Backpacking in Socorro County: The Grand Enchantment Trail

There are many great places for backpacking in Socorro County. The Magdalena Mountains and the San Mateo Mountains have numerous trails within each range that can be simple out-and-backs, point-to-point hikes with a shuttle, or connected for backpacking loops. In other National Forest and Bureau of Land Management land in the county, there may not be official trails but smaller dirt roads and game trails can get you to some really cool places.

The Quebradas are quite enjoyable for quick overnighters to explore the diverse geology of the many little canyons out there. Some cross country trekking might be required or desired at times to get to even more remote spots, so use your phone, a GPS, or an old-fashioned compass and paper map to figure out your navigation as needed and avoid private land.

Adventurous backpackers might want to go farther, maybe even trek across the entire county. And yes, it’s possible! The Grand Enchantment Trail, or G.E.T., is a relatively new trail system connecting 770 plus miles of existing trails and roads from near Phoenix, AZ, all the way to Albuquerque. The trail enters near the southwest corner of the county and exits near a northwest corner, or vice versa for Phoenix-bound hikers.

The young G.E.T. is still considered unofficial and uncompleted. To go from end-to-end, one must walk on highways or other roads at times due to lack of trails and land access issues in those areas. Many other long trails exist in the U.S., and several have National Scenic Trail status: Appalachian Trail (A.T.), Continental Divide Trail (C.D.T.), Pacific Crest Trail (P.C.T.), etc. Establishing long trails like these takes a long time.

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail was designated as such in 1978, but it is not considered complete now as it still uses roads as connectors in places. Idealistically, it would all be a single-track trail. The C.D.T. runs south-north through New Mexico (3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada in its entirety) and even passes right by Pie Town out west of here. The G.E.T. overlaps the C.D.T. for many miles south of Socorro County, in the Gila.

The G.E.T. is currently more of a “way” in Socorro County until the trail is finalized. It enters the county near Wahoo Peak in the southwest corner with a little bit of cross country hiking and then dirt road walking to NM 52. More dirt roads lead to trails in the San Mateos. The G.E.T. drops out of the San Mateos, crosses NM 107, continues up via roads and cross country route-finding to trails in the Maggies, then down to Magdalena (an alternate route drops down east to Socorro). From Magdalena to San Lorenzo, to the Rio Grande, across to the Quebradas, around the Sevilleta and up to Highway 60, it mostly follows a network of dirt roads. These parts may be lacking nice, single-track trails, but they still have big, beautiful views and visit some amazing parts of the county.

More adventurous people thru-hike the entire trail. They will start at one end of the trail and keep going until they reach the other end, stopping to resupply along the way and perhaps occasionally take a rest day.

However, many people simply section-hike the trail. They will pick a segment of the trail that is reasonable for the amount of free time they have and go out for a few days or more. That’s what I do for the G.E.T. and other big trails that I have been chipping away at. So far for the G.E.T. in Socorro County, I have only covered the segments from Magdalena to San Lorenzo, and then from there into the Quebradas a ways (altogether a little over 40 miles). This fall will be a good time to work on more of the roughly 170 miles of the G.E.T. in Socorro County.

Check out the website for the Grand Enchantment Trail to see maps, photos, and lots of information about the trail: https://www.simblissity.net/get/