"Took a special trip up this peak on the outskirts of Santa Fe. It was a personal mission. Santa Fe was having unusually warm temps, but the morning wasn't too bad, in the high 60s. The system of popular connecting trails from Cerro Gordo TH was nicely shaded and had lots of wildflowers. It climbs steadily all the way to the peak. Trail is loose & rocky in places, but was very enjoyable. Spent some time up top & went down pretty quickly to avoid heat." — StudioHoodoo • Aug 8, 2025

"Lovely spring hike. Kathy's first strenuous multi-peak hike since her stent was inserted in late February. We were fortunate to see two young horned lizards along the way at 8450 feet and 7488 feet. Also saw a Northern Harrier and heard a Grace's Warbler and a Black-throated Gray Warbler. " — rick-brown • Apr 22, 2025

"Great hike - one of the most beautiful hikes ever! Enjoyed lunch on the peak. Quite windy and cool at the onset, but warmed up as we rose in elevation. Still cooler (and windy) in the valley on the way back down. " — rick-brown • Nov 10, 2021

"Driving directions taken from "Day Hikes in the Santa Fe Area", by the Northern Mew Mexico Group of the Sierra Club. Dale Ball Trails, Southern Area. If doing this peak directly from Santa Fe - from the Santa Fe Plaza area, drive east on Alameda until it veers right (south) and becomes Camino Cabra, to the first stop sign. (Cristo Rey to the right and Upper Canyon to the left. Turn left on Upper Canyon and travel 1.3 miles to Cerro Gordo, and turn immediately right into the parking lot. I exited the parking lot at the east end (away from the road) through a gate, and followed the trail across the Santa Fe River streamed, and across Upper Canyon Road to a sign marking the Dale Ball Trail location 29. I followed the trail to markers 30, 31 then 34 through numerous swithbacks. From 34, I could see the trail to the peak and made the peak about 3 hours after I started (with numerous stops along the way) A couple of times, I lost the trail and had to bushwhack up the side of the mountain (steep and slippery). Round trip distance about 4.7 miles." — FrankKramer • Apr 2, 2017

"Two humans and two dogs climbed Picacho Peak on a sunny November day, 2016. It is a moderate hike, a constant ascent that totals at a 1100+ elevation gain over approximately two miles. I can't remember how long it took us but I think the hike finished at a little over an hour. The peak has beautiful views over Santa Fe and Jemez to the west, the Rio Grande Valley and the Sangre De Cristo range to the north, to the east more of the south part of Sangre De Cristo and south towards the Sandias. The trail has BEAUTIFUL Ponderosa Pine and Pinon growing all the way. We picked pine nuts and snacked all the way up and down. So close to town and a wonderful shorter hike if time is short." — saraculler • Nov 18, 2016

"(See a Google Earth perspective of the entire hike - Click on Atalaya Mountain) I am not interested in lower elevation peaks in New Mexico, but peakery.com added a list called the Santa Fe Classics and I already had 17 of the 22, so I decided to get the remaining 5 of the classics, 3 today. This hike starts in Santa Fe. The trailhead is located in the NE corner of the Saint John’s College parking lot. This is a wonderful, close hike for the Santa Fenans, but not as lush as the mountains directly north of the city. Horses, bikers and hikers are all welcome on the first 2 peaks. I left my home at 5:15 AM, June 16, 2016, and was hiking by 6:30 AM. It was great to have a short drive! It was a cool morning, 49 degrees, and heated up later in the hike to the mid 80s. This would be a great hike in the early spring or late fall, middle summer can get a little hot. The starting elevation of the hike is 7316 feet, then drops a little to 7300 feet. There was a trail almost the entire hike, and after so many hard bushwhack hikes, it sure felt great. The only part of the hike that did not have a trail was the last push to the top of Sun Mountain. It was a hard 33 degree chug straight to ..." — Phil-Robinson • Jun 16, 2016