Exploring the Elliot Barker Trails in Angel Fire, New Mexico

We’re in New Mexico with the Oklahomo Hikers and we’re enjoying a hike on the Elliot Barker Trail System just outside of Angel Fire, NM.

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The Elliot Barker Trail System offers a number of different hike opportunities, including the 6 mile loop hike we did with approximately 1100 feet of vertical elevation gain. For east coasters like us, the base elevation of over 8400 feet and then the summit elevation of about 9500 sure made us feel it. Turned out to be a great hike to help us acclimate to the higher elevations. We were joined by Paul and David, the Oklahomo Hikers for our vacation and for this hike!

For this hike we began at the trailhead for the Elliot Barker Trail System located on Highway 64 just outside of the Village of Angel Fire, New Mexico. From the trailhead we climbed steadily, staying to the right at trail intersections before reaching Palo Flechado Pass. From there continued climbing to an unnamed summit. From that summit, we began descending on the back side of the loop, passing by a number of views down into the Angel Fire area. After 6 miles the trail returns to the trailhead on Highway 64.

Note that the trailhead is located at around 8,000 feet in elevation and the top of this trail levels off at around 9,600 feet in elevation. For folks like us who live at around 1,500 feet in New York, and 600 feet in Oklahoma, this elevation was definitely very noticeable for all of us. This was an acclimation walk for us (though the heavy snow towards the end of the hike foretold a much bigger storm overnight that changed our climbing plans for the rest of the week), but it really turned out to be a beautiful hike. The aspens were just changing color for the fall, the trail followed old Forest Service roads and was easy to walk, and just overall it was a great introduction to walking and hiking in this area.

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• The Hiker Trash Husband’s Videos

You can find more information about this hike on:

•  Trails Illustrated Taos / Wheeler Peak Trail Map

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