The Upper Water Canyon Trail in the Santa Fe National Forest makes a great hike any time of year. The trail is easy to follow, has little elevation gain, and offers some local history, wildlife viewing, flowing water, summer and fall wildflowers, and mid-summer raspberry picking, if you can get to them before the bears gobble them all up. The trail passes through a forest recovering from the Cerro Grande and Las Conchas wildfires, enters two old-growth mixed conifer stands, and leads to an old dam constructed by the Atomic Energy Commission to supply water to the then Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The two-mile roundtrip to the dam and back is easy walking for anyone.

The Water Canyon trailhead is located on NM-501 near its intersection with NM-4. If you’re coming from Los Alamos, at the intersection of Diamond and Trinity take Diamond Drive toward Omega Bridge, and in a few hundred feet turn right onto West Road. Go past the ice rink and continue uphill, merging onto NM-501 in about a mile. Continue south on 501 for 2.5 miles and park in the wide gravel area downhill from the intersection with NM-4.