Beginner Off-Road Trails
Near Sandia Knolls, New Mexico

Pinyon is one of the easier trails in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System near Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is mostly a fast and flowy dirt trail, with sections of banked corners and easy light curves. It has two rockier climbs/descents that are a bit steeper with loose rock and very small ledges, bu...
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Coyote Mesa Trail is listed on MUVM maps as FR462. Its starts just south of Tijeras in Chamisos Canyon, and crosses the mesa north of Cedro Peak ending near the Zuzax area. This trail offers panoramic views of the Sandias, Monzanos and Cedro Peak with minimal difficulty. At each break in the trees, ...
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Mighty Mule is a 1.3-mile-long single track in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System. It parallels the Meadow Ridge Jeep Trail and is pretty straight, with light curves with banked corners. This one doesn't have many rocks, which is rare for this trail system. It does have several rain ruts, but no bi...
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This trail is on the back side of the Sandia Mountain range. You can access this trail via Highway 165 in Placitas, New Mexico, or Highway 536 in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, off Highway 14. From Highway 165, there is a little spot to pull off and air down, right before the road turns to dirt. Despite a...
Learn more about Palo Duroso Canyon

Meadow Ridge Alternate Pass is a scenic dirt bypass, or an alternate trail, featuring dusty sections, loose rock, and occasional off-camber areas. There may be wildlife sightings, including deer, possibly along the route. This is moderate terrain with a mix of open dirt sections, rocky areas, off-ca...
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This is a short 1.1-mile-long trail starting at the Coyote Trailhead, which has several spots for parking. It starts through a pinch point at a gated dirt road. It parallels the dirt road on a flowy dirt single track with a couple of rock slab sections. Other than a few obstacles, most of the trail ...
Learn more about Coyote-Chamisoso Link

Middle is one of the easier single tracks in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System, without any big rock ledges. It just has sections of loose rock and embedded slab but no big obstacles. It still has some technical features like very tight turns through the pinyon pine trees and lots of curves. This ...
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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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Otero Canyon is a really fun and easy trail in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System by Albuquerque, New Mexico. This one is scenic, fast, and flowy, with a few rocky sections. It starts from the north at the Otero Trailhead, which is a big pull-off on Highway 337 with space for lots of vehicles. You ...
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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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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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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

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...
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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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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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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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This short up-and-back road travels through private land and ends at the Tunnel Springs Trailhead with great views. It is steep in spots with some large holes and ruts. The parking area is small. The two hiking trails that start at the trailhead are the moderately rated 4.6-mile Tunnel Springs Loop ...
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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 ...
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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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Forest Loop Road 445 leads from NM Highway 165 to the northern base of the Sandia Mountains and back to NM 165. The western side of the loop is more difficult with some washouts, arroyos and water ruts. The eastern side of the loop is easier. The northern trailhead of the difficult Piedra Lisa Hikin...
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Coyote Mesa Trail is listed on MUVM maps as FR462. Its starts just south of Tijeras in Chamisos Canyon, and crosses the mesa north of Cedro Peak ending near the Zuzax area. This trail offers panoramic views of the Sandias, Monzanos and Cedro Peak with minimal difficulty. At each break in the trees, ...
Learn more about Coyote Mesa Trail

Meadow Ridge Alternate Pass is a scenic dirt bypass, or an alternate trail, featuring dusty sections, loose rock, and occasional off-camber areas. There may be wildlife sightings, including deer, possibly along the route. This is moderate terrain with a mix of open dirt sections, rocky areas, off-ca...
Learn more about Meadow Ridge Alternate Pass

This short up-and-back road travels through private land and ends at the Tunnel Springs Trailhead with great views. It is steep in spots with some large holes and ruts. The parking area is small. The two hiking trails that start at the trailhead are the moderately rated 4.6-mile Tunnel Springs Loop ...
Learn more about Tunnel Springs Road

Forest Loop Road 445 leads from NM Highway 165 to the northern base of the Sandia Mountains and back to NM 165. The western side of the loop is more difficult with some washouts, arroyos and water ruts. The eastern side of the loop is easier. The northern trailhead of the difficult Piedra Lisa Hikin...
Learn more about Forest Loop Road 445

Coyote Mesa Trail is listed on MUVM maps as FR462. Its starts just south of Tijeras in Chamisos Canyon, and crosses the mesa north of Cedro Peak ending near the Zuzax area. This trail offers panoramic views of the Sandias, Monzanos and Cedro Peak with minimal difficulty. At each break in the trees, ...
Learn more about Coyote Mesa Trail

Meadow Ridge Alternate Pass is a scenic dirt bypass, or an alternate trail, featuring dusty sections, loose rock, and occasional off-camber areas. There may be wildlife sightings, including deer, possibly along the route. This is moderate terrain with a mix of open dirt sections, rocky areas, off-ca...
Learn more about Meadow Ridge Alternate Pass

This short up-and-back road travels through private land and ends at the Tunnel Springs Trailhead with great views. It is steep in spots with some large holes and ruts. The parking area is small. The two hiking trails that start at the trailhead are the moderately rated 4.6-mile Tunnel Springs Loop ...
Learn more about Tunnel Springs Road

Forest Loop Road 445 leads from NM Highway 165 to the northern base of the Sandia Mountains and back to NM 165. The western side of the loop is more difficult with some washouts, arroyos and water ruts. The eastern side of the loop is easier. The northern trailhead of the difficult Piedra Lisa Hikin...
Learn more about Forest Loop Road 445