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| Hiking | 10.17 Miles |
2,183 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.17 Miles | 4 Hrs 37 Mns | | 2.55 mph |
| 2,183 ft AEG | 38 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This hike went to the summit of Burro Peak (elevation of 8,020 feet and prominence of 2,000 feet). Burro Peak is in the Big Burro Mountains of of SW New Mexico.
There is a 4WD road that goes up to nearby Jacks Peak, which has an antenna farm on top of it; so it is possible to drive within a half mile or so of Burro Peak. However, I decided to do a legitimate hike, so I hiked along the Continental Divide Trail to and from the summit. The Continental Divide Trail is 3,000 miles long and goes through 5 states (New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho) while connecting the US border with Chihuahua, Mexico on the south and Alberta, Canada on the north.
The trailhead is about 1/4 mile off of Highway 90, between Silver City and Lordsburg. The trailhead elevation is about 6,300 feet, and the trail is well maintained and very easy to follow. The vegetation is mostly desert scrub, pinyon pine, and juniper, although you start seeing some Ponderosa Pines as you get closer to 8,000 feet.
After 3.5 miles or so, the trail runs into the road going up to Jacks Peak. The trail crosses the road and continues on to Burro Peak, and goes within 100 feet of the Burro Peak summit.
There is an old version of the trail that goes up the road for about 1/2 mile before leaving the road and going north over to Burro Peak. That is the way that I went on the ascent, and on the descent I took the rerouted version of the trail. The rerouted version is the better of the two, although if you want to visit Jacks Peak it would make more sense to go the original route since it takes you almost to Jacks Peak.
I saw some bear scat on the trail down below Burro Peak, and there was a bit of snow on the trail on some northern slopes.
There were a lot of trees at the summit so there wasn't much in the way of views. I saw the benchmark and one reference mark. I believe that the true summit is about 100 feet south of the benchmark so I went there and signed the summit register that is at the highpoint. I was the first person to sign it in over a year, so it does not appear that too many people hike up to the summit of Burro Peak.
I enjoyed this hike -- it was on a nice trail with some decent scenery along the way. I did not encounter another human on the hike.
New Mexico seems like an underrated hiking destination. I have hike several times in the state and I have always enjoyed the hikes.
This was my 145th P2K peak (61 in AZ and 84 elsewhere). |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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