The Continental Divide Trail allows the choice to approach Burro's summit from the north or the south. This route page is for the southerly approach, directly off of highway NM-90.

Getting There

Exit off of NM-90 between milemarkers 21 and 22, almost exactly halfway between Lordsburg and Silver City (each about 23 miles distant). The highway has a slight dog-leg bend; you want the obvious gravelled road on the north side right at the bend. It's marked as FR-828.

The newest Topo maps seem to be in error as the exact placement of the trailhead, the trail itself, and the FR numbers, but basic attentiveness should be all you need.

Stay on the gravel road, ignoring any side roads. Shortly it comes to a Y- stay right. The road curves left and you'll see the trailhead and old wooden sign.

A high-clearance vehicle can turn right onto a rutted dirt road and go north about another 1/4-mile and park anywhere off the road. The trail parallels a small creek and you can simply walk into the open bush to catch the trail from where you park.

Route Description

The sign mentions Jack Peak as 4 miles, and Burro Peak as 4 miles. Clearly they both can't be 4 miles, since Burro is another 1/2-mile hike north of Jack. My guess is Burro is 4, Jack is slightly less.

The trail is not as shown on the newer maps. The first bit actually trends west and goes around the small knob 6,848, then turns east and catches the trail, as shown on the map. The map shows just the general layout of the route, not any detail of where the trail meanders or switchbacks.

The hike is fairly easy with long gentle grades and plenty of flat sections, plus a number of downhill bits. Enough to add on a non-trivial bit of gain on the hike out.

You will hit the summit tower road after about 3 miles. Follow it up a bit, then bear left near some old building foundations (one with a standing chimney) amd catch the CDT again as it descends down 150 feet to a saddle, then up 250 feet to Burro's top. The summit is long - the benchmark is found on the northernmost clump of rocks. Two or three other rock outcrops should be visited to be sure you got the highest point.

Route finding is easy. The flora is transitional from desert scrub and cactus down low to juniper and pine higher. The forest never gets too thick, however, and views are very nice.

Cattle may be on route. Ignore the big beasts and they'll leave you alone, too.

Essential Gear

Bring all water.

External Links

Our trip report:

Burro Peak, 3/15/07