Alamos Vista Trail Hike – 11/04/2026

It is November – we are not going to high altitude to escape the summer heat. But it is not yet winter – we can hike more on the higher altitude mountain trails of the Sangre de Cristo .. without snow. This trail escaped our attention until recently – we’re adding it it to our repertoire of hikes in this part of these mountains.

The Drive In

This trail begins at the well known trailhead for the  Aspen Vista Trail. Drive up Hyde Park Road (SR 475); continue 4.3 miles past the Hyde Memorial State Park main entrance. There is ample parking on the right (although it is chock full during aspen viewing season).

The Hike

We have passed the trailhead for today’s hike many times as we hiked the Aspen Vista trail; it is just inside the gate to the left. It is obvious now – a well worn entrance to a trail that begins a continuously steep climb for 1.2 miles and 1,223 feet – you might get the idea from the GoogleEarth screenshot above.

The trail proceeds through sections of fir forest, then sections of aspen forest. Much of it is rock, sometimes firm sometimes loose, with a few stretches of firm dirt.

As mentioned above, the trail climbs continuously – only one short break with near level ground. Much is on a rocky surface with occasional sections of more open dirt which is often covered in aspen leaves – very nice, these sections.

The trail was dry for maybe half the distance – some small pockets of snow off-trail in shadows. On the upper half, the amount of snow increased gradually, first alongside the trail, then sections with soft ice and snow, and near the top covered with an inch or so of snow.

And at the top – from the upper end of the Upper Chief ski lift of the Ski Santa Fe, the view in all directions made it worth the climb. 

The climb up was steep, but we’ve been doing such climbs on other trails recently. The descent burned me out .. 1.2 miles of concentration for most every step, bending one knee while maintaining coordination and balance to control the other leg, carefully planting the left foot onto a solid level surface. The takeaway – I will be working hard on deep knee bends and other exercises in coming weeks to strengthen those knee muscles.

Highlight

A beautiful, challenging trail .. and to have completed it. And  .. our first foray into snow (‘tho just a small amount) .. I look forward to more if it this winter.

Statistics

Total Distance: 2.45 miles
Elevation: start 10,280 ft, maximum 11,185 ft,  minimum 9,982 ft
Gross gain: 1,223 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,221 ft, descending 1,220 ft
Maximum slope: 33% ascending, 36% descending, 18.7% average
Duration: 3:36, Average Speed: 0.6 mph, Shade: 50%

GPS Track Files for Download
Alamos Vista Trail Hike.Jay.2026-11-04 (KML)	10 Downloads
Alamos Vista Trail Hike.Jay.2026-11-04 (GPX)	9 Downloads
Alamos Vista Trail Hike.Jay.2026-11-04 (GAIA)	20 Downloads
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out  Using Google Earth Track Files.

Related Posts

Aspen Vista Trail Hike – 08/10/2026
Tesuque Creek & Aspen Vista Loop – 8/28/2021
Aspen Vista Trail – 07/22/2018

References and Resources

AI Review: Alamos Vista Trail
AllTrails: Alamos Vista Trail
Hiking Project: Alamo Vista
onX: Alamos Vista Trail
Ski Santafe: Map of Lifts and Trails

Jay’s Hipstamatic Photos

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