Galisteo Basin Preserve

Yesterday we went out to the Galisteo Basin Preserve for the first time, about 5 miles south of Eldorado. The Preserve is a land conservation and community development inititative of Santa Fe County that is designed to protect and restore 13,000 acres of open space. Fifty miles of public hiking, biking and equestrian trails are planned for the preserve. Approximately 14 miles have been created so far; there are three trails in the public area for hiking.

62% of the preserve will be for public use; 35% is private conservation land, and 3% will be developed into home lots.

I love the Galisteo Basin for the vast sweeping vistas, and scenic surroundings. We will definitely go back there to hike often.


The East Well trailhead:




Out on the trail:




Saw a lot of these tracks; not sure if they were dog prints or some wild animal:




View to the south - looking towards the Ortiz Mountains:










The Cowboy Shack trailhead:

The Eldorado Wilderness

Yesterday John, the dogs and I located all four trailheads of the Eldorado Community Preserve. What a great place!



The Eldorado Community Preserve consists of 4,094 acres of wilderness land adjacent to the subdivision of Eldorado at Santa Fe, and stretching all the way down to Lamy, NM. The land was deeded in perpetuity to the Eldorado Community Improvement Association (ECIA) as long as it is used only as a nature preserve.

One of the best amenities in Eldorado is this wilderness area, which is only for the use of Eldorado residents and our guests. It is a place of natural vegetation and wildlife. There are hiking trails and horse paths. We will be going there often!




The view from Starman's perspective: