Wednesday, May 26, 2010

North Percha Creek-Gila National Forest


North Percha gorge before the Silver Fire


Buildings upstream of the Virginia Mine in November, 2002


The trail up North Percha is not on the Aldo Leopold Wilderness map, nor the Gila National Forest map. It is on the USGS topo of the area, but for the most part it is a forgotten trail in a remote area of the forest known and used mainly by hunters and a few locals. Still it’s a great dayhike if you happen to be visiting Hillsboro or Kingston, or if you’re already familiar with the more “popular” Black Range trails and want to try something different. Access to the trailhead is off of NM 152 about 6 miles west of Hillsboro. Be on the lookout for a small brown Forest Trail sign.( Note: this road is signed now and is called the North Percha Road and there is a much larger brown sign listing various destinations along the road). This is where you will turn off. If approaching from Kingston it is perhaps 2 -3 miles east of the town. There may be an even more smaller sign with 157 on it, also indicating your turnoff to the north. You will drive approximately 8-9 miles on this mostly good gravel road. You will go through a posted private inholding with an old yellow house and several log structures. Once out of the private land you should quickly take advantage of any available parking spot. You may see a forest trail sign and an Abandoned Primitive Road sign warning of the dangers of continued travel- believe it- especially if you’re not driving a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle and are less than experienced. You may get yourself into a position with no way to turn around. Wherever you start walking just follow the old road.
You will pass a deep pool of North Percha Creek and an area where the stream cascades over small bare- rock waterfalls. When you reach the old Virginia Mine, the road/ trail almost disappears briefly. There are numerous tunnels and tailings piles in this area, but no open shafts that I have seen. A little further along you will come to a fork in the road- go left across the creek where you will encounter several old stone structures and one almost completely collapsed larger board building which I assume was some kind of bunkhouse. Continue following the road which eventually turns into a single track trail. Watch for old tree blazes and remember the trail is never too far from the creek. At close to 3 miles a large tributary comes in on your right, stay to the left following the path across the main creek again. In a little over 3 miles you will enter a stunning gorge with volcanic cliffs towering hundreds of feet over your head. Closer to the ground there are pictographs below some overhanging rock.You can turn around here, or continue through the gorge, following old tree blazes another mile or so to an old corral. Be forewarned. Beyond the gorge there is little or no trail on the ground, just a few old blazes. The hiking gets steeper as well. Note: Mileages for the hike are distances from the Abandoned Road sign. There is limited, but nice dispersed camping along FR157 and a couple of side roads. These same roads make for a pleasant selection of dayhikes, but be careful when driving them: the change from navigable to un-navigable may be abrupt.IMPORTANT UPDATE: At least part if not all of this hike is within the Silver Fire burn area.The road is washed out a short ways past where it re-enters Forest Service land ,which is a few hundred feet past the Abandoned Road sign. There isn't good place to turn around either.

Labels: , ,

5 Comments:

Blogger jimjacobs said...

Hiked up N Percha and over to Animas creek went downstream to the Cave Creek trail and back to N Percha - most brutal hike I have ever made in one day (and part of the night but very scenic especially upper Holden Prong - Jim Jacobs, T or C

July 29, 2012 at 10:56 AM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

I've gone on the road and then to the Cave Creek trail down to Las Animas, and I've hiked into Holden Prong two other ways( Railroad Canyon, Water Canyon- see other entries in this Blog),but I've always heard the continuation of the North Percha trail over the Animas divide is not a good option. How bad was it? How long did your loop take?

July 29, 2012 at 2:38 PM  
Blogger jimjacobs said...

twelve and a half hrs. Got to the divide W of the cliffs - that trail is mostly still there except for the very top. Someone (prob forest service) had hiked the Curtis Park trail and marked it with ribbon - went west where gps showed trail dropping into Animas, was going to turn around but gps showed only 1.3 miles to creek. No trail, follow top of ridge down, 2000 ft vertical in 1.5 miles - loose scree, oak brush - decided to make loop just because I'd only seen a tiny bit of the valley. I'm guessing 25 miles plus? Fished a little, but section with lots of water had no fish and where there were fish (cutthroat) there were pools with no flow. Most of creek was dry.

July 30, 2012 at 6:32 AM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

First time I fished there it was as you describe,but I caught a couple anyway. Second time I wanted to try the lower end below Victorio Park,it was October and there was no water. Third time back in 07 there was plenty of water and plenty of fish. I had great luck despite fishing much of the time with a full pack on. It sounds like you came out right a near the gorge section which is beautiful.

July 30, 2012 at 8:20 AM  
Blogger jimjacobs said...

Do you have plans to come up to T or C anytime soon? My e-mail is mrjimjacobs@gmail.com

July 31, 2012 at 6:53 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home