Cerrillos Hills State Park Cerrillos, New Mexico

Cerrillos Hills State Park Cerrillos, New Mexico

in today’s video we’re taking a day trip from Albuquerque we’re traveling up The Turquoise Trail to visit seros Hill State Park after a nice hike we’re going to explore the Old West Town of seros and you’re going to want to stick around to the end because we discovered one of the best green chili cheeseburgers we’ve ever had in the state The Turquoise Trail is a nationally recognized Scenic byway that goes through the heart of central New Mexico at links Albuquerque with Santa Fe but it travels up on the east side of the Sandia mountain range it’s named after the turquoise gemstone that was extensively mined by Native Americans and later Spanish settlers in the region as we were approaching the town of Madrid we noticed some smoke coming from some sort of fire we are entering Fire season in New Mexico so this had us quite concerned we found the source of the smoke unfortunately it was someone’s personal property on fire but the good news is fire rescue did get it under control thank goodness because it was a very windy day after checking that out for a few minutes we headed on to the town of seros and we found the entry point to seros Hill State Park now there is nice Visitor Center in the town of sural we stopped there first to read about the park and visit the nice restrooms the seros hills is an area with Rich mineral resources the state park preserves 1100 Acres of this land and contains over 5 miles of trails that takes you by several abandoned mines it offers spectacular views of the Sandia Ortiz hus and sangra cisto mountain ranges the minerals that we’re mined here are Galena manganese zinc copper iron and turquoise you can learn about the geology and Mining history here at the visitor [Music] center from The Visitors Center you cross the railroad tracks and head about a half a mile up Highway 59 up the dirt road into the state park and find a place to [Music] park as you can see we’ve picked a very windy day here in the spring to visit so we’re going to go for a walk along some of these Trails I’ll show you what you can find here at this park to visit the state park it’s $5 daily they expect exact CH and there’s a drop box at the parking lot the Park is open for hiking and horseback riding every day of the year dogs are allowed and they must be kept on a [Music] leash now the first thing to note this is not a ton of parking as you come back here we followed the road all the way back and the road actually ended I was kind of expecting a more a larger parking lot at the end of the road so we saw the sign for the Cortez mine Trail and we just found a little place to pull over and park so I picked the Cortez mine Trail because the first mine is pretty quick you can find it pretty quick after being off the road and they have it fenced off and of course covered so nobody will fall in which is good and there’s a little interpretive sign here let’s see what it says this particular mine says it’s at the end of a mile long Galena vean I’m assuming I’m pronouncing that correctly now they said the Spanish discovered it and Galena contains a mixture of silver lead and zinc and then they use their lead for Munitions which is a primary export to Spain now the Native Americans used the lead in their Pottery they found that mineral and a lot of the pottery shards in this area [Music] [Music] there’s trees growing in here Silver Bell load recorded June 27th 1879 another Gala mine okay SO3 miles from where we parked at the trail head to this point where it intersects Escalante Trail now we’re going to try going down Escalante Trail and making a bit of a loop hopefully we’ll get some good views right up over this Ridge here there’s quite a few steep sections on this Trail now it’s not too crazy but just keep in mind that there is some elevation change here plenty of CH although these look not very healthy beautiful sleeping views the turquoise and Lead mineral deposits found in the seros Hills area were extremely important for trade and economic activity among the Native American societies living in the broader RI Grand Valley this was way before European contact likely that the existence of these valuable mineral resources attracted early Spanish settlers and influence decisions about where to establish settlements in this area that’s now New Mexico another intersection here we’re going to turn right to the Escalante Trail to Mirador so there’s a Viewpoint up ahead you want to go see it okay we’re going to go around and catch the viewpoint on the other side of this Bend so at this point the trail almost reaches private property and that’s the same private property I believe as the one at the end of the road so we’re going to turn left and continue now we’re going to hit midor Trail and the Viewpoint so we’re basically taking a loop to the viewpoint at this point we’ve gained our elevation and now it’s nice and flat comfortable walk except for the wind of course so here we’ve come across a nice bench for some sightseeing I wonder if there’s a nice wild flowers certain times of year spring and fall the views would be really pretty okay the next intersection is here we’re going to go to the Viewpoint Up Up and Away to see Santa Fe you start to see really beautiful views but we’re going on top of that hill right there to catch the Viewpoint that’s the top of the Mirador viewpoint well here we are El Mirador El Mirador you can correct my Greeno Spanish but this is the Overlook elevation is 6128 ft and what you can see is that there this here must be the hus mountains and then Santa Fe is actually over here we were facing that’s actually that’s the Sandy mountains right there and you can kind of see SK area it’s probably going to be hard with this particular camera and then way in the distance is Mount Taylor which you can see from the west of Albuquerque right there so beautiful Vista here and this map really highlights what it is that you’re looking at so I just realized that my little wind muff off my microphone fell off so it’s probably been terrible audio so I apologize for that I’m going to have to find one that has something a little more sticky the wind’s doing a number on us today and you can expect if you visit here in the spring anywhere in New Mexico it’s very windy in the spring especially on the east side of the Sandy mountains okay we just finished the Viewpoint and now we’re back on the main trail we’re going to try to do the rest of the loop and find the other mines in this area there’s a little Bridge up [Music] ahead each of the segments of this Trail are very short and they have good signs at each intersection so that helps keep you on the path that you want to be looks like there’s a mine up ahead by this bridge [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Roselia so one of the things I find interesting is very old school there’s no fancy equipment there’s just holes on the ground so I don’t really know the techniques that were used back in the day trail the Coyote Trail if you wanted to go back the short way back to Escalante you could go that way but we’re going to take the Coyote Trail and try to see a little bit more of the trails in this [Music] area now the road that leads here is called The Turquoise Trail and what I was reading is uh back in the ancestral pan days they M turquoise from these Hills and they actually found turquoise all the way up in chako Canyon that they believe came from this area so there was still a lot of trading of the minerals from this area they also found turquoise down in Mexico that they believe was from this area area as [Music] [Music] well this one they Min Galina and copper Canton load [Music] so five mines in this area are Galena mines and that sign just told us that that was the most valuable mineral to be mined in this area and at least five of the mines in these Hills are Galena mines there’s one more right there this here was another GAA Galena mine [Music] the earth looks really unstable now we’re going to slowly work our way down and look for elen’s Canyon we work our way down and then around through the bottom there quite so steep [Music] [Music] w now this one with the iron fence around it was an iron mine we’re headed back and then I’m going to walk you around the town of seras to see some of the old western buildings that were featured in some old western [Music] movies [Music] [Music] there’s the road way down there where we park at so now it’s time to go back downhill and hope we don’t fall now you’re probably going to have trouble hearing me with the wind but I did find another little Muffy to put on there so hopefully it’ll be a little better but we’re just going to walk through these streets these are the old western streets of seros some of these buildings were featured in Young Guns some of the scenes were filmed from Young Guns here in this town and some other uh films that I wasn’t familiar with but here’s what you can see in seras got a cute little Sera station now it does say that there’s a farmers market every Thursday everything seems pretty enclosed although it’s a Monday so possibly during the Summers maybe things would be more happening around here I’m not really sure but you can hear the wind whistling and I bet we’re going to see a tumble weed I bet we’re going to see a tumble weed rolling across the road just like the old western films any minute [Music] now so this is First Street and got an old Blackbird Saloon here now they’ve got some art galleries here in this building here and there’s of course some residential beautiful old cottonwood trees and a historic church now there’s old dusty road here Waldo now this looks like it’s all residential so we are not going to walk down that road this is a gallery by appointment only it’s beautiful structure and then here is glacia San Jose Church [Music] [Music] for there a cute mural here painted on this wall in the late 1800s thousands of miners swarmed to the hills around seros and the mining District was Reborn the town of seros was booming seros had 27 saloons four hotels a school and two churches and by 1890 seros had a population of 20 500 unfortunately a fire swept through the town in 1890 and destroyed 13 buildings in the heart of town and by 1900 it started to shut down the Glory Days were over but in the 1940s the Timeless face of seros attracted the attention of Hollywood now it’s a laidback town of a few hundred people there’s art galleries an interesting Museum an operating church this is the seros mining Museum I was so bummed it was closed this looks like a really neat place and they have a petting zoo which looks super fun here so when you come by I hope they’re [Music] open little [Music] sweee [Music] hi cuties AA listos now we heading on back to Albuquerque we stopped in Madrid for a bite to eat now it looks like Madrid but the locals will tell you it’s Madrid after a long hike at Sera State Park and I recommend getting a bite to eat at the M shaft Tavern in Madrid this is a fun spot on the weekends they have a lot of live music and a lot of fun great food there’s several restaurants in Madrid that are worth checking out but we’re going to go my husband wants a green chili cheeseburger for M shaft Tavern I remember they have really good spicy green chili Ram I haven’t been in a [Music] while this is M shaft Cantina they do have music here they call this the Madrid Rail Yard there’s a variety there’s a restaurant over there there’s a fantastic coffee shop here but they are closed they old Engine House Theater now Madrid is a lot of fun and I’m going to have a future video on this location so be sure and subscribe and check that out [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] h [Music] [Music] [Music] w that did not disappoint that was so good and they offer a fried green chili on the burger and on the side in addition to chopped green chili on the burger I think it’s called The Mad chili burger that one one of the um green chili Smackdown contest fire truck so I definitely recommend getting one of those burgers [Music] oh

Cerrillos Hills State Park Cerrillos, New Mexico

The Cerrillos Hills is an area with rich mineral resources. The state park preserves 1100 acres of this land and contains over 5 miles of trails that takes you by several abandoned mines that were used in the past and offers spectacular views of the Sandia, Ortiz, Jemez, and Sangre de Cristo mountain ranges.

The minerals you can find here are galena, manganese zinc copper, iron and turquoise. You can learn about the geology and mining history here at the visitors center, it’s open sat/sun from 10-4. We visited on a Monday and the visitor center was open, it is likely open daily in the summer, but not posted on the website- so you may want to call ahead.

Exact change $5 daily. The park is a day use park and is available for hiking, biking, and horse back riding.

In 1879, the Village of Cerrillos began as a tent encampment situated between the lead and silver deposits in the Cerrillos Hills to the north, and the coal mines of Madrid as well as the gold mines of the Placer and Ortiz Mountains to the south. Cerrillos prospered by providing access to exploit the natural resources in both areas. However, it was the arrival of the railroad in 1880 that ensured Cerrillos would have a different trajectory than the nearby mining town of Carbonateville. The railroad connection solidified Cerrillos’ importance as a transportation and supply hub for the surrounding mining districts.

The Cerrillos Mining Museum and Petting Zoo looked like a lot of fun and was closed during our visit..

After exploring the town of Cerrillos we drove back to Albuquerque stopping in Madrid, NM for an amazing green Chile cheeseburger at the Mine Shaft Tavern. I highly recommend!

#newmexico #travel #cerrillos