Riley, NM ghost town.

red/green hawk

New member
About an hour south of Albuquerque and just north of Magdalena nestled in between the Seviletta National Wildlife Refuge (a.k.a. Sierra Ladrones Mts.) and the Bear Mountain Range (which is just east of the Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation) there is an area which is dissected by Forest Rd. 354 from the south starting in Magdalena and meets County Rd. 12 from the Bernal exit 175 on I-25. From this vein are numerous roads and trails that go up into the Bear mountains to the West and off into the Rio Salado to the east. This is where I had my 1st real experience in my 1st Jeep and one that I will never forgot.
20161207_125416.jpg Ladrone Peak
20161207_111821.jpg Bear Mountains
Along the Rio Salado there is an old ghost town called Riley.
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This is where man met nature and nature won.
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The River was no deeper than 6 inches until I hit this sink hole.
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Just weeks before I drove in this little river with my then 2 and 4 year old daughters and had no issues. Luckily this time I was with a couple buddies and we had to walk about 3 miles to find someone to help us out. The area is so remote and sparsely populated there is no one around.
One of my most memorable times ever in my new Jeep. Thank God for this kindly old rancher. We helped him feed his cattle and gave him all the cash we had on us for his troubles, $27 all in ones and fives.
These last ones are from a hike done on Ladrone Peak. A trailless mountain range that is named after thieves (ladrones in Spanish) that would rob the stage coaches traveling between El Paso and Santa Fe on the old Camino Real. Legend says there is treasure buried somewhere in them thar hills that these thieves buried there. Also it was said the Apache would steal livestock and take them up into these mountains because they were very difficult to follow up into.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Awesome trip report! Great to see you getting out there and exploring in your Renegade. Bummer about it getting stuck but then, it happens to all of us. Glad you were able to get out okay.
 
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