Updated (May 2023)
The Forest Service’s Talpa Foothills Working Group is getting close to submitting its recommendations for managing the current issues in the Talpa Ridge area.
Please speak up for tails at the final community feedback meeting:
Thursday, May 25, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Juan Gonzales Agricultural Center
202 Chamisa Road, Taos, NM
This is your best opportunity to let the Working Group know that you support equitable access to your National Forest, and that you want to be able to enjoy the many physical, mental, social, and spiritual benefits that sustainable, hometown trails on public lands provide.
The five plans the working group will present can be found here:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/talpafeedback
The final working group meeting will be on Wednesday, June 21, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Sagebrush Conference Center. The public will not be provided the opportunity to speak at this one.
Why is the Forest Service going through this public process?
The Forest Services explanation for the need for action and FAQ is here:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/carson/home/?cid=fseprd1079044
Full details about the process can be found here:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/carson/workingtogether/advisorycommittees/?cid=FSEPRD1045126
What should a good trail plan consider?
We all use and enjoy public lands in different ways. Trails provide access for everyone no matter how they prefer to travel or what they prefer to do in the forest.
The Talpa Ridge area is the best location for trails near where people live and work that don’t require a 15-20 minute drive. A study of Taos County found that people who lived close to trails used them regularly, those who lived further away used them much less if at all.
The public lands nearest to the major population area in northern New Mexico should be accessible for everyone, not just those who are fortunate enough to live next to the forest. It is important to provide safe, legal access for all trail users in order to reduce trespassing across private land to access the National Forest.
We need enough trails to accommodate current and expected future needs to spread out trail users, reduce conflict, and provide a variety of trail experiences for a diverse population. The issues occurring now (trail conflict, user-created trails, trespassing) is just going to get worse if we don’t plan now for 10,20, and 50 years in the future.
Any plan should reduce erosion on existing trails and consider where people have shown they want to go. The current network of user-created trails in the area indicates there is demand for trails, but they are causing erosion and resource damage. Creating sustainable trails is good for the people, and good for the environment.
It is important to respect traditional uses of the area while recognizing that public lands should be managed for a diverse community that has many needs, interests, and desires. It is possible to accommodate the many needs of our community respectfully and effectively while providing sustainable access to the forest for everyone.
Email your Feedback
Please send your note of support for more equitable community access to public lands to this email: talpatrailsfeedback@gmail.com
About the Talpa Ridge Trails Plan
The Carson National Forest is faced with growing management concerns in the Talpa Foothills area east of the Town of Taos. which is a popular destination for our community, despite having few legal system trails. The Forest Service has received increased calls for action to address the following issues:
- Trespassing across private property to access the forest,
- User conflict on the non-system Talpa Traverse Trail,
- Development of illegal trails causing erosion and threatening waterways,
- Increased demand for trails close to the Town of Taos,
To develop a strategy for addressing these issues, the US Forest Service asked ECTA to help develop a multi-use, sustainable trail plan that would provide appropriate, legal access to the area, increase trail opportunities for all users to distribute use, and replace the erosive user-built trails with well-designed, modern, sustainable trails.
The goal is to create a shared-use system that will best meet the growing demand for public land access by all non-motorized users, including hikers, equestrians, trail runners, dog walkers, and mountain bikers. As the process is long and involved, the plan must consider the usage 10, 20, and 50 years from now, allowing for more trail development as usage increases.
By providing equitable access to public lands nearest to the region’s major population center, this plan ensures that neighboring communities have legal, convenient, and diverse opportunities to enjoy the many benefits that public lands provide our community.

A Community Resource
During the 3-year community-driven development of the Enchanted Circle Trails Plan, the Talpa Ridge area was identified as the top priority for natural surface trail development in the entire region. This area represents the best opportunity for close-to-home access to public lands to benefit the residents of Taos, Talpa, and neighboring communities.
Although these communities are surrounded by public lands, access to the forest is limited, and the few trails that exist are not able to keep up with the recreational needs of our residents. Driving to other trails is a barrier that makes the benefits of outdoor recreation all but inaccessible to many of our neighbors.
Key Features of the Plan
The current version of the plan is the product of a multi-year process incorporating extensive public feedback, consultation with a world-renowned trail design firm, and hundreds of hours of ground-truthing by community volunteers.
A Well-Designed Network to Move People
The proposed trail system employs a “hub and cluster” design that provides multiple routes of different trail styles and challenges that diverge and converge at various hubs located throughout the system. This allows different users to tailor their trail experience and length to their mood on any given day.
For instance, ECTA recommends that Ojitos be a climbing trail, shared by hikers, bikers, and horses. To persuade bikers NOT to descend on Ojitos, we propose Tea Time Trail, which would have small features (berms, roll-overs, etc.) that would be attractive to bikers, giving horses and hikers relief from sharing Ojitos with faster-descending bikes.
Ample Legal Access Points
In order to alleviate pressure on the single USFS trailhead in the area (El Nogal) and the Town of Taos Youth and Family Center, which is the trailhead of the Outward Link Trail that connects to the Ojitos Trail, the plan calls for the addition of 2 new parking areas and trailheads. One is suggested to be a mid-trail system, located off Maestas road, and the others located on Forest Road 437 along the Rio Chiquito, catering to equestrians. A legal mid-system trailhead somewhere off Maestas would alleviate private property trespassing, giving the community access to the forest while respecting personal property.
Sensitive to Community Concerns
Over the last several years the Talpa Ridge Conceptual Trail Plan has been presented to numerous community groups (Taos Saddle Club, Lions Club, Rotary Club, and neighborhood associations, etc.) through multiple open community meetings both in person and online to attain input. ECTA has adjusted this conceptual trail plan significantly during its development to incorporate constructive input, avoid sensitive areas, and limit development near private homes.
Designed for Future Growth
Recognizing that the Taos and the surrounding area will continue to grow in population, the trail system is designed to accommodate usage 10, 20, and 50 years in the future. Not all of these trails will be built at once, but given the long and involved process of environmental assessment, community feedback and planning, it makes sense to consider the trails that will be needed in the future during this process. Otherwise, the Forest Service will need to start the process over again in 10 years wasting time and taxpayer money.
Frequently Asked Questions
Right now, there is limited legal access to the National Forest. This plan proposes two new trailheads that create ample convenient legal access to your public lands that will help reduce the instances of illegal trespass as community members try to find ways to access their public lands. Further, implementation includes clear signage of what are legal trails and no trespassing signs on non-system access points in order to reduce confusion.
Recreational usage by our community is continuing to increase and will continue to do so regardless of whether we build more trails. This plan addresses congestion by providing more trails to distribute users minimizing visitation to any one trail, thereby reducing encounters. Further, the trail plan designs specific trails to appeal to certain user groups so as to naturally spread out users to areas that are more fun for them. This approach is called “preferred use by design.”
Finally, when people refer to conflict on our trails, they often sight the non-system Talpa Traverse trail which is poorly designed and filled with blind corners that lead to people being startled. This trail can not be improved until it becomes an official system trail. Sustainably built trails help reduce user conflict through their design and implementation to ensure everyone can share the trial safely.
While the lines on the map may look like a lot, the proposed trail system is actually far less than many similar close-to-home trails in New Mexico and the west. V3 of the Talpa Ridge plan proposes 5.9 miles of trail per square mile. By comparison, the La Tierra city trails in Santa Fe have 11.19 miles of trail per square mile. The Grindstone area in Ruidoso, NM has 8.73 miles of trail per square mile. Residents in Bernalillo, NM enjoy 6.96 miles of trail per square mile at the Placitas trails. The City Creek trails on the edge of Pocatello, ID have 7.15 miles of trail per square mile.
Our community has consistently asked the managers of our public lands for more convenient trail opportunities nearby to where we work and live. The Talpa Ridge area is the closest public land to the region’s major population center making it ideal for close-to-home recreation opportunities. Further, an extensive multi-year community-wide engagement effort that included thousands of surveys, dozens of meetings, and focus groups identified the Talpa Ridge area as the highest priority for new trail development in the region.
Unfortunately, the desire for trails in this area is seen by the proliferation of illegal, user-created trails that in many cases were built straight up the side of hills creating erosion problems and resource degradation.
As part of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process that any new trail development must undergo, the effects of wildlife, sensitive plant species, soil and water, as well as community resources will be considered thoroughly by experts in these fields. At the same time, there are different management objectives to consider on our public lands, and areas close to population centers like this are managed for a different set of needs than more remote areas or Wilderness. The Forest Service must continually balance the needs of recreation users, hunters and subsistence users, and those potential impacts with the preservation of our public lands.
The current illegal trails and ATV tracks in the Talpa Ridge area are poorly located and un-maintained. These cause significant erosion and sedimentation problems. By contrast, well-constructed sustainable trails as proposed in this plan require minimal maintenance and have little to no impact on soil and water runoff. As part of the implementation of this plan, the existing erosive user-created trails will be rehabilitated to further protect the waterways upon which downstream communities rely.
The Talpa Ridge area currently suffers from a lack of management which has lead to the creation of unsustainable user-created trails and ATV tracks that cause erosion and endanger our waterways. Further, the increasing usage by our community of this area — which is the closest public land to the region’s largest population center — has resulted in increased congestion and the potential for user conflicts. Public lands should be managed for the benefit of the public, which includes all segments of the community, and a well-designed, sustainable trail network will mitigate many of the issues currently being experienced in the area.
Further, the Talpa Ridge area was identified as the highest priority for natural surface trail development by our community during the creation of the Enchanted Circle Trials Plan in 2017. This plan incorporated the input of a wide range of voices through dozens of community meetings, as well as thousands of individual surveys and engagement with neighbors.
During the community-led development of the Enchanted Circle Trails Plan, between 2014 and 2017, dozens of public meetings, presentations and surveys incorporated the input of hundreds of residents, municipal leaders and civic groups. Through that process, establishing legal access to the currently un-sanctioned trails in the Talpa Ridge area was identified as a Tier 1 priority.
At the request of the Forest Service, ECTA developed a conceptual plan through another multi-year process, which included feedback from community members, neighborhood associations, and user-group representatives, as well as consultation with a professional design firm that has developed multi-use community trail networks throughout the world.
That plan was then presented to the broader community through public meetings for more feedback and revision.
The Forest Service is now initiating an additional round of focused public input through the Talpa Ridge Working Group.
Finally, as the plan progresses through the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process, there will be more opportunities for public engagement.
Connections to nature are important for an individual’s physical health, mental health, and spirituality. This has been shown repeatedly through multiple studies and is something anyone who has spent time in the forest has felt in their own way. It is well-documented that people who can access trails within 10 minutes of their homes tend to have better health and a higher quality of life. The Talpa Ridge on the Carson National Forest is the closest opportunity for this near Taos County’s largest population center.
This is why it is crucial to provide legal, well-managed access to close-to-home trails so that everyone can have equitable access to the many benefits that connecting with our public land provides.
No.
The shared-use trail system is designed to accommodate all non-motorized users and includes new trailheads and trails designed for horse trailers and equestrian use since horseback riders who do not live next to the forest currently have no practical, legal access to the trails. Other trails will be constructed to appeal more to hikers and runners, and by design, spreads users out on a system that proposes fewer trails per square mile than similar close-to-home networks in New Mexico.
The plan is to apply for the ample grant money that is available for creating healthy outdoor recreation opportunities near where people work and live. This can be used to hire local youth corps crews and/or professional trail-building firms. At the same time, many of the proposed trails will be able to be hand-dug by community volunteers.
Sustainably built trails that shed water and minimize erosion require little tread maintenance. To help address the annual tree-fall, trash, and other concerns, the Forest Service will be supported by community partnerships like ECTA’s Adopt-a-Trail program which gives local businesses and community groups pride in helping to maintain area trails for all users.
Please note that the Talpa Ridge Conceptual Trail Plan is in the planning phase – please do not access the National Forest through the routes you find below until they are official.
Explanatory Video
Phased Development
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)
Maps


(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)
Additional Maps

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)
Download High Resolution PDF: v3 Talpa Ridge Trail Plan – High Resolution.pdf
Google Earth Views

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)

(Note: Conceptual trails are for planning purposes and do not exist on the ground.
Please respect private property and follow Leave No Trace etiquette when accessing your public lands.)