What you need to know about hiking Pino Trail at the Elena Gallegos Open Space (Plus trail pictures)

This trail starts out in the beautiful Elena Gallegos open space.

The landscape is dotted with chollas and juniper shrubs.

As you start out from the parking lot you immediately notice how quiet it is, just the wind rustling through the grass, occasional bird calls and very distant chatter of other hikers.

Looking west you can see Albuquerque sprawled out wide and distant.

The Sandia Tram is a tiny dot stretched out over spiderweb thin wires on its way to the crest.

The path is mostly gentle a upwards climb, but the farther up you go, the more it becomes natural stairs climbing over rocks before slowly turning to winding narrow path where one side rolls down into a washout and shrubs turn to pines and oak trees as you ascend the mountain.

The trail goes all the way to the top of the mountain, not everyone goes the whole way.

I didn't manage the entire hike, I stopped about a third of the way to the top because I knew I would need energy to make it back down.

The fall colors were just starting to pop when I went and — had I continued — other hikers told me I would have come to a grove of Aspen trees donning their fall clothing near a muddy stream.

However the last two miles have an intense elevation jump, so make sure you are fit enough if you intend to go the whole way up.

This trail doesn't allow for horse back riding or biking as it becomes very steep and narrow in some areas, but there are other trails running adjacent to Pino that do have space for riding.

If you want an easy hike, stay on the lower path among the juniper and cholla and turn back when you come to the Cibola National Forest sign.

If you are up for a more challenging climb all the way to the top, continue past the National Forest sign into the winding mountain path.

However far you decide to go, be extremely careful coming down. The path gets steep and the gravel is loose.

Pino Trail at Elena Gallegos Open Space

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