Organ Mountain Desert Peak National Monument – Dripping Springs recreational Area – Fillmore Canyon hike It is rare when there is actual water running from Fillmore Falls but after several days of rain the last few weeks it was worth hiking up to Fillmore falls to see if there was any water running. We were not disappointed! We parked in the lower parking lot of La Cueva picnic area. If you have a national park pass you can park here for free by placing your pass on the dashboard otherwise you pay a small fee at the entrance. The trail is a moderate rocky trail with a slow gradual ascent to the falls but an easy back with a gradual down hill. Still recommend good ankle hiking boots and if you are used to hiking with a hiking pole then this will also help to navigate the larger rocks later in the trail toward the falls. The views are wonderful! The Organ mountain peaks before you, the city valley behind you and the La Cuevas Rocks along your right, you cannot go wrong. There are many beautiful cacti along the trail. We have hiked the trail later in the year when they were in bloom, but not quite yet in middle of March. As you near the falls the trail gets a bit more difficult and rocky but worth the effort if the water is running. This out and back trail is just about 3 miles and took us just about 2 hours as a slow pace. You can add on the La Cueva cave hike to extend your enjoyment for the day.

I've known about Dripping Springs since before I got a driver’s license. Back in the early 80’s Dripping Springs was located on private land owned known as the Wilcox Ranch. During these early years, I and several friends would traverse the road to the entry way which use to have a building standing that was the stables or livery. This building is still standing from my last trip there, but the corral has long since been gone. Again, back in my youth, you could travel up to the Luxury Hotel, or the remnants of most the walls and during this time period, a collapsed roof. Nowadays, NMSU archeology society has gone to work preserving and cataloging the site of the Grand Hotel, which I understood, to be the destination of the rich and elites during the early turn of the century. Again, back in the past, we would take the slight hike up the mountain side and enter into the tuberculosis sanitarium buildings, several which were still standing and freely open. We would venture into these buildings and do mostly juvenile acts of defiance. You can rest assured since the site had been granted from the Wilcox family to the State of New Mexico, it has become a park managed by the Bureau of Land Management. They have built a fantastic visitors center which is just about two miles down the hill side. I’ve seen people take their dogs/pets on walks for this easy trail hike up to the stable building, the hotel and sanatorium. All of these housing complex were supplied by the namesake of the area, which is a small basin up on the mountain side that is a natural water retention pond, which years earlier, someone installed a drain/drip line in the bottom of the water basin. Don’t drink the water as it’s mostly stagnant and could very well cause spinal stenosis as I was informed by the park rangers. There are several other hiking trails surrounding Dripping Springs such as La Cueva where the infamous “El Ermaitano” lived until his murder. Likewise, there is a hiking trail up into the side of the Organ Mountains where you can reach a passage known as The Narrows, which has a spectacular waterfall of several feet. Onward is a trail that will cross over to the opposite side where you can reach Aguirre Springs on the East side of Organ Mountains. There are several missile fuselages from White Sands Missile Range you can find along the trail, but all these are way more advance hiking trips that I might try to cover later.

We stopped here with 2 kids (7 and 10) on the way from Las Cruces to El Paso. The visitor center is pretty basic with a friendly park ranger and dated exhibits. The bathrooms are sub-par. We took the La Cueva Hike, which is nice. It is fairly short but has two steep hills and a stream to cross - would recommend waterproof shoes with good soles for hiking. The cave is interesting and the view is gorgeous.