South Baldy
South Baldy rises to 3,279 m in New Mexico. Timber Peak stands 3,181 m to the east-southeast, 1.8 miles off. The nearest named place is Baldy Spring, a spring 0.4 miles away. El Camino Real passes 17 miles off.
The story
South Baldy is the highest point of the Magdalena Mountains in central New Mexico, in the United States. It is in the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, about 9 mi (15 km) south of Magdalena and 18 mi (30 km) west-southwest of Socorro. It lies just north of the Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and site of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer. South Baldy can be accessed easily from the dirt road leading to Langmuir. Alternately, it can be accessed by trail from below. From a campground in Water Canyon (accessed from the northeast side of the range), a trail follows Forest Road 406 and then Trail 10 up Copper Canyon to the main crest of the range, where it joins Trail 8, the North Baldy Trail, which follows the crest. A short hike south on this trail and a little off-trail ascent leads to the summit of South Baldy. The peak is the site of an annual mountain bike ascent race up the Langmuir Road as part of the Tour of Socorro. While not of exceptional height for New Mexico mountains, South Baldy is surrounded by low terrain, and hence is a highly visible landmark and the sixth most topographically prominent peak in the state.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7566229, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 3279 m
How to reach it
- 16.7 mi off the El Camino Real, National
- 17.2 mi off the Socorro Historical District Scenic Byway
- 18.2 mi off the Quebradas Back Country Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Flight Deck · 22 mi
- Eagle Scout Deck · 22 mi
- Dabbler Deck · 22 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Timber Peak: 1.8 mi
- Buck Peak: 3.3 mi
- North Baldy: 4.1 mi
- Water Canyon Mesa: 4.2 mi
- Italian Peak: 4.8 mi
- Baldy Spring: 0.4 mi
- Hardy Spring: 2.0 mi
- Sixmile Spring: 2.6 mi
- Agua Fria Spring: 2.9 mi
- Cabin Spring: 3.6 mi
- EMRTC Rattlesnake: 16.5 mi
- Passage of the Earth and the Sky: 16.8 mi
- The Desert Maiden: 16.9 mi
- "The Past", "The Present", and "The Future": 16.9 mi
- NMT Arranged Rocks: 17.0 mi
- Langmuir Research Site: 3.5 mi
- Socorro Gun Range: 14.2 mi
- NMT Alumni Hill Park: 16.7 mi
- West Place Park: 17.1 mi
- School of Mines Heritage Park: 17.4 mi
- Magdalena Fault Historical Marker: 8.6 mi
- Official Scenic Historic Marker: 9.3 mi
- Official Scenic Historic Marker: 9.3 mi
- Billing Smelter Historic Site: 15.8 mi
- Alice Kase Memorial Bench: 16.7 mi
- Clemens Ranch House: 6.4 mi
- Clemens Ranch House Historic Site: 6.4 mi
- Old Jail House: 9.2 mi
- Dobson House Historic Site: 9.2 mi
- Hilton House: 9.3 mi
- Hells Mesa: 22.4 mi
- Mesa Cencerro: 22.9 mi
- Mesa del Contadero: 24.4 mi
- Mesa del Contadero: 24.6 mi
- Mesa del Contadero: 24.7 mi
- Box Car Museum: 9.4 mi
- New Mexico Bureau of Geology Mineral Museum: 17.1 mi
- Hammel Museum: 17.7 mi
- López Rose Garden: 16.9 mi
- Dowdle Family Memorial Garden: 16.9 mi
- Brown Hall Rose Garden: 17.1 mi
- Sandbar Riverine Park: 19.3 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 24.5 miles of South Baldy. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timber Peak | ESE 117° | 3,181 m | 1.8 mi |
| Mount Withington | WSW 246° | 3,077 m | 18.7 mi |
| Tower Peak | WSW 242° | 3,026 m | 18.7 mi |
| North Baldy | N 5° | 3,003 m | 4.1 mi |
| A-L Peak | WSW 251° | 2,940 m | 16.7 mi |
| Tip Top Mountain | N 359° | 2,773 m | 7.2 mi |
| Buck Peak | E 100° | 2,764 m | 3.3 mi |
| North Peak | N 359° | 2,763 m | 7.3 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:13 | 18:48 | 19:21 |
| June solstice | 05:59 | 19:47 | 20:24 |
| September equinox | 06:58 | 18:34 | 19:07 |
| December solstice | 07:11 | 16:26 | 17:04 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Mar–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 38 | 44 | 51 | 58 | 66 | 74 | 77 | 75 | 69 | 57 | 46 | 37 |
| Precip in | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Socorro, 18 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357599275
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