Los Cerrillos: Hiking Trails and Mining History

Los Cerrillos offers several starting points for planning a trip: trails in Cerrillos Hills State Park, its mining heritage, and historic landmarks in the village. If you are considering staying here overnight, you can first decide whether the landscape, history, or a guided activity should shape your day. Options range from a day visit to the park and museum exhibits and historic buildings to horseback rides and tours of Mount Chalchihuitl, which the Mining Museum can arrange. This allows you to choose a hotel based on the interests that are most important during your stay.

Hiking Trails and Landscape

Cerrillos Hills State Park is intended for day visits year-round. Check the park’s current notices before you travel. Its original trails wind through piñon-juniper hills and offer views of the Ortiz Mountains and beyond; the park has a total of five miles of hiking trails. If you would like to combine outdoor activity with these views, you can make the park the focus of a day visit. The hilly landscape offers a different emphasis from museum exhibits and historic landmarks.

Mining History and Cultural Heritage

The Cerrillos Mining District was added to the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties in 1973. The cultural heritage of the Cerrillos Hills reflects five centuries of intertwined Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo history. Mount Chalchihuitl is also listed on this register. The Opera House is the oldest masonry building in Cerrillos. Nineteen historic plaques are displayed in the village; their wording was approved by the current owners.

Museum and Historical Periods

The Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum displays tools, equipment, objects, and artifacts from Cerrillos’s mineral mining era. The collection spans from prehistory through the 1880s and into more recent times. The museum is located on the site of the former Palace Hotel. To put this in context, compare it with the Mining District’s register listing: 1973 is the year it was listed, while the museum’s objects cover several periods.

Guided Activities and Animals

Turquoise Hills Riding Co., the current successor to Broken Saddle Riding Co., offers guided horseback rides through Cerrillos’s historic mining area. The Mining Museum in Cerrillos can also arrange tours to Mount Chalchihuitl, considered the oldest turquoise mine in New Mexico. You can therefore choose between outdoor activity in the historic mining area and a tour to a specific destination. Before you travel, coordinate booking arrangements for horseback rides and the museum tour directly with the respective providers.

Casa Grande Petting Zoo is home to several goats, a llama, chickens, and pigeons. This offers an animal-focused option alongside hiking trails and mining history that you can consider when choosing your activities.

Choosing a Hotel

The Cerrillos Historic District can be reached via State Highway 14, also known as The Turquoise Trail. If you are looking for a hotel in Los Cerrillos, first decide what you want to focus on during your stay, then compare your travel plans with the specific hotel options available.

Explore more destinations: Cañada de los Alamos, Española, Jaconita, Santa Fe, Agua Fria.

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