Caja del Rio Plateau

An exciting drive, Whitedog waits in front of a northwest view of Parajito, Chicoma, Clara and Roman above Los Alamos.

1 FEBRUARY 2026 W5N/SE-037

Two Stars – a nice summit. I’d do it again. Recommended.

Elevation:	7,470”
Route:	Cross country
Hike Distance:	.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:	100′
Navigation:	Easy*
Steepness:	Gentle
Vehicle:	High clearance 4WD with all terrain tires**
Road:	Rocky
Cell Coverage:	Good Verizon

*Hike is easy, the drive is tricky. **Off road tires suggested.

Not being the most experienced off-highway driver (I don’t do off road), I approached this one with some trepidation. I was going out alone and I just don’t have the experience to try anything too difficult. The Caja del Rio Plateau is a maze of wood cutting tracks that have a lot of sharp lava, deep ruts and volcanic soil that can get really sticky when wet. There was some snow on the ground and a few muddy spots but I managed to get around them. Fred WT5X had warned me that the sharp lava can cut the sidewall of your average mud and snow tire and leave the unaware 4-wheeler woefully stranded. Fortunately Whitedog has BF Goodrich KO2s all-terrain tires which are adequate.

The route I took out was shorter, but it got a bit vague in places and I found a much more established route on the way back.

Here is the driving route on dirt that I found easier then the shorter route I drove in on.

There is a shorter route down the west side of the mountain but it crossed too many contour lines for me to attempt. More experienced drivers would probably have no trouble with it.

It was a gorgeous day up on the plateau. Cool and sunny with almost no wind. I had a nice activation even getting a summit-to-summit with Carol KE6SRN and Tom KE6SRO on Denk Mountain back in California. Carol, Tom and I activated Cerro Grande a few months back. I also had a nice, long armchair QSO with Eric KJ5GFK over in Los Alamos on 2 meters