Trail Access Finally Comes to Glorieta

Long talked about and now finally in motion, the Glorieta Camps trails (formerly the Baptist Conference Center) will soon be available to public access via a newly constructed trail routing around the Campus to the southeast.

Working in tandem with Glorieta Camps, Santa Fe County, and IMBA, the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society has the lead on this project and is asking for trail work volunteers as well as contributions to fund the work, setting a goal of $2,500 (nearly half funded as of Nov 10). - Contribute Here -

Continuing work on the access trail is scheduled for this Sun Nov 12, 9am SHARP at the Glorieta Camps main gate.

..."We'll be working on building more of the Glorieta Access trail. We got over 1/2 of the initial section built 2 weeks ago and will be working on the rest. We'll work until around noon, have some lunch, and then ride the great trails at GC. Another sunny day, with a high forecast for mid-50's. SFFTS will provide all the tools needed for the trail work."

A map of the Glorieta system via Strava heatmap. Glorieta Camps at the center there with various trails branching out and up. The orange route tracing a north-south boundary to the east is the road up to the fire lookout and to access the descents.

UPDATE: The funding for this trail project came through in a big way: $3,045 in total which exceeds the goal amount by +25% and was the top funded project of the 68 proposed projects of this year's IMBA Dig In campaign. Very well done to the good folks at SFFTSociety.


Related Posts:
 - Drink Beer: Support Local Trails
 - Santa Fe Watershed Assoc's new Arroyo Project
 - Local Outdoor Charitable Organizations Need Your Support

Local Outdoor Charitable Organizations Need Your Support

Galisteo Basin Preserve

End of the year has arrived, a good time to take inventory of what has passed and what can be improved upon. I'm big on the many outdoor gems we have in and around town and the organizations that make them work. Toward year end (this year it happens to be the final day), I like to highlight these groups, what they do, and how to help them improve and do more.

All the below are northern New Mexico tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations, meaning they depend heavily on public interest, volunteers, and contributed dollars. They're also great places to find rad people with shared interests; writers, photographers, conservationists, cyclists, CPAs. The 501(c)(3) designation also means that a contribution made today is eligible for a current year tax deduction and can likewise be accepted tomorrow, monthly, or any random day throughout the year on behalf of general do-gooderness and a sense of building one's community.

The two organizations that (far and away) provide the most improvements and volunteer days on our trails are The Santa Fe Trails Alliance (the volunteer arm of The Santa Fe Conservation Trust), and The Santa Fe Fat Tire Society. Both terrific groups that could use a Saturday of your time as well as your financial support. In a joint effort over the last two summers, these two groups along with the Santa Fe National Forest Service have installed at least five new bridges recently along the Winsor Creek. If you've used a trail in the Santa Fe area over the last 20 years (Rail Trail, Dale Ball, Arroyo Hondo), The Conservation Trust is who you want to give thanks and appreciation. The Commonweal Conservancy manages the trail system out at Galisteo Basin Preserve, and has been fundraising this year for support of the ongoing work at GBP.

SFCT and the Trails Alliance - Since 1993

As far as the running community and support for running programs and events in and around Santa Fe, the most active organizations are the Santa Fe Striders, Girls on the Run, and WINGS of America. Most of the overflow revenue generated by the Striders is directed to the latter two organizations so you might consider just contributing to them directly.

The Santa Fe Watershed Association has taken an active role in beautifying the Santa Fe River and in turn the Santa Fe River Trail which now includes several miles of trail with more planned for next year.

SFFTS - Since 2011

All of these organizations are setup to accept funds electronically via the links below. I'm certain they accept checks by mail or in person too. Make it a resolution for the new year to be part of a trail build workday, attend a planning meeting, or take a minute now to give one of these organizations a boost and do your part to support the outdoors in Santa Fe and northern New Mexico:





  1. Santa Fe Girls on the Run
  2. Santa Fe Trails Alliance and The Santa Fe Conservation Trust
       (also supported by the Banff Film Festival; La Tierra Torture, XTERRA Glorieta, 2nd Street Brewery)
  3. Santa Fe Fat Tire Society (via membership)
  4. The Commonweal Conservancy
  5. WINGS of America
  6. Santa Fe Watershed Association (manages the SF River Greenway)
  7. The Santa Fe Striders (via the button below)

Related Posts:
 - Drink Beer - Support Local Trails (and the SFCT)
 - Local Trail Improvement Updates - New Tab!
 - Trail Improvements to Winsor and Galisteo Basin

Drink Beer - Support Local Trails

Awesome squared

Stopped off at 2nd Street Brewery last night. They're canning some of their beer now which is a terrific addition. They're also featuring a special batch of brew with the handle, Boneshaker Bitter, which is being marketed in tandem with the 20th anniversary of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. $.25 from each pint or can will go toward support of the SFCT and their mission to preserve land, build and maintain some of our largest rec trails on said land, and advocate for starry nights.

It's fitting that the two organizations are working together. Both 2nd Street Brewery locations sit along the Rail Trail, and though they're located on the city maintained sections, the Trail as it extends south of town toward Eldorado was one of the first efforts of the fledgling Conservation Trust back in 1994 (along with the build-out of the Dale Ball Trails). 2nd Street's campaign aims to raise at least $5,000 in funds for the Trust, in addition to providing a marketing platform for greater public support of their programs.

The Trust currently does more for area biking/hiking/running trails than any other organization in Santa Fe. Through their trail maintenance arm, the Santa Fe Trails Alliance, they organize and manage regular volunteer trail maintenance days on lands they hold in trust (Dale Ball, Arroyo Hondo) and those they don't (La Tierra, Winsor, Atalaya). A large pool of their volunteers is comprised of the good folks from the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society who - very appropriately - appreciate a well made beer from time to time.

Related Posts:
 - Craft Beer in New Mexico
 - The Santa Fe Rail Trail Re-Imagined
 - IMBA World Summit - Santa Fe, NM



View Santa Fe Rail Trail - Santa Fe, NM in a larger map

Trail Improvements on Winsor and Galisteo Basin

There was a slowdown in visible trail construction around town this year but that's not to mean that our trails were just lying unloved. The Santa Fe Fat Tire Society and the Santa Fe Trails Alliance continue to add to our existing recreation trail network with trail-work days, volunteer training, and now bridge construction. At least two new bridges went up on the Winsor Trail this Fall (at Borrego and lower Winsor), and one existing bridge saw improvements. If you've volunteered with the SF Trails Alliance you'll recognize some of the tools in the video below. If you participated in last October's IMBA World Summit you'll recognize the red shirts.

There's at least one more month of riding (and running) left before snow settles in on the higher sections of the mountains, so there's time to get one last ride in on Winsor and check out the new work.



BorregoBridge from Santa Fe Fat Tire Society (Brent Bonwell) on Vimeo

Prepping the bridge work

New crossing on lower Winsor - completed

Sawing logs on upper Winsor. USFS certification is required to cut and remove
deadfall in the National Forest. These two have that. 

Kicking man-sized logs to the trail side like a boss(es)

Sheehan fending off an early winter, taking trail work to the next level

Recent Fall improvements included:
  - Needed work on the La Piedra Trail switchbacks to bring them back into shape
  - New 1mi-2mi section of trail in the Galisteo Basin Preserve
  - Clean up and improvements at La Tierra after Septembers flooding and erosion

IMBA World Summit - Santa Fe, NM

If you happened to wander downtown Santa Fe yesterday you probably noticed it had been half-overrun with mountain bikers and serious top-of-the-line bikes (there were also bus loads of Balloon Fiesta visitors which is nice to see but not remotely as interesting as the bikes. Bikes!). Yep, the IMBA World Summit is here and will be anchored at the SF Convention Center through Saturday discussing bike advocacy, trails and trail building, marketing and branding strategies, and naturally getting out for some riding on our local trails followed by green chile and refreshments at the local establishments.

New trail maps at La Tierra

This is huge for Santa Fe and it's the impetus for the city and county accelerating the time table on the La Tierra master plan and rushing work to install maps and building out proper trailheads at the site (heavy machinery was still at the site on Sunday). A lot of the ground work for this was done by members and volunteers of the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society and the Santa Fe Trail Alliance (the volunteer arm of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust) and their partner sponsor REI Santa Fe (general manager Bob Ward is a huge trail advocate and bikeaphile). Literally thousands of volunteer hours have gone into our trail systems this summer, and if you're a frequent visitor it's impossible not to notice.

A couple of World Summit events open to the public include a scooter criterium on the Plaza this Friday (7pm), followed by a screening of Where the Trail Ends - Red Bull's new mountain bike feature - at the Santa Fe Convention Center ($10 admission). This afternoon, Thurs. 10/11, Red Bull athlete Darren Barrecloth and a few of his bros will be out at the La Tierra Jump Park beginning at 5pm. I don't know much about Darren but do know that he rode in Red Bull Rampage this year which is the equivalent of surfing Mavericks, skiing Valdez Alaska, or climbing alpine big walls. Only dudes with spooky levels of technical skill admitted.

Santa Fe Area Trails Land the Cover of Dirt Rag Magazine

Santa Fe's bike trails on the rise. 

Issue no. 164, (July '12)

Featured on this month's cover of Dirt Rag:  Santa Fe Singletrack

Cover story by Santa Fe Fat Tire Society's Bob Ward, who may be the man most responsible for the recent resurgence of mountain biking in Santa Fe.