[Honor]

Any of you monkeys out there ever ridden Red River, New Mexico? What are the best trails, etc. I'll be up there with a few buddies at the end of July to ride that area. What can I expect? Weather? Thanks in advance for any input.

We might hit Colorado, too, for a day. I hear a lot about there. Anywhere in CO near the RR area that hosts bitchin trails?

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

I dont know about RR but 30 minutes away is Angel Fire, N.M. AF is a stop for several DownHill races throughout the year. July's weather should be perfect for you. I dont know what kind of riding you are doing but if it is DH you want, you dont need to waste your time going to CO cause AF is absolutely incredible. Cyclecyndicate.com should have pics from AF's 2003 races.

jh

 

[dirtyj]

Ive riden red river. Its pretty fun if you have a DH rig. The left pass cost us about $15. All the stuff is pretty steep and very rocky. plane on falling. Theres also no trails. Everything is fire roads and grassey sky runs with a bunch of small rocks. The jeep trails north of RR are pretty fun, but real dusty with four wheelers and jeeps going up and down the mountain all day. all that fun stuff is around town. Go to a tour gide and grab a map of all the surounding areas. Theres one right when you get in to town. It will have a bunch of jeeps and four wheelers. Its going to be on the right side of main street if your going west. Next to skywest lodge and a little park. You can't miss it. Its a red building. I would think at this time of year all the runs and mountians are going to be snow filled.

 

[Honor]

thanks for the advice, guys.

 

[Peter Parker]

There are some great trails in the Red River-Taos-Eagle Nest-Angel Fire Area. A lot of the trails around RR are jeep roads, but you get some spectacular views! If you're looking for DH stuff, try RR and AF ski areas. If you want some XC trails there are TONS between AF and Taos. The best one being the South Boundry Trail. Its 30 miles one way. Start a few miles south of AF and ride to Taos. The first four miles are uphill. Then its pretty much all downhill to Taos. The trail sticks to the top of the ridge as much as possible and really uses the elevation well. Near the end of the trail you have to decide how you want to finish. Straight down to the valley or an additional six miles on an old jeep road. Usually the singletrack wins, but in this case take the jeep road! Its fast, fun, and when they closed the road the forest service put 6-8' burms all through the road. One person described them as "they would be a ton of fun...if you knew what was on the other side!" That would make it more fun, but its a blast none the less. Plus, the extra six miles dumps you out on the main road through Taos, just a few blocks from Sonic and a nice, cold Cherry-Limeaid. There are a lot of other trails around that area as well. Buy a map! National Geographic makes a really nice one. I think its around $15 and available at any bike shop in the area. Also, check out Devisadero Loop just east of Taos. Lots of fun and quite technical either up hill or down (depending on which way you do the loop. The Elliot Barker trail system is also really good. Its out of AF. Ive also heard of some good trails near Questa, but I didn't have time to check them out. I'm sure the bike shop in RR could give you the skinny.

The weather should be pretty good in July. Upper 70s Low 80s in RR, AF, and Eagle Nest. Much hotter in Taos. Start your rides early and watch for the late afternoon T-Storms. They are fun to watch, but not as much fun watching from the top of a mountain at 10k feet!

The only thing that could put a damper on your trip would be forest fires. South Boundry was closed for a while last summer when the fires got out of control. Carson National Forest has a website that gives trail status for quite a few trails in the Taos Canyon and the surrounding area.

This post seems to have gotten a bit out of control. I grew up going to Eagle Nest every weekend and I know the area pretty well. Its a great place!

 

[Honor]

thanks Parker.