One April, a few years back, I did a short hike to this small arch. It can be seen( just barely) from I- 25. It's definitely not off the beaten path if you are any kind of OHV-ORV enthusiast. In fact the day I hiked up , there were several jeeps on their way to the same place. When I arrived, a couple of guys on dirt bikes had just gotten there as well ( see photo). There are many unofficial roads and trails in this section of the Doña Anas. Some of them, like the road from the west approaching this small arch, are so steep I don't see how they keep their vehicles from flipping over backwards. The roads are also a little confusing, unless you're out there driving around on some GPS guided route. I found myself going cross country some of time just keep on a line to my destination. I ended up making a loop by hiking along the ridge the arch sits on to the south and then picking up another road that brought me back to my truck. This part of the Doña Ana Mountains has lots of scenic rock formations that can make for great photos. I felt a little weird hiking when everyone else was in or on some kind of vehicle, but this is a fun little walk.
Can you give me any sort of general idea on how to find this archway? I go hiking every Sunday with my kids and I think they will enjoy seeing this, but my internet searches only show that this exists, but no one can provide any sort of direction to find it. Thanks for your help.
ReplyDeleteGet off at the Dona Ana exit(I 25) head east.Take your very first left and follow this good dirt road(mainly NW) all the way to the Transfer Station( a place for people in the county to dump large trash). A short ways past the transfer station there are four dirt roads that head off to the east( within a short distance of each other). All of these will eventually take you to the arch. It gets a bit confusing because there are many use roads that will crisscross your path,but try to stay in a northeasterly direction and on a ridgetop and not in an arroyo and you should be able to get a visual of the arch in little while. One road ( the first one) will bring you the ridge to south. The others kind of zig zag their way toward it.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! We are hoping for good weather this Sunday so we can go. Thanks for posting so much on your blog, sometimes its hard to find local outdoors information online.
ReplyDeleteDevon,
ReplyDeleteIf you were to wander down and to the southwest you will locate a natural cave and a bit further on you will come upon a second natural arch.
Les McKee llmcfog@aol.com
https://goo.gl/photos/mWYijwb5Z5L8UuLy5
I have been to one of those others. I call it Pointed Arch in this blog. But I haven't seen that one you have a photo of that looks like a boulder leaning on another boulder.
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