Boston Hill Open Space
Boston Hill in Silver City, NM has a little trail network that offers great views of the town below. It’s a series of three hills that were mined for silver back in the late 1800’s. Around 1880 The Boston Company purchased the legal tender claim and the name was born.
Tired from the last few days of big rides, we did a small ride to check out the area. The trails vary in difficulty, but the big loop is pretty easy with less than 1000′ of climbing. We made a couple wrong turns and came across some more technical trails with lots of rocks. We zig zagged around plunging ravines and winding trails with good views of the town. Pretty fun little network.
Silver City is home to Western New Mexico State University which sits on the hill above the town. You can see it in a few of our ride pictures. It isn’t a giant school, I think I read that enrollment is around 3,500 but you can bet that brings some life to the town.
Silver City Downtown
After our ride we walked around the historic downtown district. Galleries and shops line the streets with little placards describing some of the historic buildings. It was pretty quiet the day we were there, though I’m not sure it ever gets really busy.
The historic area starts just over the bridge from the Big Ditch. The Big Ditch was formed in 1895 when a flash flood devastated the original downtown. The flood washed away Main Street and left a ditch 55 feet lower than the original street level. Only one original building on Main Street still exists…the Warren House. Today there is a quaint little park along the Big Ditch and most of the streets have extremely high sidewalks to allow for flooding.
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