Hike-a-Bike 'till You Ride!

Start at the parking lot trailhead by Twining Road aka TSV Village Road, or park at the Kachina Vista park on Kachina Road. Ride up to the Northside gate and head towards the Gold Camp Trail.

From Jean's Meadow, continue up the Frazer Mountain Road, hit the singletracks on your way up - Late Afternoon, Overlook Trail, Deer Trail, Elk, then back onto the road to the junction with Bighorn Trail and Marmot Trail. The ride down Bighorn Trail is rocky and has a heavy vibe from the mining days around the turn of the 19th-20th century. Park your bike and hike to the end of the road for a close-up look at a steep avalanche path, and view the top of Taos Ski Valley's ski slopes from a perspective few people experience.

Head back up and turn onto the Marmot Trail, another historic mining road that takes you to some of the most impressive views in northern New Mexico. The road starts off as smooth mountain dirt in the forest, then gets a bit rocky as it traverses under some cliff bands. It's all rideable and soon surrounded by various trees, grasses and wildflowers - keep your eyes open for bighorn sheep, they love the grassy tundra near the top of this trail.

Turn around and ride back down about halfway to where you can see the Frazer Mountain Trail branching upwards - accessing this trail requires hiking up and carrying your bike a couple hundred feet through a rock field - make sure your footing is stable and take your time to avoid loose rocks (alternatively continue up to the top of the Marmot Trail then stay on the Frazer Mountain Road, which adds about another mile).

Once you've crossed the rock field, stay on the old road grade as it climbs steeply through the forest, before leveling out and rolling down to the upper section of the Frazer Mountain Road. Turn right and take this path to the summit. Enjoy the vastness and take it in - you can see New Mexico's highest point to the south, and views every direction include the ski area's slopes, Columbine-Hondo Wilderness to the north, and the Spanish Peaks in Colorado. It can be quite windy on the summit but if it's not there are some nice flat spots to post up at for a while.

When you've soaked in all the alpine views from the summit and prepared for your ride down, the sense of anticipation for a thrilling ride sets in. Start heading north to the Wheeler Peak Trail, you'll see a sign for the Wheeler Peak Wilderness, aim for the left of this sign to get on the singletrack. It's rocky for a while until you approach the highest trees, then gradually becomes smoother before crossing a saddle onto the north side of the mountain. This is the leeward side of the ridge and tends to hold a deep snowfield until mid-summer, you may have to hike across snow for a short ways.

The trail enters the forest for a short but fun section, then drops onto a saddle at the top of the Bull of the Woods Road. Take a side trip to the top for another summit, of particular interest to see the geologic features of an old copper mine - the top of the mountain was heavily worked and graded down significantly to it's current elevation. Or continue directly onto the Malachite Trail, a fast-running traverse across the mountainside past some old mine adits, into the forest - be ready for a sharp right turn - then winding down a smooth road grade 'till it pops out on Bull of the Woods Road.

Here you have the options to continue riding down to the right or head left up to the Crossover Trail, loop back around to the west side and take the Frazer Mtn. Road up to the High T which puts you back onto the Wheeler Peak Trail in the forest.

After turning off of the Malachite Trail, you'll be on the public access route, anticipate seeing horses and hikers as you cruise down to the Red River Overlook. From here, it's a series of narrow singletracks through the forest - Antoine's Corner, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Redi's Run, Steam Engine Trail, Sawmill Trail, then back down across Jean's Meadow to the Gold Camp Trail, and back to the gate.

This was a gold and copper mining district during the 1890's and early 1900's, many historic artifacts and remnants can be seen if you look around. Particularly interesting about halfway down the Steam Engine Trail, look for a bench cut into a tree stump right by the trail. Park your bikes off the trail and hike down to the creek, an old steam engine that fired a smelter is still there tucked into the gully. According to the old stories it was only in operation for a couple weeks, when one day the miners were processing heavy copper ore and the smelter became clogged causing pressure to build up and the steam engine exploded. One possible explanation is that the ore hadn't been properly milled down to a small enough size, and the miners were working hastily trying to process as much as possible which overloaded the smelter. Another possibility is that it wasn't fired hot enough and the metal/slag solidified causing a blockage. Very little documentation exists today about this incident.