XTREME Cardio Hike! – Hawkwatch

You've done Embudito, Pino, Three Guns, and Piedra Lisa often enough – and maybe even Oso Ridge, and now you're ready for something a little more challenging?! Let's do a cardio hike up Hawkwatch.

We'll meet at the Three Guns/Hawkwatch trailhead at 5:00 PM and hike up Hawkwatch for about 2 miles to where it meets the South Crest trail. Then, at about 6:05 PM we will turn around and head back to the parking area. Anyone who doesn't make it to the top of the trail can join up with the group on the way down.

Hawkwatch offers spectacular views of the South Sandias and Monzano Mountains that few get the chance to experience. However, because it is rather steep, in addition to being a challenge to hike up, a degree of caution should be exercised when heading down. For this reason we are starting this cardio hike an hour earlier than we normally start our cardio hikes in order to finish the hike during daylight.

– If the earlier start time is an issue for anyone wishing to join... feel free to sign up and post a personal later start time in the comments, and we will catch you on the way down. –

Hawkwatch is a challenging enough trail that if your goal is to find a worthwhile cardio challenge, you can achieve that on this hike even if you don't make it all the way to the turnaround point at the junction with the South Crest trail.

Distance: 2.5 miles
Elevation: 2100 ft