Strawberry Peak is named for its resemblance, from some perspectives, to a downside-up strawberry. An outlier from the Socorro Mountains, it towers above the desert. The peak is eye candy for mountaineers driving south on Interstate-15. Don’t get distracted! Up close this is a very moderate mountain (7000 feet) that can be scrambled. The summit block gets a class two rating since few scramblers will feel any need for a rope. The approach is a long desert ramble launched from the floor of the Rio Grande basin, rising onto a broad bajada and chasing an arroyo to the base of the peak. A short and strenuous ascent brings you from base to summit.
Land notes: the land immediately to the south of this hike belongs to the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) at New Mexico Tech. “Energetic material” means “explosive”. Unexploded ordinance lies scattered in that terrain and the EMRTC has a vigorous enforcement effort to keep people off the test grounds. Portions of this trail cross ranch property. The ranchers have been generous in allowing hikers, runners and bicycle riders to use their land. Keep yourself safe and keep the trail open by staying on the trail.
Driving Directions:
- From I-25 near Socorro, NM (driving either north or south) take exit 150 and follow the ramp system to where it joins California Street at an intersection with a stoplight. Reset your odometer. Proceed onto California St.
- After 0.3 miles on California St, turn right onto Bullock St.
- After 0.7 miles on Bullock St, at the third stop sign, come to an intersection with Lopezville Road. Continue straight ahead onto the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology where the road becomes Olive Dr (Olive Drive is not signed at the intersection).
- After 0.2 miles on Olive Dr, at a stop sign, turn right onto Canyon Rd.
- After 0.5 miles on Canyon Rd turn right onto East Road.
- After 1.1 miles on East Rd come to a gate. If the road is gated then park on the gravel pad before the gate. Otherwise, after 1.5 miles on East Rd come to a small, paved turnout on your left and park.
At the 0.4 mile mark on East Road you will come to a stop sign at a four-way intersection. To stay on East Road you must turn right. In my short experience East Road been gated on weekends. If you come on a weekday you will save yourself a total of 0.8 miles of road-walking.
Trailhead:
There are no services at either the gravel pad before the East Road gate or at the paved pad at the formal trailhead. The popularity of this trailhead can cause parking overflows. You might try parking on the broad shoulders of East Road. Mesquite (that side-wall killer) grows at the shoulder margins. Have care for your tires.
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Data:
- lowest elevation: 4680 feet
- highest elevation: 7039 feet
- net elevation gain: 2360 feet
- distance 7.7 miles (one way, including road walk)
Hike Description:
If you’ve parked at the gate then hike north on East Road for 0.4 miles. Look for the formal trailhead – a small paved pad on the west side of the road. This unsigned trailhead offers a gate through a barbed wire fence. Close the gate after you go through and enter private ranch land. The trail meanders south and meets with another barbed wire fence in 100 yards. A high-stepping ladder surmounts this difficulty. This portion of the trail sees many bicyclists; expect the tread to have a U-shaped cross section holding tire-loosened rock. The Rio Grande runs past only a few miles away, but here you stand in the Chihuahuan desert. Creosote bush completely dominates the terrain. In warmer months you will want to watch for snakes. At 1.2 miles you will reach a power line. (All distances in this route description include the 0.4 mile road walk). Immediately before the power lines watch for a fork in the trail. Go right and follow the trail as it parallels the power line. At the top of a small rise the path swings to the west (to your left, heading in) and leaves civilization behind.
The tread heads towards a tiny conical hillock, denoted as point 4874 on USGS maps. The trail splits just before reaching this hillock. Like many, many other junctions on this trail there will be an obvious fork going south and a fainter fork going north. Here is the rule: always take the faint northerly route (go right, heading in). The trail swings around the hill and climbs a bit. From the hillock the trail drops into a wash and then climbs 80 to 100 feet onto a broad bajada. From the top be sure to look back. Views extend north to Polvadera Peak, northeast to Manzano Peak in the Manzanos Range, across the Rio Grande to the Quebrada hills, southeast to the dome of Carrizo Peak and south along the front of the Socorro Mountains, past the Chupedera hills and down to the distant San Andreas Mountains.
Wind your way west, entering BLM lands, as the trail stretches across the mellow bajada. At 2.7 miles come to another junction with a prominent fork dropping south into an arroyo and a much fainter fork heading northwest. Remember: take the faint northerly track. The bajada portion of the hike ends at 3.8 miles. Nogal Arroyo appears off to your right and you must find a way down to the bed of the arroyo. The trail first drops into a small side-cut, rises on the far side, and quickly reaches the rim of the main arroyo. Finally, nosing west along the rim, the tread comes to a gully that drops briskly to the arroyo bed. If you look west along the arroyo you should see a windmill. Descend the gully on a cow path. (The arroyo rim trail continues past the top of the gully. If you find yourself pulling away from the main arroyo above another sidecut then you’ve missed the gully. Turn back). Follow the bottom of the Nogal Arroyo west. For several hundred yards you will be crossing private land. The windmill provides water for cattle and wildlife, please stay a good distance away.
The arroyo bottom has long stretches of compacted sand interspersed with jumbles of basketball-sized boulders. Plates of a whitish and fibrous mineral, most likely a form of gypsum, are abundant. At 5.5 miles from the trailhead come to a confluence where the main arroyo bends to the south. Take the northerly fork.
The map shows that I took the wrong fork and found myself trending further and further south. Piles of desk-sized boulders clog the south fork, you won’t find such piles elsewhere on this hike. On this date there were pools of water as well, but the salts precipitated next to the pools make drinking from them inadvisable. If you are worried about your course then you can scramble up the sides of the arroyo and look for the ruins of a rock house. If the ruins are north of you then you are off course. Best practice: stay close to the north side of the arroyo as you near Strawberry Peak – that will take you into the north fork and keep the Peak on your left.
At 5.7 miles from the trailhead the terrain on the south side of the north fork (left on ascent) starts to rise. Watch that side for a big pile of loose rubble topped with a thick and slanted slab of cap rock. Just past this odd configuration a gully leads steeply up the foot of Strawberry Mountain. Leave the bed of Nogal Arroyo and ascend on the south side of the gully (left on ascent). After the initial steep pitch the angle mellows. Pick your way around juniper, prickly pear, and boulders towards a pair of cliff-fronted knolls. At the base of the knolls the terrain flattens to a narrow and grassy shelf. Cross the shelf and ascend between the knolls. A cattle path rising between the knolls offers solid footing.
Past the knolls the terrain flattens dramatically in a wide shelf. Cattle love this place – every tuft of grass has been grazed to its roots. Watch your footing because tiny but prodigiously armed cacti lie scattered on this small plain. Cross to the base of a second pair of knolls and ascend the gully between them. Once again a cow path up this gully improves the footing considerably.
Past these knolls the terrain forms a third shelf, distinctive for its numerous lumps and hollows. On this date I crossed these lumps directly toward Strawberry Peak. The footing on the next rise was not attractive. You may want to wind around the lumps going south and catch the waterway that rises to the fourth (and final) shelf.
At the edge of the final shelf take a moment to study the scramble ahead of you. You will be ascending the southwest facing slope (the left-facing slope in the picture). Also, take note of where you are standing. The open shelf offers many options for descent, some of these options could make you very grumpy. When you know how to enter and how to leave then cross the shelf, contouring to the south (left on ascent), to attain a low shoulder.
From the shoulder climb directly to the summit on steep, scree-covered terrain. The scree lasts for a rise of about 400 feet. At this point the surface becomes more rocky but maintains the steep pitch. After having ascended a total of 600 feet the angle mellows. The summit block has mild exposure, but the chief risk from a tumble comes from the belligerent vegetation. Arrive at the summit having travelled 7.7 miles. The summit houses offerings to space aliens and includes a phone for calling home. The views are grand. To the north lies the nearby Ladron Mountains, the semi-distant Manzano Mountains and Sandia Peak in the far Sandia Mountains. To the east find Carrizo Peak, the El Capitan Range and the north end of the White Mountains. The Socorro Mountains dominate the south. To the west, across La Jencia plain, find South Baldy amidst the entirety of the Magdelana Mountains. Sign the climbers log, phone home and return the way you came.
Recommendations:
The summit log has several entries from people who ran the entire length of this trail. I am impressed. Still, it would not be much fun to have your foot stabbed by the cacti and mesquite found here. More importantly, the ascent on loose scree begs for both foot protection and ankle reinforcement. Wear boots.
Two liters of water was enough for an overcast, windy and cool autumn’s day. In warmer conditions you will need at least twice that amount.
I treated this hike as a training exercise and took a full backpack. Mistake! The excess gear (together with some strong winds) threatened my stance on the steep-sided summit block. This tread rewards those who pack lightly.
The land owners along this route deserve your thoughtful consideration. Pack out litter. Give any cattle you encounter as wide a berth as you can. The windmill is a working piece of ranch gear and you can avoid stressing the cattle by staying away from it.
Links:
An valuable Summitpost entry gives due consideration to the possibility that you may end this hike in a secret CIA prison.
An entry on Peakbagger provides the basic data on this hike. Take a look at the trip report by Thomas Denham for another GPS track and more recommendations on route decisions.
The Albuquerque Journal presents a useful list of suggested hikes for this region that includes Strawberry Peak, although that route description seems to have been taken from the SummitPost entry.
New Mexico Meanders 