Hiking Project Logo

A sandy sidetrack in the shadow of the Organ Mountains.


Your Rating: Rating Rating Rating Rating Rating      Clear Rating
Your Difficulty:
Your Favorites: Add To-Do · Your List
Zoom in to see details
Map Key

1.0

Miles

1.7

KM

Point to Point

4,319' 1,316 m

High

4,239' 1,292 m

Low

80' 24 m

Up

38' 12 m

Down

2%

Avg Grade (1°)

7%

Max Grade (4°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Description

Wider, smoother, and easier to manage, Arroyo Loop is a mile-long sidetrack on the eastern side of Tortugas Trail. On its southern end, it splits off from Tortugas right where the latter turns from a dirt road to singletrack. After a brief descent away from A Mountain, the trail turns left at a fork just before reaching an arroyo.

From here, it's an easy, mostly flat hike along the side of the arroyo, turning back to slowly merge into Tortugas Trail after passing the intersection with Turtleback Trail. The path is sandy and generally free of rocks, like the southwestern segments of Tortugas. Because of this, it's a much easier hike, though advanced hikers may be disappointed in the lack of a challenge. Nice views of the western foothills and Organ Mountains can be had along the way. The trail ends about a tenth of a mile from the connectors to the Monte Vista parking lot.

Flora & Fauna

Desert plant life is best seen in the spring and early summer when there's more precipitation, but the heat hasn't dried everything out yet. Animal life includes roadrunners, jackrabbits, lizards, hawks, and of course, snakes.

Contacts

Shared By:

Brendan Ross with improvements by Jean-Claude Linossi

Trail Ratings

  2.0 from 2 votes

#44746

Overall
  2.0 from 2 votes
5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
100%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#665

in New Mexico

#44,746

Overall
2 Views Last Month
363 Since Oct 1, 2015
Intermediate Intermediate

0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%

Photos

View of the Organ Mountains and soaptree Yucca
Mar 13, 2018 near Univers…, NM
Fairly representative sample of the trail type found here.
Dec 21, 2015 near Univers…, NM

0 Comments

Weather


Current Trail Conditions

Unknown
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.