New Mexico trails · West Fork
West Fork
A 34.1-mile point-to-point in New Mexico, with 2,770 ft of climbing. Reaches Turkeyfeather Spring and other lake/pass/spring destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the middle third: 45% of the ascent falls between mile 11.4 and mile 22.7. It gives back about 2,716 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Turkeyfeather Spring (spring)
- Turkeyfeather Pass (pass)
- Iron Creek Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
WILLOW CREEK — parking nearby, restroom, water. About 2 h 47 min drive (92 mi, 18 of them unpaved) from Silver City. 33.39997, -108.58340 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:53 a.m., the sun rises at 7:18 a.m. and sets at 6:42 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:07 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 24 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 34.1-mile route works out to roughly 14 h 01 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- WEST FORK + BIG BEAR + LILLEY PARK — 13.0 mi loop, 2,528 ft gain
Nearby trails
- West Fork Trail #151 — 0.0 mi
- Whitewater — 5.9 mi
- Golden Link Trail #218 — 8.2 mi
- Little Dry — 15.0 mi