The Coyote Call Trail

The Coyote Call Trailhead is located on NM State Road 4, roughly 1.6 miles east of the turn-off for the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The parking area is located on the south side of the road.

The Coyote Call Trail offers hikers the chance to take a pleasant walk along the wall of an ancient volcano, while providing outstanding scenic views into the Valle Grande of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. This relatively easy route traces a loop along the hillside of the caldera itself.

Although we didn’t actually see or hear any coyotes during our hike, we did see several hawks soaring along the thermal updrafts, as well as plenty of evidence of elk having bedded down in the grass the night before our hike. The park is also home to mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, prairie dogs, as well as bald and golden eagles.

The hike begins with a moderate climb through an open grassy meadow. Along this stretch you’ll pass through stands of ponderosa pine, as well as young and mature aspens. This stretch also offers an abundance of wildflowers during the early summer period. The upper portions of the hike travel through long stretches of dead conifer trees, a result of the Las Conchas Fire that burned more than 156,000 acres in the Bandelier National Monument, Santa Fe National Forest and Los Alamos areas in 2011. The top half of the trail is, for the most part, fairly uneventful. To be honest, the trail didn’t appear to be used much, and maintenance appeared to be quite infrequent. During our hike in 2018 there was quite a bit of overgrowth along the route, though it was still easily passable and easy to follow.

Although the upper portions of the loop didn’t provide much to write home about, the lower portions provide outstanding views of the Valle Grande. This thirteen-mile-wide valley, which is actually a volcanic caldera, was formed when the earth collapsed after a catastrophic volcanic eruption took place here roughly 1.25 million years ago – a geological event very similar to how Yellowstone was created. The eruption was so powerful that it pushed out 150 cubic miles of lava, and shot ash as far away as to what is now Iowa. Scientists estimate that the volume of material ejected was more than 500 times the amount ejected during the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980.

Today, this extremely beautiful valley is officially known as the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It’s known for its huge mountain meadows, abundance of wildlife, meandering streams, and for preserving the homeland of ancestral native peoples and embracing its rich ranching history. In 2000 Congress purchased the 89,000-acre unit, known then as the historic Baca Ranch, for $100 million. A study conducted in 2009 determined that the Valles Caldera met the stringent criteria for inclusion in the National Park Service, noting its “significant national value and unique, unaltered geology.” In 2013 U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich reintroduced legislation to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. On October 1, 2015 the preserve was officially handed over to the National Park Service. Who knows, perhaps someday it will become a national park.

Several movies have been shot in and around the Valles Caldera, including The Gambler, Buffalo Girls, Last Stand at Saber River, The Missing, Seraphim Falls and most recently, The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp.

While the Coyote Call Trail travels along the southern rim of the caldera, a nice compliment to this hike is the La Jara Trail, which provides visitors with the chance to explore the valley floor. For an even better option, I highly recommend checking out the hike up to Cerro Grande Peak.


Trail: Coyote Call Trail
RT Distance: 2.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 450 feet
Max Elevation: 9165 feet
TH Location: Near the turn-off for the Valles Caldera National Preserve
Map: Bandelier NM Trails Illustrated Map

Santa Fe - Taos Hiking Guide: - The Santa Fe­ - Taos area contains a wide selection of easily accessible trails throughout its mountains and high desert places - where outdoor enthusiasts can explore the diverse topography and ecosystems of northern New Mexico year-round. Now for the first time in one convenient volume, veteran local guidebook author Bob D'Antonio introduces you to 52 great hikes within an hour of these two towns. From alpine peaks to sage-covered mesas, northern New Mexico offers incredible hiking opportunities - and this guide leads you to the best.

La Jara Trail

The La Jara Trail is another scenic meadow hike in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. This easy 1.5-mile loop, which begins from the Valle Grande Visitor Center, circumnavigates Cerro La Jara, a now tree-covered rhyolite lava dome that rises roughly 245 feet above the Valle Grande floor. Since this is a self-interpretative trail, you’ll have the option of borrowing a trail guide from the visitor center, if you wish to learn more about the area. Visitors may also want to note that the entire hike travels through open meadows, and is therefore fully exposed to the prevailing weather elements.

This predominantly flat hike begins in the middle of a prairie dog town. Hikers should also keep an eye out for golden eagles, hawks, mountain bluebirds, brewer’s blackbirds and barn swallows. Black bears, coyotes, badgers and elk can also be seen here as well. In fact, the entire La Jara Trail passes through outstanding elk habitat, and is considered to be an ideal calving ground. As a result, the Valles Caldera is home to the second largest elk population in New Mexico.

At the visitor center there was a family of nesting barn swallows that built their home under the roof of the porch. Hanging feeders also attracted several hungry hummingbirds.

As the trail travels around Cerro La Jara hikers will be treated to expansive views of the Valle Grande, as well as the hills and mountains. This thirteen-mile-wide valley, which is actually a volcanic caldera, was formed when the earth collapsed after a catastrophic volcanic eruption took place here roughly 1.25 million years ago – a geological event very similar to how Yellowstone was created. The eruption was so powerful that it pushed out 150 cubic miles of lava, and shot ash as far away as to what is now Iowa. Scientists estimate that the volume of material ejected was more than 500 times the amount ejected by the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption.

Today this extremely beautiful valley is officially known as the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It’s known for its huge mountain meadows, abundant wildlife, meandering streams, and for preserving the homeland of ancestral native peoples and embracing its rich ranching history. In 2000 Congress purchased the 89,000-acre unit, known as the historic Baca Ranch, for $100 million. A study conducted in 2009 determined that the Valles Caldera met the high criteria for inclusion in the National Park Service, noting its significant national value and unique, unaltered geology. In 2013 U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich reintroduced legislation to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. On October 1, 2015 the preserve was officially handed over to the National Park Service. Who knows, perhaps someday it will become a national park.

Several movies have been shot in and around the Valles Caldera, including The Gambler, Buffalo Girls, Last Stand at Saber River, The Missing, Seraphim Falls and most recently, The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp.

While the La Jara Trail explores the valley floor, a nice compliment to this hike is the Coyote Call Trail, which provides visitors with the chance to see the valley from the southern rim of the caldera. For an even better option, I highly recommend checking out the hike up to Cerro Grande Peak.


Trail: La Jara Trail
RT Distance: 1.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 25 feet
Max Elevation: ~8500 feet
TH Location: Valle Grande Visitor Center
Map: Bandelier NM Trails Illustrated Map

Santa Fe - Taos Hiking Guide: - The Santa Fe­ - Taos area contains a wide selection of easily accessible trails throughout its mountains and high desert places - where outdoor enthusiasts can explore the diverse topography and ecosystems of northern New Mexico year-round. Now for the first time in one convenient volume, veteran local guidebook author Bob D'Antonio introduces you to 52 great hikes within an hour of these two towns. From alpine peaks to sage-covered mesas, northern New Mexico offers incredible hiking opportunities - and this guide leads you to the best.

The Cerro Grande Route

Roughly 45 miles northwest of Santa Fe are the ancient ruins and deep canyons of Bandelier National Monument. Designated as a national monument in 1916, Bandelier preserves the homes of the Ancestral Pueblo people.

Archeological surveys show that the Ancestral Pueblos began building permanent settlements in Bandelier by 1150, but had moved to new homes along the Rio Grande by 1550. The main portion of the park, in Frijoles Canyon, contains a number of ancestral homes and dwellings, kivas (circular, half-buried ceremonial structures), rock paintings and petroglyphs.

The last time we visited Bandelier we spent most of our time in Frijoles Canyon. This time we decided to venture a little further out and hike the Cerro Grande Route, a trail located in the fairly isolated northwestern corner of the park. This “Route” offers a much different experience as compared to the rest of Bandelier. Instead of canyons and deserts, the trail explores the subalpine and montane forests of the Jemez Mountains.

Destination for the “Route” is the top of Cerro Grande Peak, Spanish for “Big Mountain”, which at 10,199 feet in elevation is the highest point in the park. The path alternates through open meadows, aspen groves and pine forests. Even in mid-September we still saw a wide variety of wildflowers.

Through the first sections of the hike we noticed a fair amount of evidence of the Cerro Grande Fire that burned roughly 48,000 acres in 2000. The fire started as a controlled burn by the Forest Service, but high winds blew the fire out of control, and eventually destroyed 235 homes in the Los Alamos area. By no means, however, does the fading damage detract from the sublime beauty of the hike.

Be sure to keep an eye out for elk, in addition to the mule deer and pikas we saw along the way.

Most of the climbing comes in the last three quarters-of-a-mile or so. The hike ends at a fairly open meadow at the summit of the peak (which would be called a bald if it were in the Southern Appalachians). From the top you can see the Valles Caldera, the Sangro de Cristo Mountains and the Sandia Mountains. Due to a few trees at the summit, however, the views are much better just a couple hundred feet below the top of the mountain.

Cerro Grande Peak forms part of the rim of the Valles Caldera, a twelve-mile-wide crater that formed when the earth collapsed after a catastrophic volcanic eruption took place here roughly 1.2 million years ago – a geological event very similar to how Yellowstone was created. The eruption was so powerful it pushed out 150 cubic miles of lava, and shot ash as far away to what is now Iowa.

The prominent valley that dominates the view from the top is known as the Valle Grande. In the center of the caldera, and on the far end of the Valle Grande, is Redondo Peak, which, geologically speaking, is a volcanic resurgent dome. Although no longer active, it was formed roughly 70,000 years after the main caldera-forming eruptions occurred.

Today this valley is officially known as the Valles Caldera National Preserve. In 2000 Congress purchased the 89,000-acre unit, known as the historic Baca Ranch, for $100 million. A study conducted in 2009 determined that the Valles Caldera met the high criteria for inclusion in the National Park Service, noting its significant national value and unique, unaltered geology. In February of 2013, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich reintroduced legislation to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. Perhaps someday it will become a national park.

Several movies have been shot in and around the Valles Caldera, including The Gambler, Buffalo Girls, Last Stand at Saber River, The Missing and most recently, Seraphim Falls, which starred Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan.

In 2011 another wildfire scorched much of this area after a large aspen tree fell on a power line on nearby private land. The Las Conchas Fire, the largest wildfire in New Mexico history, burned a total of 154,349 acres in Bandelier, the Valles Caldera National Preserve and the surrounding Jemez Mountains. In Bandelier itself, 20,798 acres, or 62% of the park was burned.


Trail: Cerro Grande Route
RT Distance: 4.4 miles
Elevation Gain: 1300 feet
Max Elevation: 10,199 feet
TH Location: 11.6 miles past the entrance to the Bandelier Visitor Center
Map: Bandelier NM Trails Illustrated Map



A Guide to Bandelier National Monument - More than a guide, this book includes a 38 page introduction which gives a brief description, from prehistory, European arrival, to the WWII era and its aftermath. Dorothy Hoard's use of photographs, and cleanly drawn hand sketches to show Bandelier's trails, from the Visitor's Center trailheads, State Road 4, St. Peter's Dome, and Eagle Canyon Pumice Mine trailheads. Dorothy gives the avid trail hiker, and the armchair nature enthusiast a clear idea of what the landscape holds, plus plenty of regional flavor sprinkled in with historical facts and information.