Green Canyon / Cabin Trail Exploratory
By Jack Dickey (Trail Tales January 2013)
December 1, 2012
I had always wondered where dirt roads in the hills east of I-25 at Arrey led. When I learned that my friend Curtis Hill of T or C and the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club had been wheeling and developing trails in Green Canyon, I thought what a good opportunity it would be to do a club trip to learn the area. With a few phone calls to Curtis, I was able to set the date for Curtis to guide an exploratory trip to Green Canyon and Cabin Trail for members of New Mexico Four Wheelers.
Jeff and Paula Boggs and Cathy and I booked rooms at Firewater Lodge in the historic Hot Springs District of T or C for Friday night; while Bob and Sandy Powell made arrangements to meet us Saturday morning. Jeff and Paula made a quick get away from Rio Rancho on Friday afternoon. Cathy and I met in Socorro after work and on our way to T or C had green chile cheeseburgers at the Buckhorn in San Antonio. Both couples arrived at the motel within a few minutes of each other. After a couple of beers and some wine, we turned in early anticipating a long Saturday.
After a restful night for Jeff, Paula, Cathy and I, we meet Curtis, Bob and Sandy at the Shell station at the south end of Broadway in Williamsburg at 8:00 am. Bob and Sandy were a little weary after a 4:30 am departure from Rio Ranch, but excited to be able explore a new area. Curtis let us in on a pleasant surprise: the group was being joined by three other rigs and Harry Wagner, a feature editor for Peterson’s 4Wheel and Off-Road. Curtis proposed that all of us would wheel Green Canyon to where the Bone Trail (an extreme) takes off. Cutis, his rock-buggy (a highly modified CJ on 44’s with a Corvette 350 and a custom NV4500 trans), and the three other rigs, all rock buggies, would run Bone Trail then rejoin the group to run Cabin Trail. There is easy access above Bone Trail via an old two-track mining road where the non-extreme folks could watch the buggies get stupid crazy. All of us in the original group agreed to the new plan – any wheeling is good wheeling particularly when a magazine editor is there doing a story/photo shoot!
We loaded up and headed to Curtis’ mom’s property east of Arrey between I-25 and the Rio Grande. After a short wait, the buggies arrived: Jeff Jacobson from Albuquerque (Jeep Scrambler with a LT1 on Dana 60s), Josh Simmons from Las Cruces (YJ with a 383 stroker and Rockwell axles with rear steer), and Pete from Las Cruces (highly modified Jeep). We had a quick driver’s meeting, aired-down, then headed south on the original Model-T road between Las Cruces and T or C. A short drive later, we ducked through a tunnel under I-25 and traveled east to Green Canyon. Unfortunately, Pete’s jeep starting having fuel delivery issues and would be delayed in reaching Green Canyon. But, Pete knew the way and was in a good spot should he not be able to get is rig going again, so the group traveled on.
The hills around Green Canyon have a long history of mining and ranching. Area mines and prospects are part of the old Derry District where barite, fluorite, and galena were once extracted. Many of the canyons and ridges have roads and two tracks that were bulldozed for mining operations. Most of the lands are administered by Las Cruces BLM with a few sections being State Trust lands.
The trail along Green Canyon crosses sections of wide sandy wash and narrow limestone outcrops and cliffs. The first obstacle involved getting through an off-camber squeeze against a rock wall. The buggies got through encountering no concerns. I got Poco Loco through with an inch to spare using careful spotting, patient driving, and high-side counter balance. Bob and Jeff inched their jeeps through, but both suffered minor tears on passenger rear corners of their soft-tops.
The next obstacle consisted of three different notches through a rocky section in the canyon bottom. One could chose a moderate high notch, middle extreme, or lower stupid notch. Cutis took his buggy through the middle notch. Jeff Boggs, Bob, and Jeff Jacobson, and I choose the high notch.
With consistent driving and solid spotting Pete got his red jeep through the lower notch; while Josh more or less bashed his way through. Once through, the group continued up canyon. Curtis pointed out where we would turn north for Cabin Trail near a cave/tunnel in the rock wall above us to the south. Soon we turned off the main canyon and crawled up a side canyon to Bone Trail. Pete was again having fuel issues with his red jeep and stayed in the main canyon to try to repair the problem. Without delay, the buggies slowly crawled out of sight over refrigerator sized boulders in the bottom of the wash that is Bone Trail. Us mere mortals turned around and crawled back to Green Canyon en-route to an overlook via two-track to watch the buggies. After a slight detour while finding the two-track, we were high above the canyon and found easy walking access to a steep, under-cut waterfall the buggies faced.
The buggies not only encountered extreme terrain, but Curtis had a flat and Jeff Jacobson’s Scrambler broke the passenger front main leaf. Curtis was able to get his tire re-seated and aired up. With a wrench, two vice-grip pliers, a ratchet strap, and LOTS of duct tape, Jeff J. did a field repair. On different past trips, each driver had been able to get their buggies up the waterfall. But that was not the case today. Despite expert driving and capable rigs, each had to winch over. The three rigs made it out of the Bone without further incident. While the buggies were getting crazy and we were having a blast watching, Pete was able to get is jeep running again. He decided to check the fuel pick up in the tank. He found that the fuel line had separated from a T between two pick-up filters. When the motor was running and pulling fuel, the fuel line would get stuck to the side of the tank. But, when standing and idling, it would hang free and provide enough fuel. Problem solved!
By this time shadows were getting long. Considering the minor problems, the lowering sun, and that we all had a great day so far, we all decided to forego Cabin Trail. We returned to Curtis’ property via a southern route out to Green Canyon Dam, under I-25, and back to the dusty old Model T road. We loaded up the rigs, basked in the glow that only a great day wheeling can give, thanked Curtis for is guidance, and said our goodbyes.
Bob and Sandy returned to Rio Rancho Saturday evening. Jeff, Paul, Cathy and I stayed in T or C Saturday night for a wonderful meal at the Bella Luca Restaurant and hot spring mineral bath soaking in our in-room tubs!
The trails in Green Canyon offer some great wheeling. Additional trails are being scouted for even more opportunities. Judging from the smiles on everyone’s faces, I would guess that NM4W will be back.
