Beginner Off-Road Trails
Near Middle Mesa, New Mexico

The Bull Creek Trail begins approximately 2.9 miles on the right off of Fossett Gulch Road - FS 613. The trail begins as a dirt road, Bull Creek Road - FS 841, but quickly turns into the Bull Creek Trail. Most of the trail is very wide and easy to ride on. There is a gate near the beginning of the ...
Learn more about Bull Creek Trail - FS 682

Turkey Creek A road is a dirt/gravel road that can be ridden as an extension of the Bull Creek Trail. It is important to note that this road will continue into the Southern Ute Land, which is not for public access, so please make sure you pay attention using your onX offroad map and don't go too far...
Learn more about Turkey Creek A Road - FS 615

This 2.3-mile-long ATV trail starts off of Ute Creek, and has some steeper descents/climbs that are rutted with loose rocks, but also fast easy sections through wide open meadows and pinyon pine. It goes up and over small rolling hills as it heads south, traversing around the edges of the hills. It ...
Learn more about Reservoir Canyon

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 both the ascent and descent from the mesa as well as some stretches of road with heavy sand, but careful route selection during...
Learn more about Francis Canyon Pueblito

Fossett Gulch Road - FS 613 is a forest service dirt road that begins right off of Highway 160. It is approximately 26 miles west on Highway 160 from downtown Pagosa Springs. There is an area right at the beginning of the road for parking and unloading. The road is very well maintained. There are c...
Learn more about FS 613

Little Bull Creek Trail is a fun ATV/Dirt Bike Trail. The trail starts at the end of Fossett Gulch Road. The trail is located on the right of the road. Do not travel past the trail entrance, as this is Southern Ute land and there is no public access. There are several flat smooth areas where you can...
Learn more about Little Bull Creek Trail - FS 683

This trail isn't technically challenging and is well-maintained--if the drive up American Canyon was completed, there wouldn't be any problems driving Carracas mesa. The road is generally just wide enough for two vehicles but is graded regularly. A gravel road bed has been added in most places to k...
Learn more about Carracas Mesa/ NFS 218

The Horizon Loop is a 3-mile ATV loop east of Bayfield, Colorado. It has sections of two-track through the forest, but part of the trail is on oil well access roads that are full-width gravel roads. The trail portions are accessible, being a wide path in the flat sagebrush valley or winding undernea...
Learn more about Horizon Loop

Skimmer makes a 1.1-mile ATV loop off of the Horizon Loop. It's a dirt two-track that ducks off from the oil well access road portion of Horizon Loop. The trail has dips and ruts through the grassy meadows and ponderosa pine. It gradually curves through partially graded hillsides, but is pretty flat...
Learn more about Skimmer Trail

608 Connect- 694 is an ATV trail that connects two portions of the Forest Service Road 608. The south end starts as an oil well access road past a gate, but there is a trail portion that ducks off to the west and makes a triangle off of the oil well road. It crosses the road again, then continues no...
Learn more about 608 Connect- 694

Camping, Jeeping and Hunting on Devil Mountain-Fr Rd 626 There is some space when you first turn onto the trail from Hwy 160 to air up or down. After that area the Devil Mountain trail is pretty much uphill. The road is rocky so high clearance 4x4 vehicles are recommended as some of the climbs are s...
Learn more about Devil Mountain-Fr Rd 626

Lange Canyon ATV trail makes a 5.4-mile loop off 608 Road in the San Juan National Forest in the trail system east of Bayfield, Colorado. The route has many sections on oil well access roads that are full-width gravel roads, but also has many sections of easy trail winding through the forest. It goe...
Learn more about Lange Canyon

This route is appropriately named Rock Garden. There are rocks of all shapes and sizes, including hoo-doos, arches, and balancing boulders. It is north of New Mexico State Highway 173 and is a short drive to the spectacular rocks. Look on both sides of the route and enjoy the views.
Learn more about Rock Garden

This trail is lightly used, with the possibility of saplings and tall grass growing on the trail. You'll encounter loose rocks. It is mostly used by hunters for access to the southern portion of the First Notch area. 4WD is not required when dry, but the trail quickly becomes muddy and slippery with...
Learn more about FR 708

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 Carrizo Canyon to the north. This site consists of a pueblito with four rooms and a possible hoga...
Learn more about Hill Road Pueblito

The Devil Creek trail is a short trail leading to the 561 acre Devil Creek Wildlife Management area. Part way up the trail is a very interesting rock on your left. At the end of the trail is the parking area along with a few structures. Access past this point is by horse or foot only. There is no ca...
Learn more about Devil Creek Wildlife Management Area-Fr Rd 627

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 skirts the tops of cliffs several hundred feet high. While this well-traveled oil ...
Learn more about Manzanares Ridge - CR 520

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 rutting, and the occasional washout across the road. Many small spurs off o...
Learn more about Manzanares Mesa

Trail 699 is a short ATV trail through the San Juan National Forest on a full-width oil well access road that has been repurposed into a trail for 50" vehicles. The south end is a continuation of the Lange Canyon trail on the access road. The north end of the trail stops at the gate to the oil well,...
Learn more about Black Draw

The west end of First Notch 1 starts on First Notch Road, about 1.5 miles north of the staging area. The staging area is a dirt parking area on First Notch Road just a half mile north of Highway 160. This ATV trail goes through gambel oak bushes and ponderosa pine, on a hardpacked dirt trail with no...
Learn more about First Notch 1

The Bull Creek Trail begins approximately 2.9 miles on the right off of Fossett Gulch Road - FS 613. The trail begins as a dirt road, Bull Creek Road - FS 841, but quickly turns into the Bull Creek Trail. Most of the trail is very wide and easy to ride on. There is a gate near the beginning of the ...
Learn more about Bull Creek Trail - FS 682

Turkey Creek A road is a dirt/gravel road that can be ridden as an extension of the Bull Creek Trail. It is important to note that this road will continue into the Southern Ute Land, which is not for public access, so please make sure you pay attention using your onX offroad map and don't go too far...
Learn more about Turkey Creek A Road - FS 615

This 2.3-mile-long ATV trail starts off of Ute Creek, and has some steeper descents/climbs that are rutted with loose rocks, but also fast easy sections through wide open meadows and pinyon pine. It goes up and over small rolling hills as it heads south, traversing around the edges of the hills. It ...
Learn more about Reservoir Canyon

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 both the ascent and descent from the mesa as well as some stretches of road with heavy sand, but careful route selection during...
Learn more about Francis Canyon Pueblito

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 both the ascent and descent from the mesa as well as some stretches of road with heavy sand, but careful route selection during...
Learn more about Francis Canyon Pueblito

Fossett Gulch Road - FS 613 is a forest service dirt road that begins right off of Highway 160. It is approximately 26 miles west on Highway 160 from downtown Pagosa Springs. There is an area right at the beginning of the road for parking and unloading. The road is very well maintained. There are c...
Learn more about FS 613

This trail isn't technically challenging and is well-maintained--if the drive up American Canyon was completed, there wouldn't be any problems driving Carracas mesa. The road is generally just wide enough for two vehicles but is graded regularly. A gravel road bed has been added in most places to k...
Learn more about Carracas Mesa/ NFS 218

Camping, Jeeping and Hunting on Devil Mountain-Fr Rd 626 There is some space when you first turn onto the trail from Hwy 160 to air up or down. After that area the Devil Mountain trail is pretty much uphill. The road is rocky so high clearance 4x4 vehicles are recommended as some of the climbs are s...
Learn more about Devil Mountain-Fr Rd 626