Orogrande, NM, Off Road

Took a little trip to the town of Orogrande, NM. with some folks from the Military Jeepers fourm and the local Off Road club. Our objective was to explore old ghost towns, mines and the mountains west of town. Orogrande is a small town between Alamogordo, NM. and El Paso, TX.

The trailhead begins approx 1/4 mile north of town off of Hwy 54.

The trail heads west into the desert mountains.

The trails are fairly easy, however there are several washes to cross and some off camber areas.

After some trail riding, our first stop was the Bryce Cemetary. The cemetary is just outside the ghost town of Bryce. The small wooden cross is the orginal, the Kawanis Club erected the larger white one.

The desert was really flowering today.

Next stop was the ghost town of Bryce. There is only one building left standing and the rest are just foundations.

Both inside and outside the building is filled with old metal cans, in some places up to three feet thick.

Most all are unreadable, but some of the lables still survived.

Then it was off to explore more of the desert mountains.

Our final destination of the day was the Iorn Queen Mine, high up in the mountain. You can just see it on the mountain face to the left.

We parked on the trail down below and had to hike up to the mine.

Around to the west side of the wooden shaft is the entrance to the mined out mountain top.

The inside is huge, hard to believe the work that must have gone into digging is out, without modern equipment. Hardy folks mining Iorn Ore in these mountains.

After lunch at the mine it was time to start heading back toward the trailhead.

Along the trail back, this brick shack was off to the side of the trail in the middle of nowhere.

Back at the trailhead we all got together to say our goodbyes, some headed south to El Paso as we headed north back to Alamogordo. It was a great day out with good folks. It was good too make new frends and get together on the trail with old friends.

I highly recomend this area to anyone who wishes to get off the beaten path and explore New Mexico of days gone by.