Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / New Mexico / Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Columbine Canyon to Gold Hill (Columbine-Twining Trail)

Columbine-Hondo Wilderness, Carson National Forest (Columbine Campground to Taos Ski Valley)

Gold Hill, the fifth-highest peak in New Mexico according to the New Mexico Mountain Club, is in the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness north of Taos. The Columbine-Twining National Recreation Trail crosses it, linking Columbine Campground in the Red River valley with Twining in Taos Ski Valley.

The National Recreation Trails record gives the route as about 14 miles, from about 7,500 feet at Columbine to 12,711 feet on Gold Hill and down to 9,400 feet at the ski valley.

The hike

The Columbine Canyon Trail #71 starts at the south end of Columbine Campground, which the Forest Service places about 8 miles west of Red River and 4 miles east of Questa on NM 38. The trail follows Columbine Creek through open meadows that can become overgrown; the Forest Service says to look for small cairns where the trail re-enters the conifers. Bridges span the first four creek crossings, and beyond them you may need to wade.

According to the NRT record, the Columbine-Twining route follows Trail #71 for 1.4 miles, then turns left just past the Deer Creek crossing onto Deer Creek Trail #69 and switchbacks through aspen to a ridge above treeline, with views west toward Lobo Peak and Flag Mountain. Trail #69 then turns north through bristlecone pine and joins Gold Hill Trail #64, which follows the open ridge over the summit of Gold Hill and above Goose Lake. The route drops to Bull of the Woods Pasture and follows Trail #90 down to Twining Campground in Taos Ski Valley.

Hiking Project notes that Trail #71 itself continues up the canyon, passing the Placer Fork Trail about a mile beyond the Gold Hill turnoff, and climbs to Hondo Ridge to meet the Lobo Peak Trail #57 and Gavilan Trail #60. It warns there is no water after about 5 miles, so fill up before heading higher.

The New Mexico Mountain Club’s 2021 trip took a less-used approach. Its group hiked up Columbine Creek, Placer Fork, and Willow Fork, with many wet crossings on Placer Fork, and camped. The next morning, with daypacks, it climbed a steep drainage of more than 500 feet in about a third of a mile, then grassy slopes to the Lobo Peak Trail and north along the ridge to Gold Hill, reaching the treeless summit by 10:30 a.m. as clouds built. The trip totaled 15.5 miles and about 5,084 feet of gain over three days. The club says a day hike from this side is “only for the most advanced hikers.”

Backpacker mentions steep side trails to abandoned mines and cabins along the way.

On the same range, Wheeler Peak via Horseshoe and Lost Lakes starts south of Red River. The Forest Service lists Gold Hill as an alternative open during the annual Wheeler Peak closure.

Tips

Camping

No permit or wilderness-specific camping rules were found for the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness in the sources read for this page. Leave No Trace practices apply, and domestic sheep and goats are prohibited in Carson wilderness areas. The Carson National Forest lifted its 2026 fire restrictions on July 21; check for new ones. Columbine Campground at the trailhead has potable water and outhouses, according to the Forest Service.

Inside Intel: The New Mexico Mountain Club’s group camped around 9,900 feet in the Willow Fork drainage after backtracking from about 10,100 feet, where the stream goes underground. The club notes that Willow Fork resurfaces higher up the valley, so a higher camp with water is possible.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

The long climb to 12,711-foot Gold Hill:

This route climbs from about 7,500 feet at Columbine Campground to 12,711 feet on Gold Hill, then drops to 9,400 feet at Taos Ski Valley. Our pole guide covers length for the climb, choking down, and easing knees on the way down.

Get the trekking pole tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.