Iron Gate to the Rio Mora
| A relatively flat trail with excellent views of the Valle del Rio Mora. In the fall, excellent colors await you. |
| Hike data | Waypoints | Maps | Getting to the trailhead | About the hike | Plants along the trail | Comments |
|
| Date: | 2005-06-13 |
| Time it took us: | 8:23. Round-trip time plus exploration at the bottom. |
| Usage (people/hour): | 2.12. |
| Cleanliness: | 8.5. Many people camping near the river failed to take out their trash. Most of the other litter was near the start of the trail. |
| Waypoint | Type | Description |
| 240250 | Trail junction | Santa Fe National Forest trails 240 and 250 junction |
| 248TH | Trailhead | Santa Fe National Forest trail 248 at Iron Gate campground |
| 249250 | Trail junction | Santa Fe National Forest trails 249 and 250 junction |
| 249262 | Trail junction | Santa Fe National Forest trails 249 and 242 junction |
| 249XX1 | Trail junction | Junction of Santa Fe national Forest trail 249 and a closed trail |
| 249XX2 | Trail junction | Junction of Santa Fe National Forest trail 249 and a closed trail |
| 250GATE | Trail point | Gate across Santa Fe National Forest trail 250 |
| MORAVIEW | Trail point | Good views of Mora Flats in the valley below |
| IRNGT | Campground | Iron Gate campground |
| Map name | Cartographer | Year | Scale | Topo map? | Online access | Notes |
| Guide to Indian Country of Arizona Colorado New Mexico Utah | Automobile Club of Southern California | 1998 | 1:0 | N | Arizona Strip Interpretive Association (purchase) | Good overview road map for northwest NM. No scale is given on the map. The corner coordinates are approximate. |
| Pecos Wilderness, Santa Fe and Carson National Forests | US Forest Service | 2004 | 1:54000 | Y | From the National Forest Store (purchase) | |
| Santa Fe | BLM | 1996 | 1:100000 | Y | Public Lands Information Center (purchase) | |
| Santa Fe | USGS | 1954 | 1:250000 | Y | from sar.lanl.gov (free) | |
| Santa Fe National Forest | US Forest Service | 2004 | 1:126720 | N | From the National Forest Store (purchase) | East half |
| Wildernesses of New Mexico | US Forest Service | 1981 | 1:1000000 | N | No online copies. | Base map with national forests, wilderness areas and highways. |
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From I-25, take exit 299: Glorieta/Pecos. Follow the signs to Pecos. At the stop sign, turn left. A sign here indicates a left turn will take you to Cowles and Terrero. Follow the winding road through part of the town of Pecos and then through the Pecos River Valley. This road will take a little while to drive; don't be in a hurry. After the Terrero General Store, the road deteriorates some. You continue for several miles, then watch for a sign for Forest Road 233 and Iron Gate. Take this road. The sign says that this is a limited use road: not suitable for low-clearance vehicles. They are correct. I would not recommend taking a low-clearance car up this road. Follow the road about 5 miles to the Iron Gate campground. The trailhead is at the north end of the campground loop road. |  |
 | You start out at the trailhead and head uphill, and almost immediately
enter the wilderness. You are walking amongst Aspen and Douglas Fir.
After about 1/4 mile, you come to a junction and a sign indicating what
you find if you go left or right. Take the left trail (trail 249).
|
The trail climbs slowly and gently. About a half a mile down the trail,
you reach another junction, where 249 and 250 go different ways (GPS:
249250.
Take the right trail (250).
|  |
 | As we were walking the trail, a squirrel came down a tree and scolded me
from not far away. Immediately after I took the picture, he ran
back up the tree.
|
After about half a mile, you come to another junction, this time trails
249 and 262 (GPS: 249262). Go
left.
|  |
 | The trail has areas where it has eroded and many tree roots are visible
(and a tripping hazard). Watch your step.
|
The trail follows the ridgeline.
|  |
 | Walking along the ridge, you get many great views.
|
The trail goes up and down, remaining at about the same elevation as you
follow the ridge line. After a bit of walking, you get your first view
of the Mora Flats.
|  |
 | Keep your eyes open for signs of wildlife. This elk track shows someone
was here not too long ago. One time when camping at Iron Gate, I saw a
female elk on the trail just outside of the campground.
|
As you can see, we hiked this trail in the early fall. Richard Liska
stands in a particularly colorful area.
A little ways after your view of the Mora Flats, you leave the ridge
and the trail begins to gently descend.
|  |
 | About 2.6 miles (4.2 km) from the trailhead, you come across this gate
(GPS: 250GATE).
|
You continue to get great views across the valley. From the dead trees,
it appears that there was a fire several years ago.
|  |
 | Continue to keeo your eyes open for wildlife. We saw this elk drinking
down in the Mora flats.
|
One area of the trail has a lot of tree damage from a storm or
avalanche.
|  |
 | The trail crosses several springs and streams. How much water you see
will depend on the recent rainfall.
|
3.6 mi (5.9 km) from the trailhead, you reach the
bottom and this junction of trails 250 and 260 (GPS: 240250). A sign indicates that
you can go straight and take trail 240 to Las Trampas or turn left and
go on Rociada Trail 250. Go straight (right in the photo).
|  |
 | The Rio Mora is ahead of you. This area would be a great area to backpack
into and camp. Unfortunately, too many people have failed to follow
"leave no tracec" ethics, and we found litter and many campfire rings
along the river.
|
Return via the same route that you took to get to the Rio Mora.
Continue to keep your eye open for wildlife like this grouse we saw.
|  |
 | One time we hiked this trail, when we reached the junction of 249 and 262,
we continued straight, taking 248 to the Iron Gate road. This route
has some extra scenery, but you will need to hike back up the road to
get to the campground. This extra distance is not included in the distance
given above.
|
Our friend, Michael Wester,
called this view of aspens "a flea's-eye view of a dog".
|  |
 | We got this view of Pecos Baldy near the end of the hike (near the Iron
Gate campground).
|
Plants we saw along the trail:
Reader comments about this hike:
Add your comments about the Iron Gate to the Rio Mora hike.
|
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Mora Flats is a glaciated valley. The distinctive U shape is unmistakable. At the down stream end is a glacial end moraine. More end moraines will be encountered if one hikes further up stream. It actually takes about an hour to go from Iron Gate to Mora Flats. distance is probably about three miles. Mountain lion live here, but they are rarely seen. Mule deer and elk can be seen various times of year. There are beaver in the valley and dams are evident. On Sun Jul 13 20:47:58 2008 Shawn from Albuquerque, NM said:
The hike itself is beautiful. The views are beautiful. The river is amazing. The trail full of horse poop... not so beautiful. Man, there was tons of horse poop. We were constantly dodging horse poop! Was the hike worth it? Yes it was, but just be aware of the "land mines." :) On Sat Jul 4 17:36:19 2009 Terri T from Albuquerque, NM said:
I did this hike to the Beatty's Flats today and yesterday. It was so fun and not very difficult, even with 40 lbs on my back! There were so many wild irises on the Hamilton Mesa section of the hike that if I had been there 3 weeks sooner when they would have mostly been in bloom, I think it would have been unbelievable. I also think the rough 4x4 road up to the campground was half the fun! There's no camping for a large area around Beatty's Flats, FYI, so we camped across the river and to the south a bit. But all in all, a gorgeous couple of days, and very untravelled, even on 4th of July weekend. On Thu Oct 27 21:20:36 2011 Jerry P. from Albuq.NM said:
I hiked the Mora flats trail on Oct. 25 & 26 2011 and had a great hike. It is a difficult hike to get to, and should really be approached with a 4x4. It would be very easy to tear the bottom out of a passenger vehicle in several place along the road in, especially during Elk season when hunters are pulling in horse trailers to the very nicely furnished trailhead... A word to the wise, this is some of the worlds premium elk hunting country and they do not take kindly to noisy hikers in their hunting grounds. And, confrontations are not unusual... Being polite and respectful is about all you can do.. You can be there too. It's just a reality of that hike in the fall. In my encounter I was informed of this fact, but, I informed my camoflaged friend that it was also some the best Cut Throat and native Brown tout fishing as well. He scowled... We parted friends. The scenery is magnificent, as are all the Pecos high country hikes. Do not be mislead, this is not an easy hike. It is true that it is a fairly flat hike, but 9500 feet with more than a day pack is tough if you are not conditioned, and I do not recomend it for beginners other than a day hike photo op. As always, the Pecos high country weather can change quickly and dangerously. Be prepared. It was a beautiful day as I headed in and set up camp. But, it started raining at sunset and that turned to snow by midnight. When that happens,... get out. The trail turns to "snot" and the road out is definetly 4x4 at that point. The trail and the riverside were amazingly clean, considering it was the last day of the Elk Season and that summer traffic was high. There were a couple of campsites that had Elk guts, capes and legs about. that brings our friends the coyotes, bears, and cats.. If you take a dog with you, he should be used to the out doors and well trained or it could be a rude awakening for your friend. Coyotes don't take kindly to dogs and the area was loaded with them. My guy had a nervous night. I recommend the hike, it is magnificently beautiful country, just go prepared and don't take chances with the weather that far back. Always opt on the safe side. If you plan an extended stay, be in shape for it and give yourself plenty of travel time.. Enjoy,... I did.