Page 10 - Walks In The Black Range, Vol. 4

2. Bull Trap Canyon, Lower Silver Creek Falls
Contributed by Devon Fletcher
Lower Gallinas Campground (now closed) is about 6.5 miles west of Emory Pass on NM 152. There is parking at several pullouts on both sides of the road.
To get to the falls it is a tough 3 mile (one way) hike that includes climbing up and over a 500 foot ridge and scrambles in both lower Bull Trap and Silver Creek. If you go when there’s good water, it will be worth it.
My hike started from the closed Lower Gallinas Campground on a perfect October day. I walked down the old road, now almost completely concealed by tall grass past camp sites unused now for years. About 4/10 of a mile from the now locked gate, I found the trail that goes up a side canyon on the south, I started up through pines and lichen covered boulders. All was going well. This was definitely a human created trail, and was in pretty good shape for not being maintained or used much (by humans) in many years. Unfortunately, at a crucial juncture, there was a washout with abundant debris that concealed the trail which headed off to the left.
Lower Gallinas Campground
Silver Creek Canyon