Returning to the Cienega Canyon area, that we “discovered” recently. ‘Tis close to home but has nice trails and with a a bit of elevation for cooler temperatures.

The Drive In

Proceed as though you are going to Sandia Crest – from the turn off of NM 14 onto Sandia Crest Road, in 1.7 miles turn left into the entrance to Doc Long & Cienega Canyon Picnic Grounds. Turn left immediately on Cienega Canyon Picnic Ground road; park at the end. (Names courtesy GAIA.)

The Hike

Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).

Seeking a hike different than Cienega Canyon Trails Hike – 08/08/2025 but in the same area, we turned to GAIA. We found an “unmaintained” trail that went from the Cienega Canyon Picnic Ground south to an intersection with the Faulty Trail, from which we could return to the Picnic Ground. This made a nice loop (always preferred to an out-and-back hike).

The “unmaintained trail” (I’ve dubbed it Canyon PG Connector) begins the ascent for this hike – an easy couple of hundred feed on a quite nice trail – clearly it is used regularly. Like the trails in this area, it passes through a juniper/ponderosa/oak forest. Along the way we occasionally had glimpses of the San Pedro mountains to the east.

About a mile on we reached the intersection with the Faulty Trail and began the gentle climb from 7,400 feet to about 8,000 feet – another mile or so. This was mostly on an old two track and as a maintained trail was in good condition, good enough for mountain biking (judging from the tracks). From the 2-mile point into the hike, the trail was level for half a mile then … we were looking at a sheer rock wall and as we approached realized that it was on the other side of a Deep Canyon. We were momentarily puzzled – where to go from here – but then saw a trail going -down- the steep side of the canyon to the bottom and to intersect with the Cienega Trail (Faulty continues north for another 9 miles). The remainder of the hike was in this canyon, along the Cienega Trail then transitioning to the Acequia Trail back to parking. 

Statistics

Total Distance:  3.82 miles
Elevation: start 7,267 ft, maximum 7,877 ft,  minimum 7,246 ft
Gross gain: 631 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,104 ft, descending 1,103 ft
Maximum slope: 32% ascending, 36% descending, 8.7% average
Duration: 3:20, Average Speed: 1.1 mph

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

Cienega Canyon Trails Hike – 08/08/2025

References and Resources

AllTrails: Cienega Trail #148
.                 Sulphur and Cienega Canyon Loop
Dog of the Desert: Loop Hikes of the Doc Long-SulphurCanyon-CIenega Canyon Area
.                                 Armijo Trail Loop in the Sandia Mountains
Forest Service: Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands Trails
Southern New Mexico Explorer: Sandia Mountains Wilderness Loop Hike

Photos

George's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

Views to date: 4 views.

In all the years that we’ve been hiking, we never checked out trails from the Doc Long and Cienega Canyon picnic areas near the base of the road to Sandia Crest. We’ve discovered them, and will be returning – to this trail and the others thereabouts.

The Drive In

As though you are going to Sandia Crest – from the turn off of NM 14 onto Sandia Crest Road, in 1.7 miles turn left into the entrance to Doc Long & Cienega Canyon Picnic Grounds. Turn left immediately on Cienega Canyon Picnic Ground road; park at the end. (Names courtesy GAIA.) 

The Hike

Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).

A very nice, easy set of trails through a juniper/ponderosa forest (with a few oaks, too). The first trail,  Acequia Trail (227), runs parallel to the left of a closed road (Armijo Trail Access Road) for half a mile, to a turnabout. From there we hiked for a quarter mile on the Armijo Trail (222), then turned left onto the  Valle Trail. Next, .3 miles later, we turned left again onto the Pine Drop Trail (224). It was then 3/4 mile to the point where Pine Drop Tee’d at the Armijo Trail (222). Turning right on Armijo, it was then 1.6 miles back to the Acequia Trail and half a mile to the trailhead. (All trail identification courtesy GAIA. Use this link to the hike in GAIA.)

The trail is well used (hike, bike, horseback) and in very good condition – wide and mostly smooth (a few area a bit rocky). Elevation changes are small and gradual. The trail is in open shade except on top of the hill, the  middle half of Pine Drop. 

Highlight

This hike is part of a set of trails that offer great opportunities to alternatives, including loops rather than out-and-back hikes. We had set out to do a loop around the Un Poquito Trail (241), starting at the end of the Armijo Trail Access Road . But we found upon arrival that the Road is closed so the Acequia Trail was added to the hike. . around the Un Poquito Trail (241) – we did not realize we couldn’t drive to the end of the Armijo Trail Access Road and Acequia became part of our hike. But there were trails that cut across the ‘loop’; in fact we opted to not continue onto Un Poquito Trail (241) as planned, but continued on Pine Drop to Armijo. 

Statistics

Total Distance:  3.09 miles
Elevation: start 7,239 ft, maximum 7,262 ft,  minimum 7,096 ft
Gross gain: 166 ft.  Aggregate ascending 724 ft, descending 723 ft
Maximum slope: 31% ascending, 26% descending, 6.9% average
Duration: 2:13, Average Speed: 1.4 mph, Shade: 90%

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

Our first hike hereabouts.

References and Resources

AllTrails: Cienega Trail #148
.                 Sulphur and Cienega Canyon Loop
Dog of the Desert: Loop Hikes of the Doc Long-SulphurCanyon-CIenega Canyon Area
.                                 Armijo Trail Loop in the Sandia Mountains
Forest Service: Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands Trails
Southern New Mexico Explorer: Sandia Mountains Wilderness Loop Hike

Photos

George's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

Views to date: 21 views.

Pat & I are working ourselves back into hiking, after nearly a year off-trail, me with issues with stenosis. We’re rebuilding our hiking muscles with lots of walking along the Rio Grande (in the bosque) and getting out on a trail each week., each week a bit more challenging.

The Drive In

From downtown Albuquerque: east on I-40 to the Tijeras turnoff, then north on NM 14 through Cedar Crest to Antonito and the turnoff for NM 536, Sandia Crest Road (also known as the Sandia Scenic Highway). The Tecolote Trailhead is not far up the Crest Road: six miles from San Antonio/NM 14 to the Dry Camp Picnic Ground – parking and a pit toilet.  

The Hike

Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).

We haven’t done much hiking on the east slopes of the Sandia Mountains. This trail fit our current criteria – reasonable length and elevation change.

• The trail starts out with an easy climb (10% slope) from 8,620 to 8,820 feet in 2/3rd of a mile. It remains at that elevation for 1/3rd of a mile, then makes again an easy descent to the end of the ridge on which the trail is situated (another 1/3rd of a mile).  
• Generally the trail is a smooth surface; there are a few sections that are a bit rocky.
• The trail proceeds through a juniper and piñon “forest” (this type “forest” is never very tall) with some sections of oak bushes flanking the trail. Thus there isn’t a lot of shade, ‘tho the elevation of close to 9,000 moderates the summertime temperatures (but none-the-less we start early).
• Midway on the ridge, we came across this interesting .. relic of some unknown activity?
• At the end of the ridge, as the trail makes a small loop, one enjoys a great view of the territory east of the Sandias – the valley across to the San Pedro mountains and on the horizon to the northeast, the Sangre de Cristo mountains.
• • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Highlight

It seems that on nearly all the trails on which we hike, there are flowers in blossom. And I’m invariably drawn to take photos and share them with readers of my Posts. So here are photos that I collected on this hike.

Statistics

Total Distance:  2.6 miles
Elevation: start 8,630 ft, maximum 8,831 ft,  minimum 8,629 ft
Gross gain: 202 ft.  Aggregate ascending 637 ft, descending 638 ft
Maximum slope: 47% ascending, 30% descending, 7.7% average
Duration: 3:12, Average Speed: 0.8 mph

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.

References and Resources

AllTrails: Tecolote Trail
Dog of the Desert: Tecolote Trail in the Sandia Mountains

Views to date: 3 views.