Green camping in the Gila National Forest

Jamie Rhein wrote a great post about 'camping green' in the Gila. Here it is reposted:

Apr 22, 2010 12:41 - By: Jamie Rhein

The Gila Wilderness offers earth friendly lodging

Earth Day makes me think of places like the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. It's a perfect spot for an environmentally friendly hiking/primitive camping trip combo. It also offers non-fussy adventure in the midst of beauty.

My trip to the Gila National Forest, where the wilderness is located, was the most environmentally friendly one I've ever been on-except for two years in the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa, but that's another story.

My husband, then boyfriend, talked me into the Gila Wilderness camping trip by touting it as his most favorite place in New Mexico -someplace he really, really, really wanted me to see. A hiker, but not much of a wilderness camper type gal- frankly, NOT a wilderness camper, I bought it.

So off we went, parking our car at a designated parking lot, lacing up our hiking boots, doning our backpacks and heading off on a trail to our overnight spot where we would pitch our small, two person tent.

The Middlefork River

I was glad I let him talk me into heading out of my comfort zone. The Gila Wilderness is indeed gorgeous. With its distinction as the first designated wilderness in the U.S., the area remains one of the largest remote and untouched national forests. Our companions were the douglas firs and aspens that cover the mountains and bordered the river and streams we traversed.

Yes, crossing the river and streams several times over the course of two days was on the hiking menu. My husband, then boyfriend, promised the crossings weren't that many. Not that many turned out-by my count-to be nineteen-or was it 100? If you do take such a trip, be prepared. One good thing about the river crossings is that I was cured of my fear of wading across water. We followed the guidelines of green camping by packing out our trash, not cooking meals (although I do recall a hot cup of coffee in the morning thanks to an itty bitty stove) and not bushwhacking it through vegetation. We didn't put soap into the stream either.

Green lodging in the woods

What I discovered is just how glorious the woods are when no one else is around and that one doesn't need much to have a grand time. Sure, I was glad, thrilled actually, to arrive back at the car, but I can still picture the way the sun shone through the trees and hear the sound of the water as it passed near the spot where we pitched our tent as if we headed off to the Gila just yesterday.

If you're interested in enjoying the Gila National Forest, you don't need to find a spot in the woods on your own. The Gila National Forest does have campgrounds that range from RV friendly with electric hook ups and dump stations to the primitive camping version with a toilet nearby.

If you head to the Gila in New Mexico, make your way to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument where Mogollon people lived in cave-like recesses in the mountain rock several hundred years ago.

The Gila National Forest website is a helpful resource for organizing your trip. Here is the link to the dispersed camping sites. If you head out away from designated campsites, you don't need a permit.

As a word of warning, bring plenty of drinking water with you.

Gila National Forest
3005 E. Camino del Bosque
Silver City, NM 88061-7863
(575) 388-8201