Page 30 - Vol. 1 Walks In The Black Range - 2nd Edition

4. Ready Pay to Wicks
This walk starts at the first gate on the north side of the road after you leave Hillsboro and climb the hill to the east along NM-152. It ends at the second gate on the north side of the road following NM-152 east.
The first gate on the north side of the road out of Hillsboro provides access to the routes like “Opportunity”, “Stowaway”, “McKinley”, and “Ready Pay”. The second gate on the north side of the road out of Hillsboro provides access to “North Wicks Canyon” as referenced above.
This walk starts at the first gate and heads up the Ready Pay Gulch walk option. Shortly after entering the main gulch it turns east and crosses the ridge into Wicks Canyon, passing the Wicks Mine workings (this part of the track is clearly visible at the “top edge” of the pit in the photograph on the following page) and ends at the second gate. In all, this walk is 2.2 miles each way with an elevation gain of about 350’. Part of the route is on old mining roads and part is a cross-country walk uphill. There is the possibility that you could twist an ankle, run into a rattlesnake, etc. - so watch your step.
There is an old mining road, quite overgrown, which connects the area at the crest of the ridge to the Wicks Mine shaft (and trail). It is possible, therefore, to make a loop which starts and ends at the pit referenced above.
B
Looking west from the crest of the ridge, the Opportunity Mine is visible about a quarter of the way from the top, on the left side.
A
Mimosa quadrivalis var. occidentalis, Western Sensitive Briar, growing on the west slope of the ridge the walk crosses. Early May.