The Lasso Loop Lineup is a Wrap!

Thank you to NMICL, the City of Socorro, and all the volunteers who helped pull off the Lasso Loop Lineup youth MTB race this weekend. We had 118 racers from middle school through high school and a lot of positive feedback (though we could have all done without the wind!) Thank you racers, coaches and parents for coming out! 

We're proud of our little part in it and happy to see that the race course held up to its first test. It was really rewarding to see these young athletes push their limits while demonstrating fair and generous behavior - especially the varsity girls who were neck and neck for four laps! There are always lessons learned with a new event, but we're calling this one a success and look forward to making the Rodeo Grounds Hoedown Throwdown on October 28-29 even better!

Landavaso Trail Progress

Here's a quick report from Mike Comiskey of the BLM Socorro Field office about the Landavaso Trail build day last Saturday:

Thank you everyone for the great turnout and hard work.  We had 13 hardworking volunteers that came up from the Socorro area, 2 all the way from Datil New Mexico and 14 from Magdalena for a total of 29 trailbuilders!  The lower loop of the trail is 98% complete due to the hard work on National Public Lands Day, with a couple small sections still in the rough cut stage.  The longer upper loop is completely rough cut so the entire trail is very walkable and easy to follow, but will require users to be carful and watch their footing on the rough cut sections.  Thank you everyone who participated and thank you to the great partners who contributed drinks, snacks, vouchers, and their valuable time. If there are any questions about the Landavaso trail, or any BLM trails in Socorro and Catron County contact the BLM Socorro Field Office, or BLM New Mexico webpage.  

Here's a link to some photos from the day. And here's the location of the trailhead if you'd like to check it out. 

Inaugural Youth MTB Race - Saturday Sept 30th!

It's on! We're hosting the Lasso Loop Lineup at the Socorro Rodeo Grounds & Sports Complex on Saturday September 30th! This will be the first of two youth mountain bike races hosted in Socorro this fall. We've had great support from the volunteer crew on trail construction for the race course, and now we need your help putting on the event. 

If you're willing to volunteer please sign up through the volunteer registration form. If you can't make the full day, then we hope to see you out to cheer the kids on and soak in some of the good vibes!

Landavaso Trail Project - Saturday Sept 23rd

Time to kick-off our next project! The BLM Socorro Field Office is organizing a volunteer build day to break ground on the Landavaso Trail System near Magdalena on Saturday September 23rd (National Public Lands Day)

This will be a nice little multi-use trail just north of Hwy 60 and the Magdalena airport, so easy to get to and in a quite pretty area. The plan is to work from 9am to 2pm. 

If you're willing to pitch in please contact us so we can get a rough headcount (though walk-up volunteers are certainly welcome). Hope to see many of you there!

North Baldy Trail 8 Cleared

Thanks to the crew of volunteers for clearing overgrowth and dead-fall on North Baldy Trail 8 this weekend!

This was a difficult project - Trail 8 is challenging logistically and a long hike no matter how you tackle it. However, it's also a central trail connecting North Fork, Copper Canyon, and Hop Canyon Trails, so having this work done makes a lot of hikes and bike rides in the area more fun. 

Thanks for stepping up folks! You can always find out where we've been putting our effort in the Magdalena Mountains by checking the Magdalena Trails Status Map. Anything green is sorted. 

As always, if you're interested in volunteering with us please contact us. 

Descansos Trail is Done!

With appreciation to the BLM and the Rocky Mountain Youth Corp team for finishing it, the Descansos Trail is now fully open. This is a scenic and interesting hike, or a fun, flowy and technical advanced trail on a mountain bike. 

The trail extends from the ridge below Gramont Peak north towards the Box and then east towards the Shrine near Highway 60, which now functions as a trailhead. Make it into a loop with the Black Canyon and Gramont Peak trails. 

The approach trail on the old road by the Shrine still needs some finish work but is useful, and the single track is done. We're in the process of uploading the trail to MTB Project, Trailforks and Hiking Project to make it easy to find. Share some photos if you check it out!

Hop Canyon trails 25 & 25A are clear!

With thanks to our friends at the New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors, we held a joint trail maintenance day on Trails 25 and 25A heading out of Hop Canyon south of Magdalena, NM. 

One crew worked on clearing the deadfall on Trail 25, while the second crew worked on the overgrowth and a bit of deadfall on Trail 25A. I think in total we cleared 24 trees and brushed 5 miles of trail!

There are a few photos from the crew on TR25 at the NMVFO Flickr page if you're interested. And if you'd like to know if a trail has been worked on before your next hike or bike trip, check out our trail status map - any trails in green are good to go!