Tres Pistolas (Three Gun) Spring to the Embudo Trail
 | The Tres Pistolas trail is an excellent winter trail, because it faces south---snow melts quickly from it. You can get a good workout by doing the trail quickly (as some runners do), or you can take it more slowly, looking at the views south and the plant and animal life. If you set up a car at each end, you can hike down the Embudo trail. |
| Hike data | Waypoints | Maps | Getting to the trailhead | About the hike | Plants along the trail | Comments |
|
| Date: | 2002-01-27 | 2004-01-31 |
| Time it took us: | 3:00. | 4:00. |
| Usage (people/hour): | 0.00. People per hour not recorded. | 4.50. |
| Cleanliness: | 9. | 9. |
| Waypoint | Type | Description |
| 3GUNTH | Trailhead | Tres Pistolas (3 Gun) trailhead |
| Map name | Cartographer | Year | Scale | Topo map? | Online access | Notes |
| Albuquerque New Mexico | USGS | 1983 | 1:100000 | Y | from sar.lanl.gov (free) | |
| Cibola National Forest, Sandia Ranger District | US Forest Service | 2006 | 1:63360 | N | From the National Forest Store (purchase) | Sandia Ranger District portion |
| 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. |
| 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 Albuquerque, take I-40 east to exit 170 for East 333 (old US 66). Head east on old 66 for about 1.7 miles to Monticello. Take an immediate right (heading east), and the road then curves to head north. After 0.5 mile, turn left on Alegre. You might see a sign for Forest Road 222. Some of these signs are in poor condition, so then again, you may not. At less than 0.1 mi, turn right on Siempre Verde. Another short distance to the right turn on Tres Pistolas. The road dead-ends at the trailhead parking area. The actual trailhead is at the north end of the parking area and is pictured here. You can easily see it marked with the granite boulders. Beware the other trailhead, which goes somewhere not described here. |  |
 | The trail starts off flat and climbing gently. Note the clouds in this photo (and most of the rest of the photos on this page). It rained shortly after we finished the hike, and while it is blue here, it will be overcast and lowering by the end. Initially, the trail is open, and amongst oak, piñon, juniper, cholla, and yucca. |
After slightly more than half a mile, you come to the wilderness boundary. At this point, the Hawk Watch trail takes off to the right to the migration count site. Do not take this trail, but instead continue straight. |  |
 | Note how the prickly pear cactus turn a red or purple color when it
is cold. It also looks like somebody has been eating this one.
|
While most of the trail is the pink-orange of granite, keep your eyes
open. We saw green rocks and this white one.
|  |
 | Diana noticed the interesting colors of lichen, contrasted with the rock
and the beargrass.
|
As you climb, you begin to get nice views to the south. You can see the
telescope domes of the Starfire
Optical Range from this trail.
|  |
 | After 1.55 miles of hiking, you will see this trail marker. I guess at
some time in the past, the trail was indistinct here. Go left; the
trail is obvious.
|
At 1.64 miles into the hike, you come to another trail marker. This one marks the junction between the trail that heads to the spring and the trail that continues up to meet the Embudo trail. Take the right branch initially; you will be back here after visiting the spring. In this photo, the trail to the spring is heading off to the right of the piñon. |  |
 | After about a 15 minute walk, you arrive at the spring. When you are
done looking at it and the area, return back to the main trail.
|
Back at the junction, turn right to continue to the junction with the
Embudo trail.
|  |
 | In the wintertime, you will often see snow in the shadows.
|
You can see this (dry) waterfall for much of the hike. It would be
interesting to see it running. Then again, if it is running, you may be
getting very wet also. This photo was from our 2002 hike.
|  |
 | After about 2.75 miles of hiking, you see the first ponderosa pine. It is a sign that you are nearing the junction with the Embudo trail. At 2.81 miles, you meet the Embudo trail. |
You have the good views as you head back down the trail. One of them is
to be able to see the trail where you started.
|  |
Plants we saw along the trail:
Reader comments about this hike:
Add your comments about the Tres Pistolas (Three Gun) Spring to the Embudo Trail hike.
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After reading your description of the Three Gun Trail I decided to start the new year by hiking this trail. There was more snow on the trail than expected and made the hike a little more difficult but the views were fantastic. On Wed Mar 30 17:57:21 2011 Catherine from Somewhere said:
I hiked this with a couple of very young people who were in good shape - I am not. If I was going at my own pace, I'm sure I would have been fine, but because I felt like i had to keep up, I didn't have as great a time as I had hoped. The first part until the spring turnoff was fine. At that turn, the trail increases in elevation noticibly and this is where I had problems. Even so, the view was gorgeous! I could see into Tijeras Canyon, up to the Sandias, and then parts of the city came into view the higher I got. We hiked down Embudo a few steps to get a better view of the city. The hike was challenging only because I was going fast, but when I do this again, I'll be taking my time. Close enough to the city that you can decide to go and be there in about 20 minutes. Plenty of parking and no hassle going in or out. Directions there are a little sketchy, but everyone in the neighborhood knows how to get there! Don't forget your camera or sunscreen! On Mon Feb 6 20:35:07 2012 Catherine from Somewhere said:
Hiked this trail yesterday morning before 9:30 am. Near the top of the trail, there was a small amount of snow, but nothing too bad. But, to the north toward Oso Pass (after the Embudo/Three Gun Spring intersection), the snow was deep and got too difficult to navigate. Otherwise, a nice winter hike because of the south exposure and very little snow. On Mon Apr 16 08:19:27 2012 Kerry from Somewhere said:
On April 15, 2012, my daughter and I hiked the Tres Pistolas Spring Trail part way to the Embudo Trail. The late afternoon winds were quite strong so we are coming back in a few days to revisit the trail. We did find Beakpod Milkvetch (Astragalus lentiginosus) and Dakota Vervain ( Glandularia bipinnatifida) in bloom.