Truchas Peaks  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  35.9786, -105.6337 Map Page Views:  3,945. Good page? (1 like)    Administrators:  Aaron Hobson, Jason Halladay, Anthony Stout, LeeAB, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Jason Halladay on Jan 26, 2008 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

The Rio Quemado Falls in December 2005.

Description 

The Truchas Peaks area of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Northern New Mexico offers a high abundance of quality, secluded hiking and mountain adventure. While most of the activity in the area is day hiking and backpacking to the highest peak in the area, "South" Truchas Peak (13,102'), I've heard of at least one Fifth-class rock route and did see the potential for some more obscure, likely-not-to-be-repeated rock climbing on slabs between Middle Truchas Peak (13,066') and North Truchas Peak (13,024').
In winter you'll find isolation and some enjoyable ice climbing at the Rio Quemado Falls in the North Fork Rio Quemado river.

Getting There 

There are many ways to access the Truchas Peaks area. Possibly the shortest approach is from the west at the Rio Quemado Falls Trailhead. From the north, access is from the Trampas Lakes Trailhead or the Santa Barbara Campground. The peaks can also be accessed from the south from the upper Pecos River valley.
Note that there are numerous cross-connecting dirt roads in the area, especially from the western approach, and finding the Rio Quemado Falls TH can be very confusing even with a map. It's best to do a recon trip in summer with a 4WD vehicle to get the approach dialed.

The Classics

Featured Route For Truchas Peaks

Unnamed WI3  NM : Santa Fe Area : ... : Rio Quemado Falls

This is the line right up the center of the Rio Quemado Falls taking the path of least resistance up stair-stepped ice. It appears other separate lines on these falls exist, with some interesting looking mixed potential on the right side. ...[more]   Browse More Classics in NM