Las Conchas Trailhead - Primitive Climber's Camp

Very busy place and you’ll likely have to park in the road. The rock climbers are on the exit before the day use site. Day use site fee is $5 with only a handful of picnic tables. There’s a small trail that follows alongside the stream which can be hard for older folks or small kids though my 5 and 7 year old loved being able to climb over boulders and the enjoyed the dangers of falling in the water. There’s some small fishing ponds where you’ll see some families teaching their kids how to fish. On the other side, you’ll see some rock climbers setting up and a fun, mostly flat trail over a few bridges that our kids enjoyed. Watch out for the cow poop and you may even run into some cows on the trail. Overall a great day and we come up here often.

This is one of the best day use areas that we visited while on a 2 day tour in and around the Valles Caldera!  It has over 250 climbing routes spread out along the East Fork of the Jemez River with something for every level of climber!  The belay areas are nice and flat and the approach will at most take you an hour to get to the furthest walls.  Some of the climbs even allow for setting up top ropes from the tops of the cliffs.  You can access the cattle wall easily from the east parking lot but if you want to walk along the creek then use the parking lot that is to the west.  If you plan on staying overnight then the closest developed campground is the Jemez Falls CG just up the road to the west.

This spot is a real gem for anyone with limited mobility. Multiple paved paths lead all the way down to the water's edge where one could even fish from. It's a great way to get lovely nature time for those with less mobility.

We hiked up the canyon on the trail and it was amazing! TIP - wear water shoes for the multiple stream crossings! Tall trees loom above you as do gnarled rock formations. This is a perfect spot to access intense beauty with very little effort. TIP - because of the $5 parking fee, this hike is much less crowded than the East Fork trail just up the road, on weekends and holidays it's with the five bones!