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Rarely Touched New Mexico

Exploring volcanic mazes in a mountain landscape

story and photos by Michael Richie

Getting Started

WHERE Potato Canyon Trail #38 has an upper and lower trailhead. Access to both begins on U.S. Hwy 60, about 12 miles west of Magdalena, with a turn south onto well-marked Forest Road (FR) 549. About 9 miles down FR 549, the lower route, FR 52, branches left skirting the eastern foothills until it meets FR 56, which branches right. The lower trailhead is about 2 miles down FR 56. The high route continues on Forest Road 549 for about 6 miles to Monica’s Saddle where Forest Road 138 branches left and climbs about 4.5 miles, passing the Withington lookout turnoff. Potato Canyon trailhead is located less than a mile past the lookout on the left.

WHEN Winter snowfall can keep the high road closed from late November to April, but the low road is passable most of the year depending on precipitation, which can make dirt roads difficult to travel.

MAPS AND INFO Cibola National Forest Office in Albuquerque, 505-761-4650; Magdalena Ranger District (Cibola NF), 505-854-2281

Potato Canyon's jagged, saber-toothed cliffs can appear sublimely beautiful or downright menacing depending on how hot, tired, dehydrated or lost you become. I'm hiking New Mexico's least-visited wilderness area, the Withington, which occupies 19,000 remote, rugged acres in the Cibola National Forest on the 40-mile-long San Mateo Range's northeastern slopes. Potato Canyon is one of many sheer-walled gorges carved into the volcanic rock jutting abruptly 4,000 feet above the eastern edge of the Plains of San Augustin.
A riparian corridor of box elder and gamble oak trees provides shade, a welcome relief from the sun. A burbling stream adds soothing music to the cool, moist air. Directly before me an imposing wall of compacted volcanic ash, or tuff, skyrockets several hundred feet into the sunlight. The seamless tuff erodes in a vertical-grained manner producing numerous needle-like spires and buttressing arches embossed with lichen. The overall effect suggests a giant gothic castle, although contemplating the 4-mile, 3,000-feet climb to return to my pickup through searing, summer heat suggests the gateway to Dante's Inferno.
After hiking down from the trailhead at 9,800 feet on Forest Road 138, I've spent hours wandering through a surreal, rock-bound maze of branching stream channels carved into the bronze and pink tuff. These watercourses, just trickling during my visit, show evidence of having flowed with incredible power. Cuts of vertical-walled passages narrow to shoulder width in places. "Tinajas" ? deep, water-filled bowls scoured out of solid rock - punctuate the floor of the passages. In other spots, the way is blocked by waterfalls framed with goliath conifers nestled beneath towering cliffs.
Each obstacle means climbing up the steep canyon walls over an intervening ridge and then dropping back into either a connecting side canyon or the main canyon. The absence of a visibly worn track requires focus. The main route through all the confusion, Potato Canyon (Trail # 38), is discernible only by blazes and cairns. This strange, knife-edged world where cliffs and towers guard crystal-clear streams and lush riparian gardens is definitely not for inexperienced hikers. The backtracking, steep ups and downs, and constant searching for way markers require stamina and skill. But there are other equally scenic, less-challenging hiking routes along the 25-mile trail network within Mt. Withington Wilderness.
On the return trip, I climb steep switchbacks across parched foothills before entering classic New Mexico sky island forests. Giant ponderosas vie with massive Douglas firs for the "most magnificent conifer" title. The verdant aspen and gamble oak understory opens into bunch grass-covered meadows where I encounter grazing elk. Judging by their ubiquitous tracks and my several sightings, they are perfectly at home here in this isolated, north/south-tending range with a half dozen peaks rising more than 10,000 feet. Mt. Withington, at 10,116, lies at the range's northern end and has a fire lookout. The canyon labyrinth I explored is cut into Mt. Withington's eastern flanks.
Forest Road 138 climbs to the Mt. Withington fire lookout from the north side and follows the range's spine south past several trailheads for about 7 miles to Grassy Lookout were it meets Forest Road 330, which drops east through the remains of the Rosedale mining ghost town. The rest of the highcounty south along the ridgeline has changed little from when it was the last refuge for the Apache resistance in New Mexico.
Next morning, I stop at the lookout. The 360-degree panorama includes Mt. Taylor 120 miles north, Escudilla Peak 100 miles west in Arizona, and Sierra Blanca 150 miles to the southeast. Directly below me, sheer-walled cliff faces and massive spires in the canyon maze are completely devoid of plant cover. I can see that Potato Canyon isn't even the most impressive of the six major chasms incised into Withington's polished bedrock, and before long I'm planning a return trip.

Michael Richie is a tireless explorer of New Mexico badlands. See more proof by visiting his Web site phototreknm.com.