Bear Creek Motel & Cabins is becoming known as a great base for all our visitors to the Southwest.  Our tall pines and enchanting cabins not only give you a fun and comfortable place to lay your head at night, but also easy access to the many hiking trails and historic sites of SW New Mexico and SE Arizona.   

Purgatory Chasm is one of those ‘not so well known’  places of adventure.  The many canyons and chasms in the Gila National Forest are beautiful to look at from scenic overviews, but getting into some of them can be a bit of a challenge, even for die-hard hikers.  For those still finding their mountain legs, there’s Purgatory Chasm, just east of Lake Roberts on route 35.  A moderately easy trail, about two miles round trip, which loops above and into a narrow canyon lined by rock walls that have been contoured over the millenia by wind and water.

Like most New Mexico trails, this one is not well marked.  So on your first time in, it’s recommended to take the right hand fork going in which takes you up a gentle incline through juniper and pinon above the canyon. The trail then hooks left and descends slowly into the canyon.  Along the way down, you’ll find a conveniently located wooden ladder that takes you into the most interesting part of the hike, where this photo was taken.  Then just follow the canyon bottom back out to the road.   Photo taken by Gilarama.

After a great night sleep at Bear Creek Cabins  you can enjoy a relaxing drive to the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  Spectacular views of the Gila National Forest and Wilderness are a real treat along Route 15, north of Lake Roberts. This well-maintained, paved road–part of the Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway–climbs through Ponderosa-lined mountainsides to an elevation of 7400 feet and then drops all the way down to the Gila River and the ancient Cliff Dwellings that are a main draw for visitors to the area. Along the way and near the top, you’ll encounter Copperas Vista, a scenic overlook that gazes west, out over miles and miles of beautiful rock formations and pine-covered mountains. Photo by www.gilarama.com 

If you ever thought you wanted a little taste of heaven you should really spend an evening watching the stars from the Gila Wilderness.  On a night without a moon the sky seems an endless blackness and the bright twinkling stars pop out like glistening diamonds.  Each cabin at Bear Creek Motel & Cabins has a private balcony that you can loose yourself star gazing.  If you want to get real serious, you can take a short stroll, with a flashlight of course, find a clearing and be ready for your breath to be taken away with the awesome view of the heavens.  Its Great!! Click here to Check out our cabins.

Meadow Creek Pondos

  It’s late afternoon when this photo taken at Meadow Creek, north of Pinos Altos. The Ponderosa Pines along the mountainside cast long shadows on the green grass, creating an interesting pattern of light and dark.

Photo credit: Gilarama.com