Pinos Altos, NM

Pinos Altos, NM - population 225 - is a former mining town north of Silver City. At the peak of a late 19th century gold boom, the population grew to around 9000. As is often the case with these types of towns, fine buildings were built such as this interesting church (above) and an opera house (below). Pinos Altos is on the way to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, about 37 miles further to the north. We decided that we didn't want take that journey in the winter.

Continental Divide Trail

About ten miles north of Silver City, near the tiny town of Pinos Altos, is a trailhead for the famous Continental Divide Trail. We couldn't refrain from hiking a tiny piece of it. The woods were pristine and the trail itself had a surprising degree of polish. There were no other hikers.

Tranquilbuzz Coffee House

Later that day we stumbled upon one of the most unique coffee houses I've ever set foot in. Tranquilbuzz was an amazing space both indoors and out, and the coffee was good too as I recall. Viva independent coffee houses!

Dragonfly Trail, part 2

Along with the dragonflies were other striking petroglyphs such as the ones above.

Dragonfly Trail

A "must see" in the Silver City area is the Dragonfly Trail, which leads to the famous dragonfly petroglyphs - relics of the Mimbres culture that existed here 200-1000 CE. Within the desert environment dragonflies were symbols of life and revered for their powers. This hike in the Gila National Forest was also a pleasant introduction to the terrain of this region.

 

Murray Hotel

A historic boutique hotel in the center of town, very reasonably priced. Silver City is both a college town and a former mining town - imagine Bisbee or Ajo if they had a university campus. A special thanks to our friend D.H. for putting this hotel and this town on our radar!

downtown Silver City, NM

Downtown Silver City has character with rough edges and high curbs (designed for monsoon flooding which happened so much here that they had to build a "Big Ditch").