Who Fixes La Tierra Trails After Santa Fe's Wettest September

"Santa Fe got hammered with heavy rain in September and October, and some of the local trails are a horror show." That's how the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society opened its call for an emergency work day at La Tierra on Saturday, October 31. The notice went on to describe the Big Whoops as "severely eroded with ruts, washed-out sections, and the arroyo cutting several yards into the trail tread."

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the City of Santa Fe owns the land the trails sit on, and the Santa Fe Conservation Trust has helped maintain them for more than a decade. After the rain, the call for repair volunteers came from the bike club, which offered breakfast burritos and a raffle to anyone who showed up with gloves. The next new trail depends on money the community has already put up. The same article reports that many people reach the system by walking across undeveloped private parcels along Camino La Tierra, land that is now the subject of a court case. For anyone in Tano Road, La Tierra, Aldea or Las Dos who treats these 25-plus miles as a backyard, this fall showed who keeps that backyard open.

A Record Month, Measured at the Airport

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Santa Fe Municipal Airport recorded 6.95 inches of rain this September. The previous September record was 4.32 inches, set in 2013. The monsoon as a whole brought 9.88 inches, the second wettest on record behind 10.45 inches in 2006. Until the last two weeks, the season had run below normal. The National Weather Service meteorologist the paper quoted said what stood out was "the fact that it happened in such a short period of time."

That speed is what hurt the trails. Low desert singletrack can absorb a summer thunderstorm. It handles two straight weeks of soaking far less well.

Six Weeks of Mud at La Cuchara

You can trace the trail closures through the SFFTS ride calendar. Rides that normally meet at La Cuchara Trailhead, 1105 La Cuchara Rd, and Frijoles Trailhead on Camino de los Montoyas were called off one after another.

1. Wednesday, September 16. The co-ed club ride was canceled after 24 hours of rain "so we don't damage any of the trails."
2. Wednesday, September 23. Canceled again. The club wrote that "the trails out at La Tierra have gotten soaked over the past few days" and reminded riders to "Ride Dirt not Mud."
3. Monday, September 28, and Tuesday, September 29. The Atalaya Flyers kids' ride at Frijoles and the women's ride were both canceled for weather and wet trails.
4. Wednesday, September 30. A third straight Wednesday cancellation, with a warning that "it's going to take a little longer for the trails to dry out than usual."
5. Wednesday, October 7. Riders went back to La Cuchara. The club predicted conditions "pretty close to hero dirt."
6. Saturday, October 31. The emergency work day on the Big Whoops ran from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting at La Cuchara Trailhead.

The pattern is worth knowing for next year. Those same storms first made the trails unridable, then left them in near-perfect condition a week later. They also cut a section the club calls "one of Santa Fe's favorite tech trails" deep enough to need a crew.

The Repair Crew Is Made Up of the Riders

The Oct. 31 call asked for no experience and no bikes. Volunteers hiked to the work zones with tools supplied on site. Hot breakfast burritos were promised at 8:30 a.m. and cold drinks at 1 p.m. Everyone who came was entered in a drawing for a local bike shop gift certificate, and a second certificate was promised if more than 10 people showed up. The payoff, in the club's words, was "endless gratitude from riders at La Tierra this fall, winter, next spring and beyond."

That work day sits on top of a longer arrangement. The Santa Fe Conservation Trust has helped maintain the system under contracts and voluntary agreements with the City since 2014. In 2014 the Trust also worked with SFFTS, IMBA and the City to build the Hustle and Flow Trail. It is now working on an interpretive La Tierra Chili Line Trail along the historic Chili Line railbed near Buckman Track.

Here are the basic rules for the system, according to the Trust. It covers more than 25 miles. Hiking, running and bicycling are allowed throughout, and horses are allowed on parts of it. Dogs must be on a leash. Motorized vehicles are limited to Buckman Track in the southwest corner. Official access is from Camino de los Montoyas or the Dog Park Connector Trail.

Built Before the Rain, Waiting on January

Not all of this year's work at La Tierra was repair. In June 2026, SFFTS opened six steel-framed, wood-decked ramps at the Frijoles Skills Park. They replace aging dirt jumps. A $90,000 Trails+ grant paid for them, and Rocket Ramps designed and installed them.

The next project is bigger and rests on the same volunteer model. SFFTS and the City of Santa Fe plan what the club calls Santa Fe's first adaptive and universal-access mountain bike trail, a loop of about two miles at La Tierra. It would combine existing and new trail segments, with parts running from the Frijoles trailhead to La Cuchara and on toward the cell tower.

Here is how the money breaks down, according to the project page:

In other words, the community put up the full $62,000 match before the state named a single winner. Part of that money came from a September 19 screening of The Best Day Ever at Sky Cinemas Railyard, a documentary about adaptive mountain bikers. Ticket proceeds went to the La Tierra Adaptive Trails project. The club is still taking donations for the project and for its General Fund for ongoing trail maintenance.

The Way In Crosses Private Land

Many people never use an official trailhead at all. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, people often park along Camino La Tierra and follow trails through private, undeveloped property to reach the system.

That land was the site of the proposed Camino Verde subdivision, 158 homes in the foothills just north of NM 599, with some lots smaller than an acre. A county summary said the plan would have been built in four phases, with half the property kept as natural open space holding a network of public trails. In June, Santa Fe County commissioners voted 3–2 to deny the application, citing concerns that included infrastructure, roads, wastewater and density. On Sept. 10, the Chicago-based developer appealed in First Judicial District Court. The New Mexican reported that no future hearings had been scheduled.

So this winter, the familiar path in from Camino La Tierra crosses ground whose future is in front of a judge, while the official trailheads at Frijoles and La Cuchara stay on City land.

La Tierra's Winter Calendar

The evening group rides have already left La Tierra for the season. On October 28 the club held its "last 'daylight' ride" from La Cuchara. The night-ride season started November 4 at Galisteo Basin Preserve's new Cerro Alto Trailhead, followed by tacos at Santa Fe Brewing Company's Eldorado Taproom. The Atalaya Flyers kids' season ended October 26 at Frijoles with a costume ride, trick-or-treat stations on the trail and a pizza party.

One standing ride stays put. Every Friday, the club meets at La Cuchara Trailhead at 9:45 a.m. and rolls out at 10. The pace is relaxed and no one gets dropped, with rides of 60 to 90 minutes covering 8 to 12 miles. The listing suggests bringing a lawn chair and cooler for afterward. Riders need a signed 2026 waiver, and the club asks everyone to check the calendar a day or two ahead for weather cancellations.

At the Nov. 19 party, the club plans to honor its volunteers and report what it accomplished in 2026. Frito pies will be served and members get a drink ticket, but non-members are welcome too. The club is also looking for trail-work captains along with board members and ride leaders. Voting runs in early December, and results come out on Dec. 14.

At Summit Group Real Estate Professionals, we follow the Tano Road and La Tierra corridor at the level of trailheads, access paths and the county decisions that affect them, because those details shape daily life out here as much as any floor plan. If you'd like to talk through what's changing along Camino La Tierra or anywhere on Santa Fe's northwest side, we're glad to hear from you. Contact Us.