For another activity during Thomas visit, we took an early morning ride on the Sandia Peak Tram and hiked from the upper terminal of the Tram to the Visitor’s Center, located at the top of the Sandia Crest Highway.
Sandia Peak Tram up to Sandia Crest, and hike on the North Crest Trail.
The Hike
The hike itself, from the Top of the Tram to the Summit House (top of the Sandia Crest Road) and back to the Tram.
Much like the Survey Trail, this section of the North Crest Trail passes through forested territory, mostly fir with some aspen, ponderosa pine, and other plants. So near the crest itself, there are more rocks than trails lower on the east slope of the Sandias. There are a few overlooks, open areas on the -brink- of the cliff on the upper edge of the mountain.
Statistics
Total Distance: 3.29 miles
Elevation: 10,285 start, 10,656 maximum, 10,270 minimum
Gross gain: 371. Aggregate ascending 791 ft, descending 799 ft
Maximum slope: 48% ascending, 38% descending, 8.2% average
Duration: 2:21
| GPS Track Files for Download | |
79 Downloads |
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46 Downloads |
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If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
