La Tierra Trails This Fall: New Ramps, a Loop in the Works, and a Shortcut in Court

"The current conceptual plan and the size of the development far outpaces what we have in terms of infrastructure and public safety in the county." Santa Fe County Commissioner Lisa Cacari Stone said that before the board voted against the Camino Verde subdivision this summer. The project would have put 158 homes on 304.54 acres at 25 Blue Canyon Trail and 36 Camino La Tierra, north of Highway 599.

Most of the coverage was about traffic and density. For anyone who rides or hikes out here, that land matters for a different reason. It's where people walk in from Camino La Tierra to reach the La Tierra Trail System. This year the trail system has been improving in one place and sitting in limbo in another. Every 2026 upgrade has gone in at the city-owned trailheads along Camino de los Montoyas. The open questions are all at the informal entrance off Camino La Tierra.

Two Ways Into the Same 25 Miles

The Santa Fe Conservation Trust describes La Tierra as a multi-use system of more than 25 miles in the city's northwest quadrant. The Trust lists two official access points, Camino de los Montoyas and the Dog Park Connector Trail. The named trailheads on the Montoyas side are Frijoles, La Cuchara and Calabasas. The official trail map gives loop suggestions starting from Calabasas and La Cuchara. That map dates to 2021, so check current wayfinding before following its loops turn by turn. The SFCT foothill trails brochure says trails and parking lots are open dawn to dusk.

The second entrance doesn't appear on any of those lists. 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 private property is the Camino Verde site. The city owns the land under the official trail system, and the Conservation Trust has helped maintain those trails under agreements with the city for more than a decade. The paths in from Camino La Tierra have no such agreement behind them.

That ownership split explains where the money has gone this year.

What the Montoyas Side Got in 2026

The Trash Pit, rebuilt

The Frijoles Skills Park, which local riders call the "Trash Pit," replaced its aging dirt jumps with six new steel-framed, wood-decked ramps. The Santa Fe Fat Tire Society paid for the work with a $90,000 grant from the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division's Trails+ program. Rocket Ramps handled design and installation. The ribbon cutting was Saturday, June 13, at the Frijoles Trailhead, and it was free and open to the public. The Fat Tire Society's announcement noted that Santa Fe had just been named one of the nation's top 28 Trail Towns for mountain biking.

An adaptive loop, funded halfway

The next project is also on the Montoyas side. The Fat Tire Society and the City are developing a proposed adaptive, universal-access loop of roughly two miles. It would use the Frijoles and La Cuchara trailheads, run along meadow and ridgetop routes, and add a new downhill segment. As of September 28, the effort had raised $10,069, which met its local-match goal. That match supports an application for a potential $62,000 Outdoor Recreation Division grant, with a decision expected in early January 2027. The loop hasn't been built and is still waiting on that grant. The project page is the place to check after the new year.

Both projects went on public land, through a nonprofit, with state grant money. The Camino La Tierra side can't get that kind of investment while the land underneath it is private and in dispute.

Where the Camino La Tierra Side Stands

Here is the sequence, using the county record and the New Mexican's reporting:

• June 30, 2026. County commissioners denied the Camino Verde conceptual plan 3–2, "due to concerns related to traffic and safety, density, and the proposed wastewater plan." Commissioners Justin S. Greene, Lisa Cacari Stone and Hank Hughes voted yes on the denial. Camilla Bustamante and Adam F. Johnson voted no. The meeting summary has the full vote.
• What the developer had offered. Jennifer Jenkins of JenkinsGavin represented Chicago-based Samara Real Property at the county meetings. She said the project would protect access to the trail system and preserve 5 miles of trails on the parcels. According to a county summary, half the property would have stayed natural open space with a network of public trails.
• September 10. Samara Real Property appealed in First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe. The filing argues the county gave the project a "hearing in name only."
• Now. In the most recent reporting, no future hearings had been scheduled. The county said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Put together, the denial didn't secure the paths in from Camino La Tierra, and the developer's plan wouldn't have closed them. Neither outcome makes them public. Today they cross land owned by a party that has proposed developing it. Neither the reporting nor the Conservation Trust's materials say what happens to that access after a court decision or any future development. The honest description is that the access is unresolved.

So for anyone who reaches the system from Camino La Tierra, the Montoyas trailheads are the reliable way in. The new ramps and the proposed loop are there too.

A Fall Week on the Official Side

Group rides, youth programs and trail work are already concentrated at Frijoles and La Cuchara this season. Starting today, Monday, October 5, here's how a week looks:

1. Mondays at 5:30 p.m., Frijoles Trailhead. The Fat Tire Society runs the free Atalaya Flyers family ride series for riders 13 and under, through October 26. That leaves tonight plus October 12, 19 and 26.
2. Tuesday, October 6, La Cuchara Trailhead. A women's no-drop ride open to all levels, listed at 1105 La Cuchara Road.
3. Wednesday, October 7, La Cuchara Trailhead. A co-ed ride with a mellow option. The Conservation Trust also has a Wednesday trail work day that date, location still TBD.
4. Fridays at 9:45 a.m., La Tierra. The Fat Tire Society's weekly club ride, with calendar entries running into November.

The Fat Tire Society says ride locations vary and asks riders to confirm details shortly before heading out. The Fat Tire Society calendar is the one to check.

The volunteer schedule runs past the riding season. The Conservation Trust lists more workdays on October 14 and November 4, 11 and 18. Trail assignments are still TBD, and the November dates depend on weather. The listings don't confirm any of those dates are at La Tierra. Earlier this fall, the Trust's September 2 workday met at La Cuchara Trailhead off Camino de los Montoyas, and its free September 26 ¡Vámonos! community walk started from Frijoles Trailhead at 1990 Camino de los Montoyas. The Trust's La Tierra page is a good place to watch for new workday locations.

Where to Park This Season

Frijoles is at 1990 Camino de los Montoyas, and La Cuchara is at 1105 La Cuchara Road. Calabasas, also off Camino de los Montoyas, is the third trailhead on the official map. All three are on city land, and lots are open dawn to dusk. If the fall rides and the Trash Pit are on your list, plan around those three addresses rather than a pullout on Camino La Tierra. The next scheduled dates to watch are the Outdoor Recreation Division's early January decision on the adaptive loop and any hearing date the court sets in the Camino Verde appeal.

If you live off Camino La Tierra and want to talk through what nearby land decisions like Camino Verde could mean for your property, the team at Leland Titus follows these cases closely and is glad to walk through it with you.