Barko1
Senior Member
I think the Gila has the oldest wilderness area of all the National Forests, dates to 1924. It is the 6th largest and is located in the SW of New Mexico, luckily not too far from my home. It is always low moisture but now is in a drought and under extremely high fire warning, if the lack of precipitation continues they may impose some pretty restrictive rules, like no travel!
The Continental Divide Trail runs right through the forest and we headed to FR150 which at times is the divide and other times is very close. The trail starts about 15 miles North of Mimbres, NM and my campsite
is only about 1 mile up the road, up being the correct term, my trans temp went up 30 degrees in that mile! Camp is close to 7000'. I was dragging a trailer with my daughters quad and my DR650 dual sport. Just had time for one night, did some exploration with the bike, forded the Mimbres River a few times (not a difficult task right now). Lots of camping spots all along the road and down some of the spurs. Rocky Canyon is an official campsite 12 miles from where we stayed, found some nice sites by the river for a future visit.
Level?? Don't need no stinkin level....
Cookes Peak, 35 miles as the Raven flies, 8400'
Foster Dog, available!
Did our part to clean up, hauled out a couple dozen beer bottles
I know a few spots in this area so if you are headed this way and have questions let me know![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
The Continental Divide Trail runs right through the forest and we headed to FR150 which at times is the divide and other times is very close. The trail starts about 15 miles North of Mimbres, NM and my campsite
Level?? Don't need no stinkin level....
![1250044249_jjp3R-M.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fbarko1.smugmug.com%2FTravel%2FVarious-rides-and-riders-1%2FP1030645%2F1250044249_jjp3R-M.jpg&hash=57735e150e3a172db7e795b7e59959d5)
Cookes Peak, 35 miles as the Raven flies, 8400'
![1250044274_SQVeJ-M.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fbarko1.smugmug.com%2FTravel%2FVarious-rides-and-riders-1%2FP1030649%2F1250044274_SQVeJ-M.jpg&hash=9d34badbb45bbb50e3b01b4efe3f6af5)
Foster Dog, available!
![1250043654_w7pQa-M.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fbarko1.smugmug.com%2FTravel%2FVarious-rides-and-riders-1%2FP1030618%2F1250043654_w7pQa-M.jpg&hash=d3fed866f31ed21136829f3389dc20c3)
![1250044529_pSDqX-M.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fbarko1.smugmug.com%2FTravel%2FVarious-rides-and-riders-1%2FP1030644%2F1250044529_pSDqX-M.jpg&hash=92fd0ba300e89efd2631debbb94c5849)
Did our part to clean up, hauled out a couple dozen beer bottles
I know a few spots in this area so if you are headed this way and have questions let me know