Visiting Catwalk Recreation Area In Glenwood, NM

While staying at the Hampton Inn Deming, Shae was chatting to Robert at the front desk and he recommended that we check out Catwalk Recreation Area while we were in the area.

Catwalk Recreation Area is in Glenwood, NM which is about two hours from Deming, so it’s quite a long way to drive, although it’s only an hour’s drive or so from Silver City. However, it can make a good day trip if you also tag on the nearby Mogollon Ghost Town.

Just before you get to the parking lot for Catwalk Recreation Area, you have to cross over Whitewater Creek. It wasn’t a problem when we visited as it was pretty shallow, but the water level might be a little higher if you visit soon after it’s snowed in the area (I’ve no idea how frequently that happens!).

Be prepared to bring a few bucks with you as there’s a day use fee, although it’s a very reasonable $3 per vehicle.

There were several picnic tables sitting alongside Whitewater Creek shaded by trees, so it was very popular with families the day we visited. That’s not too surprising seeing as it was a Saturday lunchtime, so it’s likely a little quieter if you visit midweek.

There are also vault toilets on site you can use before setting off on the Catwalk.

The area used to be home to the Mogollon Mines where miners extracted gold and silver ore. Graham Mill was somewhat nearby, but the journey to transport the ore was a long 3-5 miles, with up to 20 horses pulling wagons carrying the ore.

The Graham Mill was powered by a steam engine, with the water needed to produce the steam coming via a three mile pipeline that was built up from Whitewater Canyon.

The pipeline was supported by wooden planks, with maintenance workers referring to those wooden supports as the Catwalk due to them needing cat-like balance in order to walk along them.

Those original wooden supports have since been removed, but the local Civilian Conservation Corps replaced them with a safer wooden recreation trail above the canyon floor. That wooden trail was then replaced by the US Forest Service with even safer metal grating in the 1960s which is what remains to this day.

Although the original Catwalk has been removed, keep an eye out along the canyon walls as there are still some remnants of its old supports.

In addition to the beautiful views as you walk through Whitewater Canyon, one of the nice features of Catwalk Recreation Area is that it’s pet-friendly which meant Truffles was able to join us.

Be aware though that you might have to carry smaller pups; the holes in the metal grating might be a little too large for tiny paws, but they’re fine for larger dogs. Truffles has a metal grating phobia even though her paws were likely large enough for her not to have any issues, so we had to carry her anyway.

The Catwalk takes you above the canyon floor, but the route does lead you down to the canyon floor which gives you a chance to explore Whitewater Creek below.

Getting down into the canyon gives you a chance to check out the small waterfall along the way.

The Catwalk eventually comes to an end, but you can continue along the trail a little further.

To be honest, there wasn’t all that much more to see the day we visited. The very end of the trail was closed off (I forget the exact reason why and I didn’t take a photo of the sign), so the trail just kind of ends at a fly-infested pool area and so we didn’t stick around (the rest of the Catwalk didn’t have a fly problem). Update: It looks like the closure was due to a forest fire.

On our way back we stopped at a much nicer section of Whitewater Creek near the waterfall to have our lunch.

Rather than walking back the entire length of the Catwalk, about halfway along we decided to take the path back on the other side of the creek for a different view through the canyon.

Final Thoughts

Catwalk Recreation Area is a really pretty place to visit in Glenwood, NM. At just over two hours away from Deming, it’s borderline as to whether it’s worth the four hour round trip in and of itself. However, Mogollon Ghost Town is fairly close to Catwalk, so add that on and it makes it a much more worthwhile day trip – check out our post about the ghost town here.