Page 35 - Walks In The Black Range, Vol. 4

6. Bloodgood Spring and Homesite

This route starts at the Kingston Cemetery (NM 152) and follows a fence line eastward to an old road bed. It follows the road bed to Bloodgood Spring (about 2,000’) which is easily identified by the drive through gate of the cattle enclosure which is adjacent to the spring enclosure. The route follows the outside of the north side of the cattle enclosure, past the water trough, and along the creek bed/ road bed for about another half mile (.75 miles from the cemetery). The ruins of the Bloodgood homesite (now
limited to a few crumbling retaining walls see photo above) are on the left (north) side of the trail/road bed as you walk down the trail. It is possible to walk along the road bed and along the creek bank for another .75 miles from the homesite. At 1.5 miles a fence crosses your path, private land is beyond. A minimal change in elevation occurs between the cemetery and the homesite (6,264’ to 6,000’) and the grade remains fairly constant until you reach the fence line.
fields of daisies, Ivy-leaf Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederacea), and Paintbrush (below). The trail starts in Juniper, Oak, and Ponderosa Pine and eventually tapers into mostly Juniper. This trail is at the edge of these ecosystems and, therefore, has a lot of flora and fauna diversity.
The usual suspects are on-the-scene; rattlesnakes (only Western Diamond-Back that I know of), Black Bear, Coyote, and Cougar are all possible, but not likely.

Bloodgood Family at Home 2 Miles East of Kingston by J. C. Burge ca. 1890
The old Bloodgood Mine is located north of the homesite.
This is a very “birdy” canyon with Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay, Townsend’s Solitaire, Mountain Chickadee, Bushtit, Black- throated Gray Warbler, and other species readily seen. It is also a great walk for wildflowers like the Sweet Four O’clock (Mirabilis longiflora) pictured at the top right, for