Past the last galleries, Canyon Road narrows and climbs along the Santa Fe River. Within about a mile of pavement, three trail systems open off the same short stretch. The Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary sits at the end of the road. The Nature Conservancy's Santa Fe Canyon Preserve begins near the Cerro Gordo Road intersection. The Dale Ball Trails start from the same trailhead and run north and south into the foothills.
Three different organizations run these trail gates, and each sets its own rules for dogs, parking, hours and season. A fourth gate, the City of Santa Fe's watershed gate, explains why the road ends where it does. From late October to the new year those rules diverge more than usual. One gate just reopened, another closes for winter in December, and only one lets your dog through.
Who runs each gate
| Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary | Santa Fe Canyon Preserve | Dale Ball Trails | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Audubon Southwest | The Nature Conservancy | Trail network reached from city and county trailheads |
| Dogs | Not allowed on the property or trails; service animals permitted | Not allowed on preserve trails | Allowed on leash |
| Hours and season | Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Sundays, major holidays and December 22 through January 31 | Dawn to dusk per TNC's site; see the reopening below | Nearly 25 miles of natural-surface trail |
| Parking | Free but limited lot at the center; admission free, donations appreciated | Cerro Gordo Trailhead; no on-street parking on Cerro Gordo Road or Upper Canyon Road | Cerro Gordo Trailhead plus St. John's, Dorothy Stewart, Wilderness Gate and others |
The center's details come from Audubon's visitor page. The preserve's rules are on The Nature Conservancy's preserve page. The Santa Fe Conservation Trust maintains the trail descriptions for Dale Ball.
The middle column has changed the most since summer.
The preserve is open again, though its website banner still says closed
In mid-July, The Nature Conservancy closed the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve because bears had been sighted "in and around" the area, along with other wildlife that had moved down into the valley for food and water. That's how the Santa Fe New Mexican reported it. After two months the trails reopened in early October.
The same New Mexican article quoted TNC spokesperson Lena Rueck on why they reopened:
"Conditions have improved significantly since the closure was put in place. The preserve's reopening follows a period of substantial rainfall, including the wettest September on record in Santa Fe. The increased moisture helped replenish water sources, improve habitat conditions, and reduce environmental stress on wildlife, making it appropriate to reopen the preserve to the public."
According to the New Mexican, TNC says it will keep monitoring wildlife activity and conditions, and Rueck asked visitors to stay on designated trails, respect wildlife and leave pets at home. The paper puts the preserve at 525 acres with about 30,000 visitors a year.
The banner at the top of TNC's preserve page still read "Due to increased wildlife activity, the preserve is closed to the public" after the reopening was reported. Further down, the same page's access details say the preserve is open year-round, dawn to dusk. Since TNC is also still watching for bears, check with the organization before you drive up.
Inside, the preserve is a 1.5-mile loop. TNC widened a quarter-mile section and added handrails, and it removed the steep grade and steps at the loop entrance. That makes it the most accessible trail at this end of the road. At the Audubon center, the gardens are wheelchair accessible, but Audubon says the larger trail system isn't currently accessible to visitors with limited mobility.
A dog changes which trail you can take
Two of the three trail gates turn dogs away. Audubon bans dogs and other pets across the property and trails, with service animals as the only exception. TNC doesn't allow dogs on the preserve loop.
That leaves the Dale Ball Trails, which the Santa Fe Conservation Trust lists as dog-friendly on leash. The Cerro Gordo Trailhead at Upper Canyon Road and Cerro Gordo Road leads to Dale Ball's central section and its steeper southern section, and also to the preserve's nature trail. One parking lot serves two different dog rules, depending on which way you turn at the sign. TNC adds that pets and bicycles are allowed on the connecting Foothill Trails, just not inside the preserve.
Because walkers, birders and dog owners all share that lot, parking matters. TNC says on-street parking isn't permitted on Cerro Gordo Road or Upper Canyon Road. When the Cerro Gordo Trailhead lot is full, it directs visitors to the Sierra del Norte or Lower Atalaya trailheads. Dale Ball also connects from Hyde Park Road and Camino Cruz Blanca, and the Conservation Trust lists St. John's, Dorothy Stewart and Wilderness Gate as other places to park.
The Audubon center has its own lot farther up, also free and also limited. Audubon notes that the upper lot may be reserved for school buses during field-trip season, and that organized groups, buses and passenger vans need to arrange access in advance.
Audubon's season ends December 22
The preserve just reopened, and the Audubon center has about two months left before its winter break. Audubon closes from December 22 through January 31, plus major holidays. From now until then, the free Saturday bird walk meets at 8:30 a.m. No reservation is needed for general admission, and the walks can be booked through Audubon Southwest's Mobilize page.
Here's what's left on the posted calendar:
- Friday, October 23, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Randall Davey House Tour
- Saturday, October 24, 8:30 a.m.: bird walk
- Friday, October 30, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Randall Davey House Tour
- Saturday, October 31, 8:30 a.m.: bird walk
- Saturday, October 31, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.: "Family Fun: A Halloween Hoot," a free family program with owl-pellet dissection and Halloween-mask decorating
- Friday, November 6, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Randall Davey House Tour
- Saturdays, November 7, 14 and 21, 8:30 a.m.: bird walks
- Saturdays, December 5, 12 and 19, 8:30 a.m.: the last bird walks before the winter closure
Audubon's visitor page lists the Friday house tours at $8. The bird walks are free, and the program page and booking page give different end times, 9:30 and 10 a.m., so plan for the longer one.
Halloween is the one day the top of the road and the gallery stretch line up. The Halloween Hoot ends at 10:30 a.m. at the sanctuary. The Canyon Road Halloween Stroll runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. the same afternoon, with trick-or-treating down on Canyon Road.
Weather changes the drive as December gets closer. Audubon warns that its dirt access road can be icy and snowpacked, recommends four-wheel drive in those conditions, and follows Santa Fe Public Schools for weather delays and closures. If the schools call a snow delay, the sanctuary opens late too.
The city's watershed gate
Upper Canyon Road ends where it does because of the land above it. That land isn't a preserve, a sanctuary or a trail system. According to the City of Santa Fe's Santa Fe River page, the upper watershed has been closed to the public since 1932. McClure and Nichols reservoirs, both part of the municipal water supply, sit behind that closure. Santa Fe County's foothills trail map marks the Nichols Reservoir area "Closed to Unauthorized Access."
Work behind that gate affects what you see from the trails below. The New Mexican reported this year that repairs at Nichols Reservoir had recently been completed. A similar repair at McClure is in design, but construction isn't expected for several years.
Below Nichols is Two Mile Pond, the water visible from the preserve loop. A New Mexican photo caption from the reopening story describes chamisa blooming and fall color there this month. The pond is also the subject of a city study. The New Mexican reported that a City Council resolution calls for an engineering analysis of the Two Mile Pond complex. The analysis will look at returning the river between Nichols Reservoir and Cerro Gordo to its predevelopment course. According to that report, TNC removed an illegal diversion in July 2023 and city staff cleared an outlet pipe, which lowered the pond. The city's first year of monitoring found the area still working as a wetland.
The city's River Talks series has a presentation on the geology of the Santa Fe River Basin scheduled for November 12, 2026. It fits between the last house tour on November 6 and the final December bird walks.
Living at this end of the Eastside means knowing the land around the house as well as the house. If you're thinking about how close a property sits to the Cerro Gordo Trailhead, the Audubon lot or the river corridor, Ayden Gramm Real Estate can walk Upper Canyon Road with you and talk through it. Schedule a Consultation.
