Pecos National Historical Park - Glorieta Battlefield Trail

 

We went out on Easter Sunday morning and did this hike.  It's trailhead was very close to the vacation rental we were staying at near Pecos, New Mexico. Entrance is free but you will need a gate code and driving directions available at the visitor center at Pecos National Historical Park. Don't even think about parking anywhere else, as this little property( which is part of Pecos NHP) is completely surrounded by private property owners who would surely frown ( or worse) upon tourist encroachment of this sort.

There was one other vehicle at the parking lot when we started and several more when we finished, but we never saw anyone during our entire hike. The walking is on a wide gravel path, with several fiber glass bridges built over gullies. 

There are informative plaques at several locations and numbered signs that correspond to a  small guidebook ( also available at Pecos NHP visitor center, but I don't think it's free. There happened to be one at our Vrbo house). The trail winds around between I-25 and US 50, so it's definitely not a quiet walk in the woods. There is  also bit of up and down which could prove  tiring for some  young, old or inexperienced hikers, but the short distance, (2.3 miles) and the fact that it is a loop would make it a great choice for introducing forest hiking to families with smaller children. Our dogs liked it too. The forest is mostly mature piñon and juniper with a few ponderosa pines. Views are very limited until the very last park of the hike.  The understory is very sparse. We were both wandering how any kind of battle could be fought in such closed in conditions, but as in turns out, in 1862, when the battle was fought, the entire area had been cleared for fuel wood, building and farming for more than a generation, so it more resembled a hilly meadow. What we see now is regrowth from the last 80 years or more.

                                                                                                                                                                          

Glorieta Baldy through the branches

                                      

 It was pleasant walking and interesting reading and I do recommend it especially if you have any interest in  New Mexico's role in the Civil War. We mostly did it because it was so close by and was unlikely to be overrun with crowds on the holiday weekend.