Our downtown is uniquely situated next to expansive trails and gorgeous views. Part of the Town of Silver City’s Trails and Open Spaces initiative, the Boston Hill and San Vicente Creek trail systems keep important parts of Silver City’s natural environment and historic areas available to hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and other visitors. Grant County offers more than 3.5 million acres of wildland in which to roam, and a considerable chunk is available to explore within sight of a great meal, warm bed, and hot shower downtown.
Boston Hill Trail System
With names like “Adonis Pits,” “Luck Separation Mill” and the “King Bolt Pit,” sites on Silver City’s rugged Boston Hill immediately recall the Town’s historic era of hard-rock mining for copper, silver and other precious metals. Today, however, these destinations have been transformed into hiking destinations for one of the Town’s large green breaks, the Boston Hill Open Space Trail System.
The Boston Hill area of Silver City is south of historic downtown, and includes the La Capilla Heritage Park and more than half a dozen former mining sites. Boston Hill, which gives the area its name, offers a fantastic view of the county from an elevation of 6,380 feet above sea level.
But within a few hundred yards of its summit, plunging ravines and winding trails give the Boston Hill area a worlds-away feel, with mule deer, rabbits, and javelina common trail users. Less often, you can spot coatimundi and foxes living within the Town’s borders, safe within the Boston Hill system.
Trailheads are available on Cooper Street, Cheyenne Street, Spring Street, Market Street, Truck Bypass Road and Cougar Way. The trails range from level ground to moderately rugged inclines. Many of the trails intersect, offering a range of paths through the area, and the hill’s ravines and secluded valleys are terrific spots for a “remote” picnic just a few hundred yards from Silver City’s heart.
A historic narrow-gauge railroad bed crosses the trail area along much of its southern third, entering the trails area near the Market Street trailhead and exiting it near the Cooper Street trailhead after a winding course of about two miles.
San Vicente Creek Trail System
Just a short hop from downtown Silver City is a remarkable urban hike that combines a lush riparian area, classic high desert vegetation and reminders of Silver City’s rich history. The main San Vicente Creek Trail takes off just below the Veterans Memorial Bridge on South Hudson Street, and immediately plunges into a streamside forest of enormous Fremont cottonwoods, New Mexico locusts, one-seed junipers, and possibly the largest weeping willows you’ve ever seen!
The San Vicente Arroyo is a big draw for wildlife, and it’s not uncommon to see great egrets, black hawks and great blue herons fishing for dinner along the creek.
You may encounter a herd of alpine goats along the way, but despite their impressive horns, they are very friendly and will follow you asking for scritches.
Across the river you’ll see vestiges of the Old Chinese Gardens, where Chinese laborers operated a large farm in the late 1800s. Today it’s the site of bioreactors operated by the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance to convert food and other organic waste into compost.
You can extend your hike all the way to Scott Park Golf Course, following an old railroad grade for the Southwestern Railroad that ran from Deming to the mines near Silver City. The line was constructed in 1886 and abandoned in 1907.
There are additional trailheads at Kelly Street, Corbin Street, Mountain View Road, Mobile Drive and Fairway Drive, all with connector trails that pass through forests of soaptree yucca, mesquite, sacaton grass, prickly pear and New Mexico locusts to join the deep shade of the arroyo.
Additional Information
For more information on the Boston Hill area and on the Town’s trails and open spaces, contact the Murray Ryan Visitor Center at (575) 538-5555. Trail maps are posted at most trailheads.