Mount Taylor

Sacred 11,300-foot peak, one of the four Navajo holy mountains

The 11,301-foot summit dominates every horizon in this corner of New Mexico — visible from Acoma, from Albuquerque on a clear day, from far down NM-53. It is a stratovolcano that last erupted around 1.5 million years ago, eroded into a graceful set of ridges and a broad caldera basin on the eastern side.

The standard hike is the Gooseberry Spring Trail from FR-453 — about 6 miles round-trip with 2,000 feet of climb through aspen and spruce to the bare alpine summit. Snow lingers into May. The whole massif is sacred to the Diné, Acoma, Laguna, Zuni, and Hopi; behave accordingly and avoid leaving anything behind.

things to do sight hiking
A story
Mount Taylor is **Tsoodził** to the Diné, the Sacred Mountain of the South, one of four peaks that bound traditional Navajo territory. To the Acoma it is **Kaweshtima**, "Place of Snow." The summit is a destination for prayer and ceremony as much as for hikers.