La Cuchara Trailhead (La Tierra Trails)

Great easy-moderate clean trail for hiking or MTB. Got started about 8am and it was a great hike with few people on the trail. Trail is marked well with signs, numbers and maps along each path break. There are some elevation changes although I would consider them small. Highly recommend!

So much fun. 2 bike parks. Flowy trails. Well maintained. And the biking community is ace. Definitely a fun place to ride. I brought the dirt jumper, so any bike is good. All public and all free. If you live in the Albuquerque or Santa Fe area and love to ride or trail run get out here. You won't be disappointed.

Good spot to drop in. Up hill to the jump line but fun coming back down!

Beautiful, well-groomed trails perfect for a trail run or a MTB ride. Peaceful and quiet.

Love this trail! Its a little lighter workout, but still gets your heart going!

I walked Ridge Top Loop with good views. Not strenuous and views were lovely. I recommend hiking shoes but not needed if physically condition. La Tierra website gives you directions on the different loops. Very dog friendly.

Very Scenic walk level most way, an easy Trek

Nice, well marked trail, plenty of parking..

During our annual winter road trip from Austin to Taos, we take as many opportunities as possible to stretch our legs and take in some beautiful New Mexico landscapes, especially after a great local meal. We chose one of the trails at La Tierra because it was near our location after our tasty late lunch at the original Pantry diner and would put us on the correct side of town to easily continue our journey north on Highway 84 to our lodging at Embudo (north of Espanola). From a peek at the trail system map from Santa Fe Conservation Trust (SFCT, https://sfct.org/la-tierra-trails/), it looked like the La Cuchara trailhead (off 599 aka Veteran's Memorial Highway, behind Unity Santa Fe church) would be our best option, as we could access the roughly 3-mile Ridgetop Loop that would give us a bit of elevation gain with lovely views of the mountains in every direction. If you wanna follow our path, start at the trailhead (designated by marker "TH" throughout the park) and proceed through these numbered markers: 24, 21, 17, 16, 14, 12, 11, 25, and back to the trailhead. This was a mild winter Sunday afternoon, with temps in the low-40s, breezy, and partly sunny. There was a bit of leftover snow here and there, but the single-track terrain was primarily sandy and rocky with minimal mud, a good thing, since we were in our street shoes. We encountered only 2 other parties during our 1-hour outing, one guy on a mountain bike, and a couple walking their 4 dogs (off-leash, grrrr, but thankfully, harmless). The La Tierra Trails system has over 25 miles within 1.5k acres and is rated for multi-use by hikers, cyclists, and horses, plus a small section for motorcycles and ATVs at Buckman Track. Trail runners can also enjoy this trail system, with caution for the abundant cacti. Mountain bikers and BMX riders can have extra fun with some technical trail sections, jumps, and terrain obstacles created just for them; they even get an annual event during Santa Fe Bike Month (August) here, the La Tierra Torture race https://www.core-crew.com/la-tierra-torture-4-27 . Good to know: There are no restrooms or other comfort facilities (at least near the trailhead and path we took). We did notice signs about the risk of car break-ins and shattered window glass on the ground, but no one broke into our car while we were on the trail.

We loved hiking out here, nice and secluded, well marked trails that were easy to follow. All the trail markers had the full map to help you orient. Very good scenery. There were a couple places that were a little steep but most of the trail was very reasonable grade wise. We took a two mile or so loop from the calabasas trailhead, but there are a bunch of different trail heads to start from and options to go. Some are horse and bike friendly, some not. Bring water with you! There isn't any place to get it nearby.

Shannon's write up was spot on! We followed the numbers he suggested and it was a great hike on June17, 2023. The only edit I would make is that there is now a portapotty at the trailhead. Steve M.

Nice, easy hiking trail not far from downtown that can help burn off some of those extra calories you packed down at all the great foodie places. There is a great mountain bike park hidden in there. It has the paths numbered with signs so easy to get around.