El Paso

Hey folks,

I’ve realized we really don’t have a page dedicated to the West Texas / El Paso TX / Las Cruces NM area. Hoping this thread can do it, if not, I’ll start a fresh one.

Visited Franklin Mountain State Park today, climbed up to the Aztec Caves today. Planning to do a Franklin Mountain summit sometime this fall. Fantastic trail conditions, not too packed as long as you start early. Let me know other trails you enjoy and I’ll check them out.

 

Are the Caves open or are they fenced off?

 

The caves are open, you can climb all the way inside no problem. Some of the Tin Mines are fenced off on the other side of Mt Franklin, but these are completely accessible

 

Do you get to these off of Trans Mountain?

 

Yes sir, there is an access road for the park. It is not marked very well, but it truly is the only thing out there


This is the turn, going eastbound on Trans Mountain.

 

Ok, I know where that is, The right side going down the hill heading towards the outlet mall side of town coming from Alamogordo.

 

Thats exactly where it is, yep

 

Ok, How often do they open the gates to the Park?

 

From April to September the gates are open from 6:30am to 5pm on Friday, Sat, Sun. Other than those hours for the summer, it is always 8am to 5pm.

 

Ok Thank You!!!! Is most of the Hike Across the Desert Floor where it's Hot? So it would be a Morning Hike?

 

We started the hike at 7:40am, got to the caves at 8:10am, and we made the descent and left the park by 9:30am (took our time heading down, my legs were killing me because of a workout yesterday). Definitely easier in the morning, there isn’t any shade until you reach the caves themselves. The ascent is a switchback trail skirting the ridge in front of the caves, and the descent is a steep drop initially through a wash and then a gravel pathway back to the parking area.
The heat was starting to build on the descent, but there was a cool breeze that made it a bit easier. You could definitely do it at mid-day, but I would suggest morning.

 

Thats kind of what I figure, El Paso and Alamogordo Temps kind of Mimic each other. I am south of Alamo and we hit 114 yesterday. Today we were up to 105.

 

That heat is killer for sure. Always have backups of water and electrolytes for these hikes. Have you ever visited the Valley of Fires area north of Alamogordo? I’ve been thinking of making a road trip out of White Sands, Valley of Fires, and then Ruidoso/Cloudcroft

 

I was a Paid Fire Fighter for the Village of Ruidoso for 15 years, on my days off I worked for New Mexico State Forestry out in Capitan during the summer months, We had a lot fires in that area from the Trains.

 

That’s super interesting, thank you! What rigs did you run out there for the state forestry? Ford F250s? My local fire department has a brush truck that is kitted out, and it’s a lifted F250

 

At that time, It was back it the 90's and early 2000's they were running Chevy 3500's and we were also in Ruidoso. We had a Ford F-350 in Ruidoso that Actually Broke in half right behind the Cab and the Utility with the Skid Unit it while we were out checking on a smoke report. I believe now they have gone to Ford F-550's and Dodge's in Capitan NMSF and Ruidoso Is Running Fords.