Kwage Mesa Trailhead Relocated, Trail Re-Routed

Groundbreaking for the new covered riding arena at the North Mesa Stable Area is scheduled for today (October 29, 2012). The new facility will be constructed southeast of the rodeo grounds at the east end of the stables. The arena and entrance road will be built on top of the entrance to the Kwage Mesa Trail on the south side of the mesa. The trailhead at the south side of the Red Jackson Dressage Arena (bounded by a white fence) is closed, as is the access trail that begins at the trailhead.

To work around construction and the future entrance road and parking area, the trailhead for the Kwage Mesa Trail has been relocated to the parking area for the North Mesa Playlot and the tennis courts (if you've been here for a while, it's the east end of the FEMAville tract). There's a wooden trail sign near the playlot, and an existing trail skirts the BMX tract heading toward Kwage Mesa. You can't access this from the stable area; you must enter from the FEMAville road off of San Ildefonso Drive.

Last week Thomas Mosier, a work-study student from Los Alamos High School, helped me put in a 400-foot re-route of the main trail from the new trailhead. It's a bit rougher than the original route and right now (until it rains) the soil is a bit soft, but it should work for foot traffic and bikes. Access to the trail for equestrians is probably better via the road on the north side of the mesa. 

Once the arena is completed, there may be an opportunity for access to the trail via the parking area, but we'll have to wait and see.