Beginner Off-Road Trails Near Lybrook, New Mexico

This easy route takes you from Highway 550 on CR 378 through Johnson Canyon to Largo Canyon. The sandy, rutted trail travels around incredible rock formations with black, yellow, and red layers of sedimentary rock.…
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This route follows Largo Canyon winding through the rugged, geographically ornamental, historic canyon. The canyon has a long history of human habitation from pre-contact Puebloan settlements, Navajo settlements, and historic homesteads. The route is muddy…
Learn more about Middle Largo Canyon

This is a point-to-point route that takes you from Road 550 in Nageezi to the Valley of Dreams trailhead/parking lot. The first quarter to half mile or so is paved but quickly turns to a…
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This double-track trail takes you through cattle grazing farmland and ends at an overlook. Cows can be seen near the trail. There is nowhere to camp or turn around until the end of the trail.…
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This out and back trail leads to several panels of petroglyphs and a ruin that all require a short walk to view. Simple oilfield dirt roads lead you to the canyon entrance that will take…
Learn more about Largo Canyon to Crow Canyon

This trail drops down from the Gould Pass Pueblito trail and loosely encircles Crow Canyon, with multiple spurs leading to the different points that overlook the canyon. This trail ends on the south side of…
Learn more about Crow Canyon Overlook/Road 550

Both of these pueblitos require a short hike from their respective parking areas. The driving routes are easy with a few ruts. The road to the parking area for Shaft House Pueblito is narrow due…
Learn more about Citadel and Shaft House Pueblitos

This route connects the Hill Road Pueblito trail with the Citadel and Shaft House Pueblitos route. It travels through oil and gas fields with machinery and service vehicles. You may see a work truck or…
Learn more about Pueblito Way

This is a spur off of the Gould Canyon Pueblito Trail that leads to the Adolfo Canyon Pueblito. There are a few steep inclines with some bare rock. The view from the Pueblito itself is…
Learn more about Adolfo Canyon Pueblito Spur

This is an easy trail off New Mexico Highway 64 to the Hill Road Pueblito, an archeological site constructed in the late 1730s and early 1740s. Hill Road Pueblito sits on a boulder outcrop overlooking…
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This trail is a mixed-use oil and ranching road that runs between Route 550 and Road 7007. It offers relatively rapid access to the trails that zig-zag between Angel's Edge and Largo Canyon. From 550,…
Learn more about Jacquez Canyon Road

Relatively easy trail to one of the more remote ruins of the Chaco Canyon culture. The trail was rutted and uneven, and the last few hundred yards had significant mud due to recent rains. Otherwise,…
Learn more about Chaco Canyon to Kin Klizhin

This route descends almost a thousand feet from Carson National Forest and Lagoona Seca Mesa to meander 5.5 miles along Munoz Canyon before meeting the Hill Road Pueblito trail. Initially a well kept, graded NFS…
Learn more about Munoz Creek/NFS 357

Manzanares Ridge (CR 520) is a gorgeous Sunday drive, winding through fields of sagebrush dotted with juniper and pinion trees. Its placement along the high point of Manzanares Mesa offers panoramic views as the trail…
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The route is relatively easy except for washboarding and ruts in spots. It takes you to breathtaking views of rock formations, including Castle Rock and Angel Peak. Picnic tables overlook the amazing canyons. The campground…
Learn more about Angel Peak Picnic and Campground

Starting in the high desert immediately adjacent to a canal, the loop utilizes BLM oil roads to dip down into the badlands surrounding Angel Peak. Zig-zagging across the sandy washes that weave through the bottom…
Learn more about Angel Peak Loop

This route travels up a rutted hill and then on some easier oil and gas roads before getting rocky and rougher right before Old Fort Pueblito parking. A free New Mexico State Land Permit is…
Learn more about Old Fort & Three Corn Pueblitos

Off of Da-Na-Zin Road, this short spur trail takes you to an overlook right on the edge of the Bisti badlands. There is a closed gate at the entrance that should be closed behind you.…
Learn more about Bisti Badlands Overlook

This oil road starts out wide and sandy but gradually becomes increasingly narrow as it winds its way deeper into the canyon. There are some ledges when entering and exiting washes, but this is a…
Learn more about Kutz Canyon West

While this trail is not technically challenging there are a lot of terrain changes over it's 7.5-mile length. The west end of the trail starts with dirt, packed clay, and sand in a fairly open…
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The Cutter Dam Trail winds from Largo Canyon up through Cutter Canyon, leading to the Cutter Reservoir Dam and Picnic Area. Along the way, travelers will encounter deep ruts in some sections and stretches of…
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This easy trail utilizes oil roads just off of Highway 64 to loosely loop around the portion of Manzanares Mesa northwest of Cutter Reservoir before intersecting with the Cutter Reservoir Trail. Expect gorgeous vistas, heavy…
Learn more about Manzanares Mesa

This route starts at US Route 64. Initially following oil roads on BLM land, it climbs a little over 700 feet through sagebrush, juniper and pinon pine to the top of Laguna Seca Mesa and…
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This easy route allows access to the incredible Crow Canyon Petroglyphs and Pueblito without having to drive across Largo Canyon. The Five-Mile Bridge crossing Largo Canyon was the main access until it washed out in…
Learn more about Crow Canyon Option

CR 7020 is a 7-mile off-road trail and oil access road that serves as the easiest and most direct route from Highway 550 to the Angel Peak Loop and Kutz Canyon. The trail combines sections…
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This narrow but fairly well-maintained road acts as something of a hub for most of the trails in the southern part of this slice of Carson National Forest. Cedar Springs primitive campground, the Gas Buggy…
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This sandy, rutted route leads past Mesa de Cuba, the most eastern of the five mesas that comprise the San Juan Basin Badlands. There are a few places to park along the road. A short…
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Malquadis Point is a great route that begins as an oil road turn-off from RT 64, just east of Manzanares Canyon. The trail starts with a steady climb to the top of the mesa before…
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Starting on 539 just south of where it goes across the dam, you'll head up Francis Mesa Road and over Smith Pass to the top of the mesa. There is some rough exposed rock on…
Learn more about Francis Canyon Pueblito

This is a quick spur that takes you from the Cedar Springs Loop to the Gas Buggy Interpretive Site. Not quite wide enough for two cars in many places, it still is suitable for most…
Learn more about Gas Buggy Spur