Best Trails in Cibola National Forest

Very beautiful trail with grass and flowers. The north-facing view at the end was great. We came back via the north crest trail giving us some shade and some westward views. We had to hike on the road for about 1/3 mike to get back to our car. Total distance doing this route was 6.7 miles.

Trail is closed until further notice as of July 8th, 2018.

Beautiful trail but could use some maintenance. Lots of rocks but overall we had a really good time. Bring plenty of water, the way up is almost completely uphill.

Nothing spectacular but this novice hiker enjoyed it thoroughly.

This was a good hike, I took my kids my youngest is 8 years old. It was challenging enough to keep their interest but not so steep that they were calling for breaks every minute. The trail is very rocky so I would keep that in mind if you were to trail run; I would power hike this one. Typical forest setting, there was a small aspen grove, plently of shade and every so often a view out towards Edgewood. Wanted to go further and connect with the Crest Trail but my kids and their friends had enough.

Steep climb but great vistas!

If you zoom in on the Agua Sarca map you can see and follow the full route to the intersection with the North Crest Trail. (Note: at the early Y in the trail you want to go left and at the stone fireplace you want to go to the right.) From the parking lot this is about 3 miles one way. You can then make a loop taking the North Crest Trail back (6.7 miles) or use the Ojo del Orno shortcut (zoom in, it’s the unnamed path straight back to the parking lot that cuts off the big curve in the North Crest Trail). Ojo del Orno is 0.8 miles long and takes you down 1000 ft over some loose rock but it cuts off 2.5 miles. Of course you could do the hike in the other direction. A much longer loop hike would be to continue on the North Crest Trail after Agua Sarca to the Ellis Trail to Osha Loop to Penasco Blanco back to the North Crest Trail (0.7 miles into the return loop above). This loop with Ojo del Orno seems to be at least 11 miles and goes from 6350 ft to almost 9800 ft. Yeah, it’s the one I did. Nice hike with plenty of high country meadow and forest and you go through Osha Spring.

Great hike beautiful views.

Did this hike on Friday and it was amazing, loved every minute of it.

Just a nice easy walk through the woods. There was nothing spectacular about this hike, but we enjoyed it. We went on a Saturday afternoon and only ran into two other people, so it's a great place to get some quiet.

What a beautiful trail! We tried La Luz but there was zero shade and hot already at 930am. Instead, we took the tram and hiked this trail. Lovely but definitely hard. We hiked down the mountain ridge with plenty of shade and then hiked back up. WOW! That was challenging but we had a chance to rest on the north hill, near the ski lifts and observe spectacular distant mountains. The sights were breathtaking and lots of birds if, like us, you love birding. Enjoy!

I have hiked this trail twice with my daughter who is eight and she loved it. Definitely be aware of your kiddos once you get to the cabin. Sheer cliff drops around, but fantastic views. Fun family hike and a good way to spend half a day with the drive up the mountain.

Hard to believe this trail is moderate! I think we need more classification levels because the difference between this trail and some others (also moderate) is night and day. I know it's not quite hard but it's on the high end of moderate! Still, the view at the top makes it worth it.

Great hike ended up with 5 Miles by the time we were done. Start early got super hot. There is plenty of parking and bathrooms with picnic areas. Should have done the loop clockwise to get more vert. Overall really enjoyable.

Easy family friendly hike. Saw 2 toddlers make it to the top, picking wild flowers all the way! If they can do it, you can! Weather was perfect today, 66 degrees at the top with slight breeze. Bring a picnic lunch. The view from the top is amazing! Ask for map and directions at the Crest House gift shop. Pretty much all trails will lead to the Kiwanis Cabin, just different views. One route takes you through the forest with lots of shade while the other takes your along the cliff. Perfect short hike. Took us about 1.5 hours and stopped to take plenty of pictures.

This little day hike rules. Gorgeous views and easy to navigate.

This trail was amazing! It was actually very easy to follow as long as you look at the alltrails map. Beautiful views at the top, and you only climb for the first half. It was great to see the desert and the forest from one trail. I don’t know why others have rated this trail low - it’s a great option for most activity levels, and it’s free! ;)

With current construction it was hard to find trail head. Check with tram lodge for a better map. Nice hike though. Windy.

Starts at high altitude & in the trees, this trail provides cooler temps & shade with nice vistas looking east. Trail ends at a fence which marks joining the South Crest Trail. If you go straight and follow the SCT a few hundred yards, you will find an assortment of unmarked paths off to your left that will lead to a nice outcropping of ledge exposing nice vistas looking east. Highly recommend this half day hike.

Good shade, not much of a view

0k

beautiful hike this afternoon!

Lovely trail. Not too busy. Amazing views especially from the summit. Pretty wildflowers and cool temperatures.

Woof. First morning in town after driving from Buffalo, NY (maybe 500ft above sea level?) so no acclimatization. Got a later start than we wanted (9:50am) so it pretty warm during the least enjoyable parts of the trail. First ~2mi was tough to even find the trail. Scrawl that makes up most of the second half can be tiring if your arches aren’t used to it. I consider myself in good shape and a pretty experienced hiker but tbh it was Pretty brutal but a real challenge. Took us about 6hrs in all (with a few stops for pictures and starts down wrong trails). Took the tram down. Glad I did it once, don’t know if I feel compelled to do it again soon....

Beautiful!

I enjoyed this hike today with friends. Perfect loop. Not to long or too short. Enjoyed watching the butterflies and looking at the different wildflowers.

Always enjoy this trail Fall/Winter times when temps usually don't rise above mid-50s. Plenty of bird activity as sun was setting.

Boring trail, no good payoff, and mediocre views.

Nice and shady