Rio En Medio Trail Still Under Fire Closure

By SFNF

If you are fan of the always-popular Rio en Medio Trail #163 about 14 miles north of Santa Fe, you are going to have to stay away from the area a while longer. The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) reminds hikers that the area impacted by last year’s Medio Fire is still under a closure order to protect public health and safety.

To reinforce the order, the SFNF recently posted new signage and placed barriers at the trailhead. Visitors who try to drive to the trailhead will find a dead end with no parking and no space to turn their vehicles around.

The lightning-caused Medio Fire burned approximately 4,000 acres in August 2020. The Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team assigned to the Medio Fire assessed the fire’s effects, including the potential for post-fire flooding, erosion and sedimentation.  Approximately 30% of the fire area has high potential for post-fire runoff, which may be tested by the 2021 monsoon season. Preliminary estimates indicated that a typical summer thunderstorm over this area after the Medio Fire would produce a peak flow five times greater than the same amount of rain prior to the fire.

Until forest officials are confident that the area burned most severely by the Medio Fire is safe for the public, the closure order will remain in place. The closure order prohibits members of the public from entering the restricted area, including all Forest Service lands, roads and trails, within an area that is roughly defined by the Rio Nambe Trail #160 on the north, the Borrego Trail #150 and Forest Road 412 on the east, Forest Road 102 on the south and back up the forest boundary line on the west to meet the Rio Nambe Trail #160.

Federal, state and local officers, firefighters and members of an organized rescue team, and any others authorized by Forest Service permit are exempt from the closure order.

Violation of the closure order is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both.

The closure order and map are available at SFNF headquarters, the Española Ranger District Office and on the SFNF website. All current closure orders are posted on the Alerts and Notices pageof the website.