, made a video of the days work.

After a great day of trail work, we cooked up tacos in the discada and shared good times with a beautiful southern New Mexico sunset.

For those that camped out, Sunday morning provided tasty breakfast burritos in the discada (the perfect camp cooking implement) and an early morning trail run on the newly maintained trail. Thank you to all the volunteers, BLM and Friends staff, and the American Hiking Society National Trails Fund grant!