NMVFO plans 20+ volunteer work projects each year. Click here for a printable overview of the 2024 project season, and check back often for additional information posted as it becomes available. To receive updates and detailed information about upcoming projects and events, be sure to sign up for the NMVFO newsletter on the Home page. Public land agencies that are interested in proposing a project should contact our Projects Team (projects@nmvfo.org) for more information and our easy-to-complete project proposal form.
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Datil Well Campground
April 30, 2016 - May 1, 2016
Contact Leader(s): Chris Fritzsche, 505-504-3768, fritzsche.christopher@gmail.com; Gena Robertson, g.robertson@nmvfo.org with any questions.
Enjoy a weekend in the Historic Datil Mountains and visit the Very Large Array. Datil Well was one of 15 former water wells spaced every ten miles along the historic Magdalena Livestock Driveway that once stretched 120 miles from Springerville, AZ to Magdalena, NM. We will camp Friday and Saturday nights at the Group Shelter site which has fresh well water, vault toilets, shady tent sites and plenty of room for parking to include RVs. There is a motel in nearby Datil for those who do not wish to camp.
Enjoy beautiful overlooks of the San Augustin Plains from the trails from as we take on three sections of the Datil Well Loop—the sections (all within the same general area) have been prioritized to facilitate completion of some or all depending upon group size, weather, or other difficulties. Priority #1 is ~800 foot reroute of a badly eroded fall line section. Priority #2 will be fixing drainage along the east section leading up to the choke point just prior to the reroute. There really is no way of re-routing this section, so I figured the best option is to just do a better job at managing the drainage. Priority #3 is another ~500 foot re-route just above the other reroute section. The existing section is a little steep and heavily rutted. The re-route section follows the contour better and has more shade. The hike to the furthest point of the work area from the campground is slightly more than a half mile (0.6 miles).
NMVFO will provide breakfast on Saturday and Sunday and dinner on Saturday night. Bring water bottles/packs, daypack, lunches and snacks, and a camp chair is a good idea long-sleeved shirts, long pants, work gloves, work boots, sun protection, raingear (just in case),. Carpooling is encouraged. Please sign up for this project by Tuesday, April 26th so that our meal coordinator (Micky Hogue) can match provisions to participants. Unfortunately, we will not be able to support restricted diets.
Datil is 61 miles west of Socorro on US Hwy 60. The campground is ¼ mile south of Datil on Hwy 12. The green NMVFO signs will be deployed early Friday afternoon at both entrances to the campground area. Work will begin Saturday, April 30th at 8:00 am and Sunday, May 1st at the same start time, but we’ll finish up around noon.
If this is your first NMVFO camping project, you can find more information about what to expect at https://nmvfo.org/volunteer/volunteer-faq or email or call me (Chris), the project leader, fritzsche.christopher@gmail.com, (505) 504-3768 and Gena Robertson at (573) 300-0853, genarobertson@hotmail.com.
Click here for a printable project description.
