Respect the Neighbors and Local Ranchers
The Nambé Badlands is an important place for many.
This was true long ago, it is true now, and it will be in the future.
Respect the Neighbors
The Nambé Badlands is accessed by two trailheads. One is located off of NM 503, the High Road to Taos, and one in a neighborhood. The neighborhood access point has not had much traffic for the past 30 years, until recently.
In 2020 increased outdoor recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media sharing of trail information, online marketing of the Nambe Badlands by mountain bike clubs, and organized projects developing (unauthorized) new trails in the Nambé Badlands.
When accessing the Nambe Badlands please respect the residents that live in the adjacent areas. Please respect all private property that borders the Nambe Badlands, including the Pueblo of Pojoaque and the Pueblo of Nambé tribal lands. In 2019-present mountain bikers have started to “burn-in” new trails on tribal lands and other private property adjacent to the BLM land.
Please be considerate and respectful to our neighbors.
Mountain bikers having a tailgate party in front of homes, urinating on private property, and impeding access.
Loma Blanca Neighborhood (County Road 113) in Nambe, New Mexico
Parking at the County Road 113 Trailhead
Please park in the designated parking area at the County Road 113 trailhead.
The most efficient manner to park is head in, facing north.
Please respect the 20 mph speed limit.
Nambé is still an active farming community. County Road 113 passes through the Rancho Las Lagunas farm and Nambé Apple Orchards (Vigil Farm). Cows and other livestock are frequently on the road, along with slow-moving farm equipment.
Walkers, runners, children, equestrians, and cyclists are often out on County Road 113.
For these reasons, the speed limit is 20 mph. Please respect this speed limit as you access/depart the County Road 113 trailhead.
Trailhead parking on Santa Fe County Road 113. Please park facing head in, facing north. You will be towed if you park illegally along County Road 113. If you have a dog, please enjoy your hike, and please clean up after your dog, and please pack out any poop bags and properly dispose of them at your home. Please do not leave poop bags or any other litter in the Nambé Badlands or at the trailheads.
Respect the Ranchers and Farmers in Nambé
Ranchers have run cattle in the Nambe Badlands for a long time. Well before you were born! The Bureau of Land Management manages grazing permits to local ranchers, allowing them to graze cattle on the Nambe Badlands. The trail system in the badlands all began with horseback riders, hikers, and mountain bikers following well-defined cow trails. The cows were here first.
There are only a few watering holes, separated by long distances and fences, in the Nambe Badlands. One Nambe farmer, whose family has had cattle in the area since the 1870s, lost 9 cows one year since mountain bikers closed a gate that was wired open. The cows could not reach their watering source and died. More recently some users of the Nambe Badlands left a gate open, allowing cattle to wander onto NM 503 and get killed.
The BLM works with the cattle permittees on fences and gates. The general rule is to leave the gate the way you found it, even if you do not see any cattle in the area.
You may not approve of cattle on the badlands, however, this BLM land is also shared with other stakeholders, legally. Please respect the other authorized users of the Nambe Badlands.
The NM 503 Nambe Badlands Trailhead gate was left open by someone(s) letting the cattle out on the High Road to Taos, resulting in a calf being killed from a car collision. April 4, 2021.
- The NM 503 trailhead has more parking than the neighborhood trailhead, please use this trailhead.
- If you want to enjoy a tailgate party after a long ride or hike, have it at the NM 503 trailhead so you are not disturbing the residents that live on CR 113.
- Urinating in the CR 113 trailhead parking lot, in the front yards of neighbors, and on their private land is not cool!
- If you are a local in Nambe or Pojoaque consider riding your bike from your home to the trailhead.
- Please leave gates as you find them unless the gate has a sign on it saying to close the gate.
