Since this is a State Park, there is a $5 day use fee, payable at the parking area near the entrance of the park. There are no camping facilities.

Apache Plume in full headdress in the Cerrillos Hills

We are moving rapidly into summer, here in the Southern Rockies, and the natural world is bursting with activity. My favorite change can be seen from here in Santa Fe, looking up into the Sangre de Cristo  Mountains to the east: the grey expanses of aspen high on the mountains are donning their bright yellow-green coat, with the usual suddenness that never fails to impress me. It’s a look as soft as the fuzz on an elk’s new antler, and as welcome as summer itself. 

The alchemy of change is strong up there among the leafing aspen, and this is that brief moment of transition when the fairies appear in the forest. By which I mean, the fairy flowers; those two species that seem the most fairy-like of all our woodland flowers here – the diminutive Red Columbine, and the elusive Calypso Orchid.

Red columbines along the Winsor Trail above Santa Fe

A flower like this, bright red, with nectaries perched well up into tubes, is naturally pollinated by hummingbirds, and you can hear the flying jewels chattering under the forest canopy and whirring about. The complexity of this flower is fascinating:

Hummingbird's view of a columbine

Even more intriguing are the ephemeral Calypso orchids, or fairy slippers. After finding just one of these, years ago, along the Bear Wallow Trail, I have been searching in vain for another look. Our wet winter must have been the key to my luck this year, because I found an entire cluster of these beauties:

Calypso bulbosa along the Winsor Trail

This orchid has a surprisingly sweet fragrance, although I have to warn you that you’ll have to put your head practically on the forest floor to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, here below, in the more arid hills, a tougher set of flowers is showing off its resiliency. Our newest State Park, the Cerrillos Hills State Park, south of Santa Fe, has been offering a variety of nature walks, and this past Sunday the park’s ranger Sarah Wood led a wildflower walk along the Jane Calvin Sanchez Trail. The walk was very well attended; I think nearly 40 people showed up.

Wildflower walk in the Cerrillos Hills, south of Santa Fe

You’d be surprised at the number of flowers that bloom in this harsh environment. There were far more species flowering here than up under the aspen. Sarah gave us the lowdown on the most abundant of these:

Sarah and the Narrow Leaf Yucca

And she talked about the native grasses, another set of flowering plants many of us overlook:

Grass flowers are tiny

There were splashes of color everywhere:

Paintbrush growing among the rocks

Verbena

 This was a very pleasant way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon.

You can keep track of activities like these by visiting the State Park’s event website . And if you prefer to explore on your own, local bookstores like the Travel Bug, or Collected Works, or the Nature Center at the Randall Davey Audubon Center have good selections of guidebooks, from the most basic pamphlets, to tomes only a botanist could love.

Getting There: Cerrillos Hills State Park is about 25 miles south of Santa Fe, just a couple of miles off of Highway 14, the famous “Turquoise Trail” that connects Santa Fe to the eastern outskirts of Albuquerque. Turn into the scenic little village of Cerrillos, and then turn right at the sleeping dog – er, first stop sign, and follow the dirt road past the railroad tracks and Broken Saddle Riding Company to the park. Be sure and bring $5 to pay the day use fee.

Trail name: Rio En Medio: map link here.

Recommended seasons: The lower part of this trail is an all-seasons trail, although it can be icy in winter. There are a number of shallow water crossings and you’re likely to get your feet wet in spring runoff so plan accordingly. A walking stick helps with the crossings. Dogs (on leashes) and mountain bikes are permitted.

The parking at the lower, western trailhead is very limited.

Small cascades along the Rio En Medio

A walk along the lower parts of the Rio En Medio Trail is one of the more pleasant hikes you can make in the Santa Fe area, especially now that the weather is warming up. This trail practically defines the words “riparian environment” for me. At no time do you leave the pleasant gurgling music of the little creek, born far above, practically in the parking area of Ski Santa Fe, and the shade, the mix of vegetation – so different from the arid hills literally a few steps away from the trail – and the spectacle of an unexpected waterfall about a mile and a half up the walk all make this a very rewarding excursion.

The weather in Santa Fe was perfect on Sunday, far too nice to spend on any mundane yard work, and the Rio En Medio hike suggested itself immediately. The trailhead is about 14 miles north of Santa Fe, and the drive requires you to cruise through the little village of Tesuque, so if you haven’t packed a lunch, stop at the popular Tesuque Village Market for something to carry along. Their Dream Bars are. . . dreamy. A turn on NM 592 just beyond the village sends you into picturesque badlands and eventually brings you to a tiny trailhead, maintained by the National Forest Service, just past the little settlement of Rio En Medio.

The trail winds through bright green thickets of willow, river birch, and Rocky Mountain maple that cluster along the creek. In many places it passes through dark groves of Gambel Oak that grow out of the canyon walls. Some of these groves are so twisty and tangled that a friend and I call it the “Witches Forest”:

Tangles of Gambel Oak along the Rio En Medio Trail

Most of the trail is as cheerful as can be. There is an amazing show of Canadian violets this year:

Canadian violets

In places the canyon opens up a into tiny meadows that host sunny, fragrant groves of Ponderosa pine:

Ponderosa pines along the Rio En Medio

Some of these pines are impressively big, with thick, cinnamon-colored plates of bark:

An old Ponderosa

And if you haven’t done it before, this is the time of year to put your nose up to these thick boles and breathe in – you’ll get a very pleasant surprise.

One oddity I’ve noticed in the stream-laced canyons of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains here in Northern New Mexico is the occasional apple tree, growing far from cultivation. They are blooming now, in practically bridal bouquets:

Apple blossoms

Are they escapes, or are they remnants of old settlements far up here in the mountains?

About a mile and a half from the trailhead, the canyon walls begin to crowd together, and if you manage to keep to the creek – and don’t mind getting you feet wet – you can enter a small slot canyon carved into the granite and gneiss:

The "Little Chasm" along the Rio En Medio

And at the end of this box is a bright cascade of water, and a good place to have a snack:

Little Chasm Falls on the Rio En Medio

The main trail actually skirts this slot in the rocks and switchbacks up a steep outcropping of granite, with views of the falls from above. The trail continues much further along the creek and eventually brings you up to Ski Santa Fe, but I haven’t walked the entire length of the path. I do know that there is a very charming series of cascades above the waterfall, so you might want to keep on going a bit to see these.

Of course, I can’t leave you without mentioning the rocks. The Rio En Medio cuts its way through the tough crystalline rocks of the Santa Fe Range, and there are plenty of glittering fragments of metamorphic and granitic rocks along the path. But keep your eye peeled for an unusual variety of granite pegmatite called graphic granite, which I often find on a walk here:

A fragment of graphic granite on the forest floor

The intimate intergrowth of pink feldspar and grey quartz mimics runes or cuneiform writing, hence the name.

This is also a great walk for those birders out there, and if you are interested in butterflies, you’ll find them in abundance here. The Rio En Medio Trail is generous with everybody.

Getting there: From the Inn, take Paseo de Peralta north and around to its intersection with Bishop’s Lodge Road. Turn right, and follow Bishop’s Lodge Road north out of Santa Fe, through the village of Tesuque, to its intersection with NM 592. There is no stop sign or light at this intersection; look for the sign directing you to the Auberge Encantado resort. Follow this winding road into the village of Rio En Medio, about 5.5 miles away, and pass through the village on a very narrow, but paved road to the Forest Service Trailhead. Parking is extremely limited so you may have to be “creative” – but please abide by the wishes of the residents in the mouth of the canyon.

Colorado Plateau scenery from the Rim Vista Trail

One of the most rewarding day trips you can make during your visit to Santa Fe is an excursion up to the village of Abiquiu and beyond, past Georgia O’Keeffe’s house (where you might want to pre-arrange a tour) and into Ghost Ranch, where you are always welcome to stop at the Presbyterian Retreat Center and stretch your legs, or even have a picnic, surrounded by the spectacular pastel cliffs that drew Ms. O’Keeffe into their embrace for so many years: (more…)