When I first found out I was going to New Mexico on travel assignment, visions of hiking began dancing in my head. Living in central Florida, let’s just say I don’t have many opportunities for exhilarating high-desert treks. I asked my California colleague Eli Ellison, an avid hiker himself, for suggestions and he recommended
Chimney Rock, e-mailing a photo of the namesake formation that immediately convinced me I had to do this hike.
Chimney Rock is at
Ghost Ranch, the subject of many landscapes by painter Georgia O’Keefe and now a 21,000-acre retreat and education center run by the Presbyterian church. The 60-mile drive from Santa Fe takes a little over an hour and is lovely once you get past the logjam at Española, a sprawling town at the junction of US 285/84 and SR 68. To stay on US 84 north you need to make a left turn (watch for the sign); otherwise you’ll find yourself on SR 68 heading toward Taos. I speak from experience.
The closer you get the more spectacular the scenery becomes. Undulating hills stretch off to the horizon, speckled with drought-tolerant desert plants like sagebrush, Apache plume, juniper and saltbush. The Jemez Mountains loom in the distance. Close to the 50-mile point is
Bode’s (Bo-dee’s) General Store (on the right). It makes a good pit stop for coffee, a restroom break, a last-minute purchase of outdoor gear or, if you’ve already worked up an appetite, a green chile cheeseburger. I opted for a restroom break, so I can’t tell you whether their version is a worthy contender in the best green chile cheeseburger in New Mexico sweepstakes.
You’ve also reached Abiquiu, a tiny hamlet just off the highway across from Bode’s. Continue along US 84 another 10 or so miles past glorious landscapes to the Ghost Ranch/Piedra Lumbre roadside sign, where there’s a designated pull-off with a view of Abiquiu Lake. I took some photos here; the red rock formations provide a taste of what’s to come.
The signed turnoff for Ghost Ranch is on the right; a long, bumpy dirt/gravel road leads to the conference center. By this time I was itching to do some hiking. Ghost Ranch offers a variety of classes and seminars, but if you’re here for a day hike just sign in at the main office, where you’ll be given a map and some basic information. I grabbed my backpack and set off for the trailhead behind the Ghost Ranch museums.
Chimney Rock is the most popular of the several hiking trails at Ghost Ranch. It’s a mostly uphill trek to the top of a sculpted mesa. The well-marked path is sandy along the level
stretches and rocky as you ascend the mesa. I’m sure it can be hot in the middle of the summer, but I was here in late May, when brilliant sunshine, an almost constant breeze and a temperature in the low 70s made for a great hiking day.
After an initial uphill slog the trail leveled out for awhile so I could catch my breath and begin marveling at the 360-degree vistas. Here and there among the stunted trees and tenacious grasses yellow wildflowers sprouted from the rocky, hard-packed earth, their delicate appearance adding a dash of color and also seeming out of place in such an inhospitable environment. At this point Chimney Rock was a still distant but unmistakable landmark, standing separate from the mesa I would soon be climbing. The rock formations are primarily sandstone and gypsum, with colors ranging from cream to buff to light red. Some are rounded, some are jagged and all have an otherworldly beauty.
Once you start climbing the going gets fairly strenuous, but don’t even think about turning back. There weren’t many other hikers out, but it was kind of encouraging to pass someone occasionally and be told “Hang in there—it’s not that much farther and you definitely want to go all the way to the top.” Chimney Rock stands like a lighthouse beacon on dry land drawing you ever closer until it briefly disappeared from view as I scrambled higher and higher up the ridge, following the twisting, snaking trail.
The really great hikes seem to save their most awe-inspiring views for last. Once you finally reach the top of the mesa there are two rewards. The first is a well-deserved breather—no more climbing! The second is a dizzying view of the Piedra Lumbre basin, the valley floor far below, mountains on the horizon and majestic rock formations all around. Since I’m not a mountaineer,
it’s about as close as I’ll ever get to feeling like I’m on top of the world.
I stood there taking it in, uttering a wordless exclamation of wonder. It was the only sound that broke the complete silence (except for the sighing of the wind). What a joy not to hear traffic, not to hear the whine of a hedge trimmer or the annoying babble of someone yakking into a cell phone, not to hear anything at all. Of course I also would have appreciated an iPod blasting something suitably psychedelic and mystical, like the epic 11 minutes and 40 seconds of “The End” on the first Doors album. That sonic backdrop would have been perfect. But I don’t own an iPod, and the silence was just fine.
You approach Chimney Rock from behind, a completely different perspective from the view starting out. The trail ends at the mesa’s precipice, where you can sit on a sloping rock and contemplate this geological monolith. I got as close as I dared for a photo before my fear of heights took over, and then lingered for a spell.
The trip back was downhill and easy, the views were just as awesome and now I had the opportunity to offer the same encouragement to a trudging hiker I passed who was on the way up: “Hang in there—it’s not that much farther and you definitely want to go all the way to the top.”
Click on the map to locate and get directions to Ghost Ranch and Chimney Rock.
Greg's advice: Wear hiking boots or a nonslip pair of athletic shoes, a hat (there’s no shade) and bring water. Allow about two hours for the 3-mile round trip hike, including stops to gape in awe. Hikers are advised to stay on the marked trail and not attempt to climb any of the rock formations. You’ll encounter a lizard or two and perhaps a snake (I did), although odds are it will be small, non-poisonous and eager to get out of your way.
