Before the weather turns colder, and snow comes to the Jemez, and having hiked in all of the canyons off of the Rio Cebolla, we headed to the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. This is a most beautiful area, with higher elevations than other parts of the Jemez, and tho’ further in miles than the Rio Cebolla the drive is on highway/paved roads. Thus the time to get there from Bernalillo is about the same.
The Hike
San Gregorio.Jay.2017-08-20
We opted for the Vacas Trail (#51), starting at the San Gregorio Lake trailhead as our first outing in the San Pedro Parks. This looked like an easy trail and closest driving distance from Bernalillo. It appears to be quite heavily used, relatively level on easy walking surface. Its pretty much a steady climb through open woods, past the San Gregorio Reservoir. We turned left some distance above the reservoir, at the junction with the Damian Trail to remain on the Vacas Trail, continuing up Clear Creek (which had a trickle of water running). We stopped for our mid-hike break, at 3.44 miles, at the junction with other trails in the Wilderness.
There is much more to explore in the San Pedro Parks – we will return.
Statistics
Total Distance: 6.73 miles
Elevation: start 9,218 ft, maximum 9,972 ft, minimum 9,218 ft
Gross gain: 754 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,257 ft, descending 1,258 ft
Maximum slope: 43% ascending, 32% descending, 6% average
Duration: 3:31
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I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. 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 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.
Related Posts
Hikes in San Pedro Parks
References
USDA/Forest Service: Vacas Trail/San Gregorio Lake Trailhead #51
ondafringe.com:
Backpacking: San Pedro Parks Wilderness …2013
Backpacking: San Pedro Parks Wilderness …2016
SummitPost.org: San Pedro Parks Wilderness
Wilderness Connect: San Pedro Parks Wilderness
Continental Divide Trail Coalition: San Pedro Parks Wilderness …
The Outbound Collective: Backpack the Vacas Trail Loop
