Trail Suggestions for the Gila National Forest (1 Viewer)

[KMGHMG]

Hey Guys...

I posted this elsewhere on Mud yesterday and haven't gotten anything yet. One of the guys suggested that I post it here instead.... Thanks in advance for whatever info you might provide! -- Matt


We'll be taking our 100 Series to the Gila National Forest in mid-March. I'd love to hear any trail suggestions you might have. The wife and three kids will be with me, so we won't be doing any hard wheeling. But, we love scenic, off pavement, backcountry driving. We'll be there for a week staying in our RV in Silver City proper. So, we're looking at doing day trips from there. We're especially interested in seeing wildlife, which we hear is abundant there, and doing some fly fishing.

 

[OGBeno]

@ntsaint has got some info for you.

Definitely make a trek to Mt. Withington and the VLA.

 

[KMGHMG]

@ntsaint has got some info for you.

Definitely make a trek to Mt. Withington and the VLA.

Sounds great, Beno. Thanks for the tips! I didn't even know what the VLA was until your post. Looks super interesting for the kids!

 

[OGBeno]

Sounds great, Beno. Thanks for the tips! I didn't even know what the VLA was until your post. Looks super interesting for the kids!

Absolutely. Do not miss if it you have kids... You might even run into one of these buggers....

 

[KMGHMG]

Absolutely hilarious! The alien actually kinda freaked me out for a second. That thing is CREEPY!

 

[KMGHMG]

Beno, you're making me wonder if staying in Silver City is the wrong move. The places you're talking about are 185 miles from Silver City. Moreover, we were planning to visit the area around Reserve, NM...and the VLA area is closer to Reserve than Silver City is. I'm now wondering if we should base our RV around Socorro. Any thoughts?

 

[89BIGBLUE]

There is a Campground near Datil, don’t know if it’s open right now...

 

[OGBeno]

Beno, you're making me wonder if staying in Silver City is the wrong move. The places you're talking about are 185 miles from Silver City. Moreover, we were planning to visit the area around Reserve, NM...and the VLA area is closer to Reserve than Silver City is. I'm now wondering if we should base our RV around Socorro. Any thoughts?

I personally like the area between Socorro and the AZ border quite a lot.

 

[KMGHMG]

I was just looking at an RV park in Chloride and one in Pie Town. They both get pretty good reviews on rvparkreviews.com (my go-to source for such matters). Any thoughts on how those two spots rate in terms of access to killer backcountry driving and fly fishing? Thanks SO MUCH for your help so far!

 

[sl33p3]

the NM BDR New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR) goes through chloride and reserve and luna. dirt and pavement. it was fun on a bike.

 

[KMGHMG]

the NM BDR New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR) goes through chloride and reserve and luna. dirt and pavement. it was fun on a bike.

Thanks for the tip sl33p3. I hadn't seen the info about the NBDR. Looks terrific!

 

[sl33p3]

cool, no problem. @lurch and i have done all of it except ~fence lake to cuba.

 

[pappy]

the NM BDR New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR) goes through chloride and reserve and luna. dirt and pavement. it was fun on a bike.

Is this two track or single track? Could it be done in a 4Runner?

 

[sl33p3]

all 2track, lurch did it in 2wd in the smurf... i think i could carefully do it in my 4r, chloride being the only place to pay attention...

your 4r, no question easy.

 

[alia176]

well, sounds like a camping trip for the HDC group in the making! If the OP is going to be around Reserve, then the ghost town of Mogollon is a MUST do. I'd like to take the club down there during this spring, very cool place to hang out for the day.

 

[KMGHMG]

well, sounds like a camping trip for the HDC group in the making! If the OP is going to be around Reserve, then the ghost town of Mogollon is a MUST do. I'd like to take the club down there during this spring, very cool place to hang out for the day.

Thanks for the tip about Mogollon! Looks very interesting. At this point, I'm still undecided about where to stay... Silver City vs Reserve vs Chloride vs Pie Town. All recommendations are gladly accepted! We have a large RV, so we will need an RV park with full hookups so everyone stays happy... Thanks for all the feedback so far!

 

[alia176]

Chloride might be a good place to setup base camp, although the RV park is nothing to write home about. The town of Chloride is interesting and a cool little cafe is there. It's a good jump off place to go into the Gila by starting off in a wash. Eventually, the wash turns into a nice trail and the Gila trail system becomes vast. However, returning to Chloride via hwy may be time consuming depending where you're coming from. You could go into the town of Gila and enjoy some soaking with the family then go check out the Gila cliff dwellings. The cliff dwelling will take up at least half a day. From the cliff dwellings there is a hot spring that runs along the Gila river and is walking distance from the visitor center: Hot Springs / Geothermal Areas - Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) I don't know if the fly fishing is any good on the Gila river but the family can soak while you cast.

The owner of the Chloride ghost town drives around in a yellow Hummer golf cart thing, which cracks me up every time I see it.

 

[KMGHMG]

Chloride might be a good place to setup base camp, although the RV park is nothing to write home about. The town of Chloride is interesting and a cool little cafe is there. It's a good jump off place to go into the Gila by starting off in a wash. Eventually, the wash turns into a nice trail and the Gila trail system becomes vast. However, returning to Chloride via hwy may be time consuming depending where you're coming from. You could go into the town of Gila and enjoy some soaking with the family then go check out the Gila cliff dwellings. The cliff dwelling will take up at least half a day. From the cliff dwellings there is a hot spring that runs along the Gila river and is walking distance from the visitor center: Hot Springs / Geothermal Areas - Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) I don't know if the fly fishing is any good on the Gila river but the family can soak while you cast.

The owner of the Chloride ghost town drives around in a yellow Hummer golf cart thing, which cracks me up every time I see it.

VERY helpful. Thank you! I was doing my best to get some intel on the RV park in Chloride...looks pretty "modest". That whole region sounds just phenomenal. We're lifelong Texans...I love my state dearly, but I'm certainly envious of the public land in NM!

 

[KMGHMG]

Is there any/much risk of the trails being closed due to snow in mid-March?

 

[NMBruce]

Is there any/much risk of the trails being closed due to snow in mid-March?

unless we get some snow, Ham thinking it shouldn't be a problem