Beginner Off-Road Trails
Near Mountainair, New Mexico

This is an easy route to the beautiful, well-shaded, and peaceful Red Canyon Campground. The campground is at 7,600 feet in elevation. It can accommodate RVs up to 22 feet. It is easy access to the Manzano Wilderness on the Red and Spruce Canyon trails on foot or horseback. The campground has corr...
Learn more about Red Canyon Campground

This route travels through the southern tip of the Manzano Mountains and connects the village of Manzano on State Highway 131 with State Highway 60. It travels along a right-of-way through private property on both ends before entering the Cibola Forest. The trail can be dusty and has a few low water...
Learn more about FS 422 Priest Canyon

Clarion Course is one of the more clear-cut trails in the area and shows more signs of use than many of the others. The trail surface is a combination of dirt, sand, and rocks but does not have any obstacles larger than 10 inches. There are sections with minor rutting and some off-camber turns, howe...
Learn more about Clarion Course

Sandwash is a trail that is exactly as named, beginning as a dirt hard-pack trail that quickly changes to a sandy wash track. As the trail begins to descend, it narrows to single-vehicle-width and changes from dirt to soft sand with one small rock garden hidden in the sand. The trail is easily trave...
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This route leads to the premier area to see the Big Tooth Maple in the Manzano Mountains. It is the largest stand of maples in New Mexico. The road is easy but narrow in spots. Camping is available from April through November for tents and tent trailers. There is also a parking area for some short h...
Learn more about Fourth of July Campground

Wandering Wake is a trail that shows minimal signs of use and is very primitive with no signs of maintenance being performed. The surface changes frequently from dirt to sand with some smaller rocky sections scattered through the length of the trail. While there are no large obstacles along the trai...
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Windmill Way has a decent variety of terrain along its route. Composed of a combination of soft sand, dirt, and rocks, the trail winds its way to the southwest giving views of the surrounding mountains and a plateau to the north full of wind turbines. There are no obstacles larger than 10 inches alo...
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This trail ascends a mountain surrounded by the desert to the South-East of Mountainair. When approaching the peak, it will be visible long before you start the trail when approaching from the west. The first part of the trail is driving on light gravel roads before you enter the National Forest. Th...
Learn more about Glorieta Peak

Red cloud trail works its way across the top of the peaks in Gallinas before descending into a forested area. With many dispersed camping opportunities, this is a great area for some more secluded outdoor activities. Multiple excellent views of the surrounding desert are available, especially while ...
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106 Road is a dirt bike trail in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System near Albuquerque, New Mexico. It runs south to north and is a quick way to connect the southern trails to ones farther north. The southern half of the trail is a mix of old road and single track. There are rocky spots with tons of ...
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530 Road is an old dirt road that is closed to motor vehicles other than motorcycles. It's super easy the whole way, being a smooth dirt road with only a couple of spots where there is flat embedded rock slab. The east end starts at the Mars Court Trailhead with space for horse trailers and several ...
Learn more about 530 Road

This is an easy single track on the south end of the Manzanita Mountain Trail System. It starts on the east side as a wide and smooth dirt trail similar to the southern beginning of Mahogany. It's wide like an ATV trail with one section of embedded chunky rock, but they're small and flat rocks so it...
Learn more about Easy Pickin

Cajun Pine is an easy trail in the Cibola National Forest near Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the most part, it's easy, with a few spots of embedded rock slabs, loose rocks, and small ledges. The south end is pretty full of loose chunky rocks and tight curves through the pine trees. It intersects with...
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Drop In is a fast and easy single track in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System by Albuquerque, New Mexico. This trail starts and ends off of 106 Road, which is also easy. It has fast sections on smooth dirt, and a few sections with some chunky rock, but has no big ledges or obstacles. It goes throug...
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This is a short trail that connects Gamble Oak to Easy Pickin. It's pretty wide like an ATV trail for the entire 0.6 miles, meandering through an oak and pine forest, with small rocks embedded in the dirt. Unlike many of the surrounding trails, this one has no big rock ledges or obstacles, making it...
Learn more about Caida del Pino

West Boundary is an easy single track in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System that goes north to south along the west boundary of this OHV area in the Cibola National Forest. The land on the west side of this trail belongs to the US Air Force, and there are signs every 50 feet stating not to enter be...
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Pine Flat Connector starts on the north end at a large trailhead with pull-through parking spaces for trailers. It starts out as a very wide dirt road, then narrows up into a single track and drops down to the intersection with Deadman on a smooth dirt trail. From here, you can continue to climb up ...
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Gamble Oak is a 2.2-mile single-track trail that makes a semi-loop with Poker Chip and Mahogany. The north end starts off with Poker Chip and starts out super easy in a gamble oak forest. It crosses several intersections, all of which all well marked, so the trail is easy to follow. It starts to hav...
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Mahogany starts on the north end from a large dirt staging area off of Juan Tomas Road with plenty of places to park, across from the entrance to the Bear Scat trail. Going south, it starts as a super-fast, smooth, and flowy trail. It's very easy, and sometimes as wide as a road, with light curves. ...
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This is a wide-open sky drive that starts on the northwest side of the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge. It winds around the striking Ladron (Thieves) Mountain. There are a few scattered ranches but most of the area is owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management that borders the Wildlife Refuge. The Lad...
Learn more about Riley CR 12

This is an easy route to the beautiful, well-shaded, and peaceful Red Canyon Campground. The campground is at 7,600 feet in elevation. It can accommodate RVs up to 22 feet. It is easy access to the Manzano Wilderness on the Red and Spruce Canyon trails on foot or horseback. The campground has corr...
Learn more about Red Canyon Campground

This route travels through the southern tip of the Manzano Mountains and connects the village of Manzano on State Highway 131 with State Highway 60. It travels along a right-of-way through private property on both ends before entering the Cibola Forest. The trail can be dusty and has a few low water...
Learn more about FS 422 Priest Canyon

Clarion Course is one of the more clear-cut trails in the area and shows more signs of use than many of the others. The trail surface is a combination of dirt, sand, and rocks but does not have any obstacles larger than 10 inches. There are sections with minor rutting and some off-camber turns, howe...
Learn more about Clarion Course

Sandwash is a trail that is exactly as named, beginning as a dirt hard-pack trail that quickly changes to a sandy wash track. As the trail begins to descend, it narrows to single-vehicle-width and changes from dirt to soft sand with one small rock garden hidden in the sand. The trail is easily trave...
Learn more about Sandwash

This is an easy route to the beautiful, well-shaded, and peaceful Red Canyon Campground. The campground is at 7,600 feet in elevation. It can accommodate RVs up to 22 feet. It is easy access to the Manzano Wilderness on the Red and Spruce Canyon trails on foot or horseback. The campground has corr...
Learn more about Red Canyon Campground

This route travels through the southern tip of the Manzano Mountains and connects the village of Manzano on State Highway 131 with State Highway 60. It travels along a right-of-way through private property on both ends before entering the Cibola Forest. The trail can be dusty and has a few low water...
Learn more about FS 422 Priest Canyon

Clarion Course is one of the more clear-cut trails in the area and shows more signs of use than many of the others. The trail surface is a combination of dirt, sand, and rocks but does not have any obstacles larger than 10 inches. There are sections with minor rutting and some off-camber turns, howe...
Learn more about Clarion Course

Sandwash is a trail that is exactly as named, beginning as a dirt hard-pack trail that quickly changes to a sandy wash track. As the trail begins to descend, it narrows to single-vehicle-width and changes from dirt to soft sand with one small rock garden hidden in the sand. The trail is easily trave...
Learn more about Sandwash