Otero Canyon

Total Miles
1.7

Elevation

2,157.61 ft

Duration

0.5 Hours

Technical Rating

3

Easy

Best Time

Spring, Fall, Winter

Trail Overview

Otero Canyon is a really fun and easy trail in the Manzanita Mountain Trail System by Albuquerque, New Mexico. This one is scenic, fast, and flowy, with a few rocky sections. It starts from the north at the Otero Trailhead, which is a big pull-off on Highway 337 with space for lots of vehicles. You may see hikers or mountain bikers here on the Otero and Tunnel Trails. The trail goes south through the bottom of a gulch the whole way. It's either elevated above the ravine, at the bottom of the ravine, or crossing through the ravine. It's mostly flowy and smooth in between tall ponderosa pine trees. There are a few stone walls built up for water maintenance in the ravine that you can either go up or go around. The trail only has a couple of spots with rocky climbs with boulders and small ledges, but these sections are wider, so you can pick a good line through them that isn't too difficult. You can avoid most of the rock on this trail which makes it a fast one.

Photos of Otero Canyon

Otero Canyon
Otero Canyon

Difficulty

This is a fun and easy trail with only a couple sections of rock but is mostly fast and flowy.

Technical Rating

3

Status Reports

There are no status reports yet for this trail.

Access Description

The Manzanita Mountain Trail System is a very well-maintained multi-use area popular for hiking, horses, mountain biking, and dirt bikes. There are 40+ trails ranging from a mile to 5 miles long of varying difficulties between easy and advanced in a Chihuahuan desert terrain in the Cibola National Forest. There's enough trails for 2-3 days of riding, and is best in fall and spring when it's not too hot. Be aware of oncoming traffic since there are lots of tight turns and it can be busy. There are several staging areas from the north off of Chamiso Canyon Road, as well as the Tunnel and Pine Flat Trailheads along State Road 337, and from the south at the Oak Flat Trailhead.

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