New Mexico is underrated. This last 5 weeks in the Gila National Forest underscored that for me. We took a couple hours to hike the Gold Dust Trail that goes further up Whitewater Canyon from the Catwalk Trail we did the other day.
There isn’t much info on this hike and I don’t think a lot of people do it. A sign at the trailhead warned it wasn’t maintained but we saw evidence that someone was giving it some TLC with water drainages dug in a few places. The trail starts with a climb up to a view of the views to the east up Whitewater Canyon to the High Country of the northern Mogollon Range. It’s a rugged gorgeous canyon that never got old of seeing. From way up here, we were able to get a big picture view of the volcaniclastic sandstone layers in the cliff wall.
The trail descends steeply the last quarter mile. Down, down, down to the water it plunges and it’s a bit overgrown down there. Several sections of this trail are loose gravel so we used hiking sticks to aid us and I was happy to have them.
Check out these views!
Leave a Reply