Piedra Lisa Trail
This trail in the northwest portion of the Sandias takes you to places with excellent views of the Sandias and the Jemez. When we hiked, the view of the snow on the mountains against the deep blue sky was spectacular. When snow is not an issue, this is an excellent winter hike, although if done early it would be good in the summer as well. This trail requires a car at both ends (or hike there and back). |  |
Hike data:
| Controlling agency: | Cibola National Forest; Sandia Ranger District | ||||||||
| Location in the state: | Central; Sandia Mountains | ||||||||
| Trailhead waypoint(s): | PLTHN PLTHS | ||||||||
| Elevation: |
| ||||||||
| Elevation gain/loss: | 1564 ft; 477 m | ||||||||
| Length: | 6.28 mi; 10.10 km. Twice as long without a car at both ends. | ||||||||
| How long it took us (HH:MM): | 04:15. | ||||||||
| Cleanliness: | 9/10 | ||||||||
| Trail usage: | 5.88 people/hour. From the south trailhead to the high point, the trail is heavily used. The north 2/3 is less heavily traveled, but still has plenty of people. | ||||||||
| Trail Condition: | Excellent. | ||||||||
| Fee: | $3.00. | ||||||||
| When we hiked it: | 2004-01-18. 1999-09-11. | ||||||||
| Trailhead facilities: | Trash cans, toilets. The trash cans and a functioning vault toilet are at the south trailhead. A heavily vandalized vault toilet is at the north trailhead. | ||||||||
| Special features of the hike: | Wildflowers, scenery. | ||||||||
| When to hike: | All year. This trail will be hot in summer. Winter options depend on the amount of snow in the mountains. You may want instep crampons in the winter. |
Maps:
|  |
Getting to the trailhead:
|
To get to the north trailhead: Take I-25 exit 242 (Placitas and NM 165). Head east 2.8 miles to a road which may be Forest road 445. Take this road approximately 2.0 miles to a Y, which may have a sign (it was lying beside the road when we last hiked this trail). Go left at the Y and you are at the trailhead parking. | A picture will eventually appear here. |
|
To get to the south trailhead: Take Tramway north from I-40 or Tramway east from I-25. You are heading for the ``corner'' of the mountain. Tramway makes a turn from northbound to westbound (or eastbound to southbound, depending on your direction of travel). Near this corner is a sign which says: Forest Road 333, Tierra Monte, La Cueva PG, Juan Tabo PG. Take this road 2.0 miles to where it turns to dirt at the junction with Forest road 333D. Another 0.3 miles and the road ends in the trailhead parking lot (actually, the road does not end, but you come to a locked gate that prohibits you from going any further). |
|
The hike:
 | This description is the hike from south to north. If you are going the other direction, backwards this read. From the parking area, you hike up the road. As you hike up the boring road, look to your right for the first of what will become a long string of great views of the Sandias. |
A signpost says you have a 0.25 mile hike, but my GPS said it was more
like 0.44 miles. Here is what might be called the real trailhead.
|  |
 | After a short bit more hiking, you arrive at a junction and the sign
indicating you are about to enter the Sandia Mountain Wilderness.
|
Most of the trail is decomposed granite. However, keep your eyes open
for other, interesting rocks, such as this one which is full of mica.
|  |
 | This part of the trail is especially good in the winter; it is south-facing
and open enough that any snow is likely to melt quickly. It also climbs
rapidly.
|
The climb is such that by the time you reach the high point (pictured
here), you have climbed 1255 ft, which is about 80% of the total climbing
you will do. You have done it in 1/3 of the hiking distance.
|  |
The other side faces north, and snow is more likely to remain. Hike
carefully, if the conditions are icy. Lower down, you will hike out of the
snow unless it is recent or unusually heavy.
| |
On the other side, you get nice views of Albuquerque. It was hazy
looking that way, so we took no photos. On this side, you get nice
views of the Jemez mountains.
|  |
 | The snow gives you the ability to see more animal tracks.
|
The further you hike, the less likely you are to find snow on the trail. At about halfway, you will come across a sign indicating that you have reached the half-way point in your hike. Do not believe the distances, because our GPS indicates a longer hike than the published distance. |  |
 | On this side of the high point, the trail goes up a ridge and down the
other side several times. Each of these ridges is notably lower than
the first one you climbed (after all, you only have 20% of the elevation
gain remaining). On this side, as you get closer to the trailhead, you
will also run across multiple versions of the trail. We took a wrong
turn once, and then met up with the real trail again a few minutes later.
The real trail is less steep than these alternate versions. One of these
meeting places of alternate trails is near this large outcrop of quartz.
|
You still get good views of the Sandias from this side.
|  |
 | We wondered why the lichen only grew in the cracks of this rock. Does
it not like the taste of the rest?
|
Plants we saw along the trail:
Animals we saw along the trail:
Reader comments about this hike:
On Mon Sep 22 15:13:07 2008 Courtney Lawton from Albuquerque, NM said:Add your comments about the Piedra Lisa Trail hike.
Visitors since the counter started: 9161
|
Copyright © 1997-2007 Kenneth Ingham Consulting, LLC.
For details about the copyright, see the full Copyright statement.
Unhappy? Thinking of suing us? Read this disclaimer.
You can read our privacy statement.