Name: Atalaya Mountain Trail (#170)
Rating: 4.5

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Dogs Leashed

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Overview

A justifiably popular hike right out of town.

Description

From a large parking lot at St. John's College, the trail heads north and east. It skirts an arroyo before crossing it to gain the sweet singletrack that climbs and climbs to the summit of Atalaya Mountain.

The trail is well used and is a nice singletrack winding through the forest. There are places that contour around steep hillsides offering views down toward town. The higher you go, the steeper it gets until you top out on a more level view spot.

Near the middle of the trail, there is a steeper and a less steep (but longer) option. They re-join after a bit and either way works fine.

Contacts

Land Manager: USFS - Santa Fe National Forest Office

Shared By:

Peter Olson with improvements by Nick Wilder and 1 other

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.5 from 43 votes

#1

in South Dale Ball Trails

#273

Overall

4.5 from 43 votes

5 Star		58%
4 Star		37%
3 Star		2%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		2%

Recommended Route Rankings

104 Views Last Month

21,495 Since Apr 8, 2015

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Photos

Jul 26, 2019 near Santa Fe, NM

Looking up to the top of Atalaya Trail. Huskies think snow is a good thing.

Apr 8, 2015 near Santa Fe, NM

Sign showing arroyo is private property.

Aug 11, 2025 near Santa Fe, NM

Nearing the top of Atalaya Mountain on the Atalaya Trail

Apr 8, 2015 near Santa Fe, NM

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Check-Ins

Apr 10, 2022

Chris Rice

Jun 26, 2021

Jaedon S

Beautiful trail, could use more oxygen 3mi

May 30, 2021

Jose Hernandez

6.8mi — 2h 03m

May 22, 2021

Charles Reiger

Mar 21, 2021

Thayla Sullivan

Jun 23, 2020

Nick Wilder

7mi

Jun 11, 2020

Joan Signorille

Beautiful trail. Well marked. 5.7mi — 3h 15m

Mar 29, 2020

DaShell Isaac

Connected a few other trails to summit. About 6 miles round trip.

Feb 17, 2020

Eben Travis

6.3mi — 2h 50m

Nov 16, 2019

Michael Capelle

Took Atalaya Trail up to top of Mountain, then looped back on Hard Atalaya and St John's Arroyo Trails. Needed a GPS on.Hard Trl—somewhat sketchy. — 3h 22m

Jun 21, 2019

DAVID LOWE

Great trial. Some steep climbing but great views on top. — 1h 30m

May 27, 2019

Jeff S

May 20, 2019

Kandice Klumb

May 19, 2019

B L

May 5, 2019

Forest Mealey

7mi

Apr 7, 2019

Cynthia Lobatos

Mar 24, 2019

Jaydon Thomas

Nov 17, 2018

David Jensen

Aug 12, 2018

Private User

Jul 26, 2018

Kimberly Bannigan

Apr 15, 2018

Taylor Fisher

7.8mi

Mar 3, 2018

Jeff Harper

Dec 17, 2017

Chris W

Starts off slow, but eventually starts climbing out of the city. Nothing terribly exciting, but close to the city.

Dec 6, 2017

Marta Arsenal

Nov 23, 2017

Manuela Sifuentes

Nov 19, 2017

Bryan Buckley

Lol...got lost coming down in the dark, but the sunset was amazing. 6mi — 4h 00m

Nov 15, 2017

Amr Ahmed

7mi

Aug 5, 2017

Micki Balder

1.5 hours to summit. Steep trail up, easy back. Second half is definitely a workout, but nice views at the top 7mi

Jul 22, 2017

Alek Krallman

Jun 23, 2017

Luke Lea

May 21, 2017

Luke Lea

Apr 26, 2017

Steve Charles

Did this hike with my wife. Easy in the beginning, tougher as you ascended. Took the "harder route", thank god for the Breeze. Peaked at 9140 feet.

Mar 31, 2017

s f

5.3mi

Nov 19, 2016

Kristin Tuttle

Oct 23, 2016

Bridget Wu

Sunrise hike with Will and Grisha. Chilly out. Top of Atalaya has great views to the wilderness - unbelievable. Saw Padui and puppies. 7mi — 4h 00m

Nov 22, 2015

Kate Norskog

icy in patches but was a beautiful day out

Jul 17, 2015

Alison Swing

6.8mi

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Atalaya Mountain Trail (#170)

“A great mountain trail close to town offering wonderful views from the top. ”

6.5

10.5

Out and Back

9,087' 2,770 m

7,343' 2,238 m

1,745' 532 m

1,745' 532 m

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Know This Trail?

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Views · Wildflowers

Overview

Description

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#1

#273

#1

#3

#273

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Nearby Recommended Routes

Chamisa Trail Loop via Saddleback and Windsor

Raven's Ridge to Lake Peak Loop

Nambe Lake Out and Back

Soda Springs Loop

Los Alamos County Low Point to High Point

Anniversary Trail Loop

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