Dale Ball Trails Picacho Peak

Dale Ball Trails Picacho Peak

Very close to downtown Santa Fe lives a great system of recreation trails that leave the city and head into the foothills. I took the Dale Ball Trails to Picacho Peak hike to explore and was rewarded with an overlook that showed me the entire town of Santa Fe, a great outdoor feel for being so close to the city, and a wonderful hike and workout. The system has options for every skill level but the hike I did was on the moderate difficulty level.

Dale Ball Trail System

The Dale Ball Trail system consists of 24.4 miles of interconnected hiking and biking trails in Santa Fe. As an outsider in town for a visit I have to say this system is pretty amazing! The trails are located just a short distance from downtown and stretch into the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. There are trails for the beginner and the advanced hiker and several options on where you can get on and off the trail system. For more information and maps click here.

Getting Started

There are several trailheads spread out around the Santa Fe Area to get access to the Dale Ball trail system. For this hike, I started at the Wilderness Gate Trailhead which gave me access through a small trailhead in a neighborhood. The trail then follows a narrow open space between homes before climbing out of the neighboorhood and getting into some open lands.

This short section of access trail isn’t a pushover. After an immediate decline from the trailhead there is a consistent uphill grade around 14% for the entire half mile that it takes to get above the neighborhood.

Once you make it above the homes the trail really opens up. You will come to a junction at about the half mile mark and will have a choice. You can either take trail 39 up the hill to the north or trail 40 to the east. From here I took trail 40.

Trail 40, 41, 35

Taking trail 40 will bring you across to the east but it won’t get much easier. The trail will continue with around a 14% grade for this entire section that lasts about another half mile. The trail will also remain pretty narrow and do some switch-backing up some short inclines. There is still a pretty decent amount of tree cover for most of this section of the hike which gives some much needed shade on hotter summer days.

Trail 40 will last for about a half mile and then will intersect with trail 41. you will want to take 41 to the east-northeast and that will run just under a half mile until you reach the junction with trail 35. As you continue to gain altitude the views just keep getting better and better.

The Final Ascent

When you reach trail 35 you have about eight-tenths of a mile until you make it to Picacho Peak. The trail wraps around to the backside of the hill and the views begin to change again. The city will disappear and be replaced with a line of tree covered foothills that I found to be gorgeous.

As you get closer to the peak the trail gets to be a bit rockier but it is still pretty easy to handle. When you start on trail 35 you get a bit of a reprieve on the elevation gain. You will then come to a junction with trail 34 which will take you to the peak. Trail 34 means one more steep incline that gets as high as an 18% grade. After that, congrats, you made it to the peak!

Picacho Peak

Picacho Peak is pretty amazing. Before you head to the peak there is a small rock formation on the backside of the peak that gives amazing views of the rest of the mountain range behind the peak.

After taking in this view for a few minutes you can now go to the official peak and circle back to the front of the landing. From Picacho Peak the city of Santa Fe opens up beneath you.

I really enjoyed sitting up here on the peak and looking down on the city. The trail is so close to the town but also feels very isolated and peaceful. I took this in for quite a while and actually had the peak to myself for about twenty minutes on a weekday evening.

The Backside Loop

The return trip starts out mostly the same. Taking trails 34 and 35 to get back down from the peak. To complete a loop instead of an out and back you can take the 42 trail instead of 41. This will take you down a more heavily treed section of the trail before looping back through a neighborhood and finishing with a few feet on the road to the trailhead.

After a lot of sun on a hot day, the more shady side of the trail might be a great way to cool down on the return. Coming down this way is about a mile and a half and I really enjoyed the shade and the taller trees that it provided after a fun hike on the Dale Ball Trails to Picacho Peak.

Video of the Dale Ball Trails Picacho Peak Hike

I put together this time-lapse view of the hike to hikers a feel for that the trail is like. If you enjoy the video make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel. It is free to subscribe and you will get all of the latest video updates.

Distance and Elevation Gain

As a note, my phone rebooted itself in the middle of the hike and stopped the recording so these are close by maybe not 100% accurate.

If you don’t have the AllTrails app you might want to check it out, I really love mine. It records your progress and is a great way to search for hikes that are nearby and gives you difficulty measurements. According to AllTrails today’s hike was around 3.90 miles and had a total elevation gain of about 1,013 feet including undulations. That put the high point at around 8,565 feet. I was also moving for a total of 1 hour 52 minutes.

I am a Pro member of Alltrails and love it. If you are interested in the platform, please consider using my affiliate link for AllTrails. It gives me a small commission with no extra cost to you.

Part 1

Part 2

Effort

There is quite a bit of elevation on this relatively short hike. Over a thousand feet in about 2 miles. The trail also get narrow in several spots near the edges of the inclines. There are also several intertwining trails so the difficulty can vary depending on which trails you end up taking. That makes it very customizable depending on your skill level to find a trail that is right for you.

I am going to list this hike as moderate based on the amount of elevation.

Terrain

The Ball Ball Trails to Picacho Peak can get very narrow at times and are on the smaller side for most of the hike. This is more of a single file hike than side by side for a lot sections. The path is mostly hardpacked dirt with a bit of a sandy layer on top in places that can get a little thick. As you get higher up and closer to the peak the amount of rocks increase. I would definitely suggest some hiking boots or shoes that have good traction.

Access

With so many trails in the Dale Ball system, there are also a lot of entry points. For this hike I started at the Wilderness Gate Trailhead, which was in a neighborhood that had a small trailhead with parking for about 4 cars and no restroom facilities. Depending on which trail you want to start on there might be other trailheads that you start at.

Wrapping up Dale Ball Trails Picacho Peak

I am so impressed with the Dale Ball Trails system in Santa Fe. So close to town and easy to get to but the trails take you to what feels like a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the town. The interconnected trails have a little something for every skill level of hiker.

My trip to Picacho Peak is was great. It was challenging with some consistent elevation but the reward were amazing views of the city and the surrounding foothills. I really enjoyed every minute of this hike and can’t wait to get back and enjoy and explore even more of the Dale Ball Trails.

I have added this hike and all of my hikes to my interactive map page that you can find here. If you have a suggestion or comment you can email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com. Or follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!

Galley of Dale Ball Trails Picacho Peak