A blog about exploring the natural areas of New Mexico focusing on but not limited to Dona Ana, Luna, Otero, Sierra, Grant, Lincoln,Socorro and Catron counties.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Broad Canyon Wilderness, OMDPNM - Broad Canyon upstream from Kimball Place
This was supposed to be a hike into Coyote Canyon, a large tributary canyon to Broad, but I was a little too casual in my survey of the map before we left( been a little preoccupied lately with the start of a new job). I brought maps with me as well, but didn't bother to check them. I had in my mind that Coyote Canyon would be coming in from the south in the vicinity of the old Kimball place( the starting point for the awesome downstream hike in Broad Canyon)-which it does. What I failed to notice was that Coyote Canyon is on the east side ( downstream) from the old corral and water tank. We started walking west, thinking the large arroyo to our left was Coyote and the smaller one to the right was Broad. In reality the one on the right is a smaller side channel entering into Broad Canyon, and we were walking in Broad itself. I didn't realize this until I got home and put the GPS track onto my topo software. I did keep wondering why the canyon was so wide( or indeed, broad), and why it was heading straight toward the high peaks of the Las Uvas, instead of out to the plain that's bordered by the Robledos, the Rough and Readies and the southern end of the Las Uvas. I didn't bother to even get out the GPS until we were walking back or I might have noticed we were heading west instead of south.
The valley of Broad Canyon is quite wide here. It has deep sand and many boulders in the streambed in pale shades of gray, pink and black. The scenery is not remarkable, except for one short, narrow, "box" section that has walls of deep red conglomerate. Sections have broken off here and are stacked and leaning in somewhat precarious positions. At one point we decided to turn down a side arroyo after coming to another large field of boulders. The walking was easier, but the scenery unremarkable as well, although there was a massive deposit of calcite in one section. In retrospect, I wished we hadn't turned, because as it turned out we were not far from another old homestead, the Hersey Place, and it's nearby spring. This wasn't a great hike, but it was a nice day and good exercise.IMPORTANT NOTE: The road into Broad Canyon E006A is in terrible condition.You must have high clearance and if it's wet- four wheel drive. The last section down to the Kimball Place has one section that has nearly washed out. It was barely wide enough for my Tacoma and as it was I was tilting my truck quite severely just to negotiate past this point. It may be better to park near the dam on NM 185 and do the fantastic hike in lower Broad Canyon going upstream. As for Coyote Canyon, it may be more easily approached from Corralitos Road, using dirt roads that branch off to the north. UPDATE: The county does maintain this road to the Kimball Place, but not very frequently. I have seen conditions vary wildly over the last few years. Last time I was out there ( about 8 months ago in November, 2020) it was fine.
Hello, I found your site after you posted on mine. Now I have a lot of reading to catch up to current on your adventures. My plan it to be back in southern NM in late March or so. Have fun.
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