A rare solo hike for me … my hiking partners were out of town. I picked this hike/trails because previous hikes here were long ago and I wanted a trail with some elevation gain. Three Gun Springs is our customary workout trail (elevation gain), but South Crest is also close to home and I haven’t been on this southern section of Faulty for a very long time (2013?) … so I chose it. And had a -great hike-.
The Drive In
The South Crest Trail begins at the Canyon Estates – Grand Enchantment Trailhead. The Trailhead is uphill from the main intersection in Tijeras; from that intersection go north as ‘tho you are getting onto I-40. But … don’t turn left; instead continue beyond the westbound entrance ramp, then turn to the right and follow Arrowhead Trail to the end where you will find a loop parking area for the Trailhead.
The Hike
South Crest-Faulty Trails Hike.Solo.2026-05-03
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line). Click on the image for a full-screen view, then <back> to return to this page.
As I noted above, I have not being on this trail combination recently – uh, more that 10 years ago. And my posts then were minimal so … here’s my take:
The trailhead is the southern terminus of the Crest Trail that begins at the northern edge of the Sandia Mountains adjacent to Placitas. For this hike, one is on the South Crest Trail for a a mile, to the intersection of Faulty and South Crest. In that distance, one gains about 500 feet elevation. This portion of the Crest Trail is well used – it is so accessible and offers an interesting feature, the Travertine Falls (a half mile from the trailhead). There are a few rocky areas but no steep sections – I consider it to be easy to moderate.
The intersection with the Faulty Trail is about a mile on; this amounts to the southern terminus of the Faulty Trail which goes north for 16 miles along the lower slope of the Sandias. Jay and I have hiked a northern section of Faulty. around Palomas Peak, a couple of times (Palomas Peak hikes).
Turning right onto Faulty one faces a quite steep, rocky trail for 100 yards or so (that’s a horizontal measurement) and 80 feet elevation gain – 25% slope.
From there the trail, 
continuing to be well used with gentle elevation gains (with gradual ups and downs) >=> easy hiking.
‘Tho this day was not a hot one, the shade of the forest was welcome. At the lower elevation, piñon and juniper trees predominate with oak underbrush. As is typical, reaching near 7,000 a few ponderosa pines appeared; they became more common through the remainder of the outbound hike. The trail alternated between traversing a slope and areas of flat open forest — all in all most pleasant. And along the way there were just enough flowers in bloom to add a modicum of color to the scenery.
Statistics
Total Distance: 4.74 miles
Elevation: start 6,555 ft, maximum 7,579 ft, minimum 6,554 ft
Gross gain: 1,025 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,379 ft, descending 1.380 ft
Maximum slope: 33% ascending, 32% descending, 9.3% average
Duration: 5:34, Average Speed: 0.9 mph, Shade: 40%
| GPS Track Files for Download | |
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| Link to GAIA GPS: “South Crest-Faulty Trails Hike.Solo.2026-05-03” | |
| If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, give it a try. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get good idea of the hike and the terrain. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files. | |
Related Posts
South Crest Trail Hike – 04/02/2017
South Crest Trail-Faulty Loop Trail Hike – 05/05/2013
Faulty Loop Hike – 02/13/2013
Hikes in Tijeras Canyon
References and Resources
AllTrails: Faulty Trail #195
South Crest Trail
ASCHG: Faulty Trail – End to End
Faulty Loop
South Crest from Canyon Estates
The Gentle Art of Wandering: Looking for Medallion Trees on the Faulty Trail
Dog of the Desert: South Crest-Faulty Loop Hike in the Sandias
South End of the Crest Trail …
Outbound: Hike the Upper Faulty Loop
TrailForks: Faulty #195
SummitPost: South Crest Trail No. 130S
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