North is at the top.
The Arroyo de las Minas and Santa Fe County Route 59 (also known as Gravel Mine
Road) run the length of this image. The arroyo 'runs' with water (flow is from
top to bottom) for only a few hours during a normal year, but the natural spring
at the bend of the road at the top of this picture is a year-round seep of about 8
gallons per minute. Water from the spring flows onto the dirt road in this area
and darkens it. This spring is probably the most reliable and most abused natural
water source in the Cerrillos Hills. We are optimistic that, now that it is part
of the Park, we can do things to help this jewel of nature to blossom forth once
again.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century and in the first years of the twentieth,
this spring was utilized as a source of water for a smelter in the Village of
Cerrillos. A pipeline was laid, the remnants of which can be found today. In this
image, toward the bottom, you can see the original path of the pipe where the
road and the arroyo veer to the right. The pipeline continues straight down. The
scar of the pipe trench is still clearly visible after nearly a hundred years.
The Cerrillos Hills Historic Park entry and trailhead parking area is now located
in the area where the the arroyo and the road veer to the right.
(Photo of parking area.) We expect
to develop on the land immediately to the south of that -- the same area of the
pipeline scar -- a picnic and activities area, and perhaps a fire ring.
Note the confluence of Arroyo de las Minas and San Marcos Arroyo. Though normally
neither arroyo would have running water for more than a couple of hours at a time
-- a major reason why roads are able to go across and into these arroyos -- the
volume of blue-gray sand from Las Minas is no match for the flood of white and tan
sand from the much larger San Marcos Arroyo.
This website is maintained by the Cerrillos
Hills Park Coalition
and is dedicated to the creation, enhancement and stewardship
of an historical, recreational, and cultural open space in
the
Cerrillos Hills, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA
