Name: River Trail
Rating: 4.0

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Features River/Creek · Spring · Swimming · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

This trail is in the Wild Rivers Recreation Area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. All rules and regulations that are applicable to a federal national monument apply here. Practice Leave No Trace (LNT) backcountry skills and ethics. Camp 100 feet from fragile areas; bury human waste at least 200 feet from water, trails, and campsites. This trail is usually open all year.

Need to Know

Day Use: $3.00/day per vehicle to use the area for 30 minutes or more. An annual day use pass, good for the calendar year, is available for $20.00.

Camping: $7.00/night for one vehicle, $10.00 for two. Maximum 2 vehicles and 10 people per site. (Additional vehicles may park in day use parking areas at $3.00/day.) Annual day use passes do not apply to camping fees.

River Campsites: $5.00/night. Group Shelters: $30.00 per day, $40.00 per night. Group shelters are by reservation (call BLM at 575-758-8851).

Description

This trail starts at its junction with the Big Arsenic Springs Trail and runs south above and near the Rio Grande, past a junction with the Little Arsenic Springs Trail to its end at a junction with the La Junta Trail and the Carson National Forest's Cebolla Mesa Trail #102.

This trail is relatively flat and close to the river except where it makes a sharp 250-foot ascent/descent (on good switchbacks) to and from the bench where it meets the Big Arsenic Springs Trail. The River Trail connects the Big Arsenic Springs Trail, the Little Arsenic Springs Trail, and the La Junta Trail and passes three river campsites as it does so.