Hiking HotSpot: Dripping Springs Natural Area
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The Organ mountains, named as so for the needle like spires that resemble organ pipes, provide a dramatic backdrop for the city of Las Cruces. This small city in Southern New Mexico is a popular base location for adventure seekers. Mike and I planned a weekend roadtrip here from Tucson and absolutely love the hiking and historical attractions.
Las Cruces is a convenient starting point for exploring the wonders of “The Land of Enchantment” as the state’s slogan accurately states. Because of the higher altitude (~6000ft), the city and surrounding mountain areas are a bit cooler than nearby Southwestern cities, thus making it a great weekend escape from cities like Tucson, Albuquerque, and Phoenix. It took us about 3 hours to get here from suburban Tucson, so not a bad weekend destination for cool summer hiking.
While Las Cruces is a great base for daytrips, the city itself is home to number of beautiful natural wonders. You never have to travel too far to see something extraordinary in New Mexico. Dripping Springs Natural Area is the best place to take in grand vistas of the incredible Organ mountains. This hiking oasis truly is a spectacular place worth going out of your way for. I have hiked so many incredible trails throughout the Southwest and this is one of my favorites. The Organ Mountains are so otherworldly and the trail is so desolate that it truly feels as if you are in another world.
The drive over from the city is a bit long, however, also incredibly picturesque and tranquil, and thus, more than worthy of the detour in my opinion. I would even say that the scenic drive is a great alternative sightseeing activity for any non hikers visiting the area.
The trailhead includes 4 miles of easy hiking trails, the best being the Dripping Springs trail. This trail is about 3 miles total and no more than moderate in terms of intensity.
I’ve hiked much more difficult trails where the scenery wasn’t half as spectacular, so this trail is a great bang-for-your-buck experience. The Organ Mountains rise up over 9000 feet at their highest point; as you can imagine, the scenery is beyond breathtaking.
A quiet & scenic mountain stroll
This trail is so scenic and tranquil. It’s not unusual to see mule deer running across the mountains (we actually saw many but they were way too fast for us to capture a photo), and occasionally, a mountain lion (this would be scary!) makes an appearance. Red tailed hawks and coyotes are also often seen according to the visitor center.
It’s crazy to think how little traffic this trail sees despite the immense beauty. Asides from gorgeous mountain scenery, there is a small waterfall at the end of the trail. Water flow will depend on recent weather conditions – it was basically a trickle that doesn’t show up much in our photos. Still interesting to see in person, it just didn’t photograph well.
A few scenic vistas along the trail
A bit of history…
And, if you are a history buff, you’ll probably like this trail even more. I love hikes that offer more than just beautiful scenery. Many of the trails I’ve enjoyed most since exploring the Southwest have petroglyphs, secret detours, historical ruins, etc along the route. More often than not, there is some type of history to explore which makes the trek much more interesting.
About a mile into this trail, you will come across the remains of the Van Patten Mountain Camp/Dripping Springs Resort built by a Confederate officer in 1897. The officer sold the resort to Dr. Boyd, whom converted it into a sanitorium.
Dr. Boyd built the sanitorium for his wife whom was dying of tuberculosis. Unfortunately, she did not survive, as was the case for most patients. Doctors during this time period believed that sending patients to dry mountain areas could cure the disease by drying out moisture from the lungs. Antibiotics were yet to be invented, and the belief was that dry mountain air and sunshine could kill the bacteria.
The ruins of Boyd’s Sanitorium are located near the end of the trail. I would say the energy felt a bit creepy, but I imagine the site would take on a whole new level of spooky energy at night.
I recommend reading up on the history of the sanitorium more before your visit. Here’s an article from the Bureau of Land Management with more details.
A paranormal hotspot?
Like many other abandoned places, the sanitorium ruins have taken on quite a spooky tone. Ghost hunters continue to explore the ruins with their EVP monitors in hand. Local legends say that ghosts of the patients continue to haunt the sanitorium. I find that any time I hike an isolated trail, the atmosphere takes on an eerie nature.
Add in the creepy crumpled nature of the ruins and the legends of medical experiments done on the patients, and really it is not impossible to imagine ghosts lurking about. I watched too many ghosts shows and know that spirits often linger on in places with “bad energy.” As a big fan of anything supernatural, I wouldn’t mind hiking this trail at night with a ghost hunting crew (not by myself for sure!). You can read more about the sanitorium’s haunted past via this news article.
Hiking details
- Location: 15000 Dripping Springs Rd, Las Cruces, NM 88011
- Admission fee: $5 per vehicle. No credit cards. America the Beautiful Pass, Golden Age, and BLM Recreation Pass also accepted.
- Hours: Year-round except for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve & Day. Entrance gate is open 7am-sunset (8am from Nov-March).
- Distance: 1.5 miles out-and-back
- Difficulty: Pretty easy with just a few steep sections
- Dog policy: Leashed dogs allowed on designated trails only. Not allowed on portions of the Dripping Springs or La Cueva trails
- Amenities: Visitor center, 12 picnic sites, handicap accessible restrooms
