Tour of the Gila

The Gila are enchanting & remote mountains in southwest New Mexico that each May host the annual Tour of the Gila Road Race. It is apparent why this area is becoming a draw to both road and mountain cyclists. The area’s roads afford smooth pavement, minimal traffic and offer climbing that jumps back and forth across the continental divide.

The Gila Bike Tour’s quiet roads are the real draw to this area, they climb, dive, twist and turn from start to finish. This tour that delivers car-free roads and plenty-of-climbing through cool Ponderosa Pine forests. The quiet roads allow cyclists to ride two abreast so they can talk-away the vertical miles.

The Gila Bike Tour climbs Emory Pass for 150-mile views, rides the twists & turns of the Gila Monster to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, climbs the continental divide (repeatedly) and experiences the one of a kind town of Silver City. Read a New York Times story about the Gila’s exceptional food.

The Gila Mountains was America’s first designated wilderness area. While working as a Forest Service  ranger in these mountains, Aldo Leopold, wrote the Wilderness Doctrine that later became Wilderness Act of 1964.

Historically the Gila region of Southwest New Mexico has been a home to individuals outside the law making their own way, a no man’s land. The Apache Indian Geronimo was born at the headwaters of the Gila river near Day 3’s Gila Cliff Dwelling ride.