San Lorenzo Canyon (Socorro area)

Latitude/Longitude: 34.24012, -107.00507 Elevation: 5293 ft
Weather Forecast:  http://tinyurl.com/SanLorenzoWeather

San Lorenzo Canyon is a fun little BLM area just a little north of Socorro. I've only ever gone in the spring, either February or March. Due to the lower elevation and desert terrain, I expect it would be fairly hot in the summer. When I've been there, there has always been at least some minor trickle of water through parts of the canyon, so I suppose you could filter if you wanted to wait forever. I choose to just pack in my water. I've been told to call the BLM ahead of time to check road conditions, as the roads are sandy and can be impassible without 4WD. But, that's never been my experience. They were always perfectly fine, and I always see plenty of other people driving tiny little ultra-compact 2WD vehicles with no problems.

San Lorenzo is a great place to go, because it is close to Albuquerque (maybe 1.25 hrs to get there), it's an easy hike, and it is good for an easy backpacking trip to get younger boys used to backpacking. There is no elevation gain, and the amount of hiking you do is entirely dependent on you. You could just camp near where you park, but you will likely have a lot of company. Or, you just hike in until you find a decent place to camp. It's an awesome place to do Capture the Flag. And, there are several geocache sites nearby that are fun to find.

The coordinates above are where we usually park. It's as far as you can drive in, because there are boulders blocking the way just past this. We then backpack in until we find a spot we like.

When we went in February, it was a little colder than we expected, but not bad. It got down to maybe the high 20s at night. During the day it was in the 50-60F range. When we went later in March, the spring winds were pretty blustery in the early evening right when we were trying to setup tents, but other than that, it was a great time. Due to the close proximity to Albuquerque, the interesting terrain, and the multitude of geocache sites, this could also make a good day hike spot. And, because you could park any number of places and find decent camping spots, I suppose this could be a good car camping destination, as well. Additionally, due to the dry terrain and lower elevation, this would be a decent winter camping spot, if you were looking for someplace without snow. There's something for everyone!

We keep coming back because it is close, the terrain is interesting and beautiful, and I like to take the scouts backpacking as much as possible, even if its only for half a mile. It's one of our annual favorites.

BLM Webpage for San Lorenzo Canyon

The Explore NM site has a great write-up on this place, and has excellent instructions for finding it. It isn't the easiest to find, but the directions are good.

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