Filed under: Family Day Trips, Nature & Wildlife

Hiking the Devisadero Trail

On our recent spring break trip to Taos, NM, we were in the mood for one last hike on our last day in town before heading home. We had heard the Taos Ski Valley hike to Williams Lake was impassable due to the several feet of snow still on the ground there, as Ryan and his friends had attempted to hike that trail the day before and had to settle for lunch at the Austrian –styled ski chalet, the Bavarian, instead. Not a bad compromise.

But that did not solve our dilemma of getting in some hiking before heading back home. So we decided to head out to Taos Canyon, knowing the snow was likely to be nonexistent there and that there were a number of hiking trails available. We stopped shortly out of town at the trailheads for the South Boundary and the Devisadero Trails. The South Boundary Trail headed off to the right and Devisadero crossed the road and headed up left. We chose the latter due simply to the intriguing name and because I had seen the sign for the trailhead many times when traveling in the canyon and had never made the time to check it out. Now was my chance. We were rewarded with a loop hike to the top of Devisadero peak and back, a total of six miles in all.

The day was perfect. Sunny and about 60 degrees. Perfect hiking weather. Terry was not in a great mood as hiking in the canyon is not his preference; he really wanted to be hiking up in the Ski Valley but, alas, that was not to be. We set out on the trail, which climbed steeply up rocky terrain through pinon and juniper vegetation. We turned back to observe the parking lot within the first few minutes of our hike and the cars already looked small due to our steep climb. We climbed on with Meghan in the lead, as usual.

We rounded a corner early in the hike and stopped short. Up ahead of us was a very steep uphill climb, appearing nearly vertical, culminating in a set of telephone wires. Meghan turned around and looked at me and simply said, “No way.” End of sentence. To be continued…Coming up next: Reaching Devisadero Peak.

For more information about visiting New Mexico, read more about New Mexico camping and things to do in New Mexico.

Last 5 posts by Diane Berry

• A Beautiful Spring Hike - April 28th, 2013
• A Spring Camping Adventure - April 21st, 2013
• Spring Excitement at the Taos Ski Valley, NM - April 14th, 2013
• Choosing Snowshoes 101 - April 7th, 2013
• A Winter Climb to William's Lake--Part 2: Snowshoe Issues - March 31st, 2013