Sandia Crest

April 2, 2022

3255m

Albuquerque, NM

Sandia Crest is the highest point of Sandia Mountains immediately to the east of Albuquerque overlooking the biggest city in New Mexico. This peak subsequently boasts over 1200 m prominence. A paved road goes all the way to the very summit and the road is maintained year-round meaning there’s no hiking needed to tag this peak. I had looked at the maps but couldn’t find a short, but still worthwhile trail to hike this summit, so opted for the drive-up. This is overall not a spectacular peak by any measure and the summit does not even offer 360-degree views, despite the height.

This was one of the last few objectives bagged in this massive road trip based from Denver, CO that involved about 11,000 km of driving and 2 flights over 19 days so I was quite beat by Day 17. I knew I had to tag this peak due to its prominence but I barely had the energy/motivation to drive that long and winding road to the top. The summit required one to pay some parking/park fee so I quickly ran up to the highest point, took some pictures and ran back before a ranger could catch me. I then drove south-east to Edgewood and took a much-needed break. On Day 18 I had to drive all the way back to Denver but I still needed to bag peaks. I did not have the energy nor motivation to do much hiking, so opted for something different. The state high points of Oklahoma and Kansas wouldn’t require that much of detouring, so I decided to use the last day of this road trip explore the prairie and flatlands…