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Labor Day Weekend    September 2-5, 2011

Friday afternoon through Monday morning

The high, rolling mountains 50 miles west of Taos shelter some of the last stands of old-growth ponderosa pines in northern New Mexico as well as crystal clear mountain streams and high, sub-alpine meadows, orvallecitos. The vast Carson National Forest embraces much of this spacious and largely roadless mountain country, but a homesteader carved out a ranch here in 1898 and managed to stick out enough winters to make good on his claim. Operated for most of the subsequent decades as a private getaway, the Vallecitos Mountain Ranch has been managed by a nonprofit organization as a wilderness retreat center since 1993. Now, the ranch is opening up to new activities, including, mountain biking.

The terrain around Vallecitos offers superb opportunities for both single- and double-track biking. A maintained forest service road traverses the area from north to south just east of the ranch, and much of the country is crisscrossed with abandoned logging roads. Additionally, the newly-designated Continental Divide Trail cuts through the mountains, less that half a mile from the ranch, offering the possibility of long-distance single track through the forested mountain landscape. 

The main lodge at the ranch, built from local logs in 1926-28, has been superbly maintained as a comfortable place for meals and conviviality. Twenty casitas (cabins) and yurts, single and double occupancy, nestled in an aspen grove behind the lodge provide cozy sleeping quarters, and a central bathhouse includes hot showers. Nearby swimming ponds, and the Vallecitos River itself, present the temptation of a cold plunge at day’s end. 

On this mountain biking trip, we will take full advantage of the amenities to be had at Vallecitos, including the services of a professional cook from Taos with long experience at the ranch. This will allow us time to ride to the edge of daylight and to get early starts—or to take leisure time in the meadow or by the river, without a worry. 

This will be the second mountain biking excursion at Vallecitos, and we’ll build on everything we learned last year. There are new trails to explore! The trip will combine the best of biking in the mountains with the best in ranch-style creature comforts—at one of the finest times of the year in northern New Mexico.  

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Cost and Registration: The cost of the weekend is $375. Fees are all-inclusive and cover meals and three nights accommodation. 50% deposit due when registering. 

Balance due by August 19, 2011.

Breakfast and dinner served in the dining room. A bag lunch will be provided to take on the trail each day.

Go to www.vallecitos.org to register online or contact Leigh Lauck at refuge@vallecitos.org or call our office for more information and to reserve your space: (575) 751-9613. 

Rustic, comfortable accommodations, single occupancy, are in our individual solar lighted and heated cabins, yurts and walled cabin tents. 

About Vallecitos. Homesteaded in 1898, the ranch is a spectacular 135-acre private inholding innthe Carson National Forest, 11 miles from the nearest paved road. The ranch is surrounded by 300,000 acres of the Carson Forest, including some of the most majestic old growth forest in the Rocky Mountains, subalpine meadows, mountain lakes and wetlands, towering stands of ponderosa timber, sweeping groves of aspen, and bountiful game and wildlife. The exquisite Vallecitos River, designated wild and scenic, runs through the ranch.  There is no place like it. Visit Vallecitos online at www.vallecitos.org.