Atalaya Mountain Sante Fe Hike Guide
Atalaya Mountain is a popular hike located just minutes from downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. This hike has two trailheads but the popular starting point is the lower parking area right next to St John’s College. Atalaya Mountain is part of a larger trail system that is in Santa Fe National Forest. This hike can be completed year round and is dog friendly. This trail system is used for hikers, runners and bikers.
Atalaya Mountain Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: Atalaya Mountain
Atalaya Mountain Rating: ★★★ (⅗ Stars)
Distance: 6.8 Miles RT – Steeper Trail Up, Easier Trail Down
Elevation Start: 7,311ft
Highest Elevation: 9,129ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1,938ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 3-4 Hours
Difficulty: Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1 – What does this mean?
Season: Year Round – Best Time to Hike Winter, Spring and Fall
Directions to Atalaya Mountain
Trailhead: Lower Atalaya Mountain
Getting Here: Enter Lower Atalaya Mountain TH into your favorite GPS app since there are so many ways to get there depending on your location. Once in the parking lot, the trail starts on the far east end of the parking area.
Parking: This hike is very popular, especially since this lot could easily be used by those at St John’s College as well. However, the parking lot is fairly large and should not be a problem finding a spot. There are no restrooms that I could find while hiking Atalaya Mountain.
Fee: There is no fee for this hike.
Summary
Dogs: This is a dog friendly hike but dogs should be kept on leash due to popularity. Please always pick up after your dog and pack it out.
Camping: Unless you hike much deeper into the National Forest, this is not a good place to camp. Much of the trail is in residential areas (not National Forest) where camping is not possible.
Make it a Loop: This is an out and back hike which offers options to switch up your trails on the way up and down. View a full map of the area here.
Hike Tip(s): On every hike it’s a good idea to have a trail map but on this one in particular because of the number of trail options. If you do not know where you are going or have a bad memory of how you made it to the summit, it could be very easy to get lost on this hike with all of the other trails in the area.
Best Views: I know it’s a cliche’ but the best views on the hike up Atalaya Mountain are right near the summit. There are some cool spots with overlooks on the way up as well including a spot right after the trail rejoins itself and you can get a look at most of the western part of Atalaya Mountain including most of your route up.
Atalaya Mountain Hike Route
Gear Needed
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Protection from the Sun
- Map of Area – take a pic at the TH map
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
Our Trip to Atalaya Mountain: March 2022
Jackie and I had been talking about going down to Santa Fe, New Mexico for years and we finally made the trip in 2022. To be honest, the trip was a bit of a disappointment. It was Aria’s (our new rescue Husky) first trip with us and she just had a lot of issues she was working through. However, Atalaya Mountain was a bright note to end the trip.
The hike started at St John’s College and we had to do a bit of route finding on the number of official and social trails for the first mile or so. However, the hike was well signed along the way and eventually became easy to follow. The trail worked through a residential area for a while, crossed a road and eventually entered into the National Forest.
As we worked up the steep trail, the amount of snow increased but we never needed to put on our microspikes. At the trail split for steeper or easier trail – we took steeper, it was clearly less traveled. We continued hiking and had a few amazing views of Santa Fe and the foothills and mountains off to the west. When we finally arrived at the summit we had the area to ourselves and enjoyed the temperate weather and beautiful views.
This was Aria’s first summit and we were both so proud of how well she did on the hike. Atalaya Mountain is a great option if you are looking to hike near Santa Fe without spending the entire day driving and hiking. If I were to go back to this area, I would look to explore the larger network of trails in the area.
