T12
Telephone Canyon Trail

Smokey Bear Ranger District
 TL-red-190.jpg 
Download
T12
GPS Track
(as .GPX)		White Mountain Wilderness Trails
T12, T15, T16, T18, T19, T20, T20, T24, T77, and T78 are shown as black dashed lines on the map.
 The solid blue line is the border of the White Mountain Wilderness.  The solid green line is
T25 Crest Trail.  The red over black dashes indicates that the trail is badly damaged and has
been closed to the public by Forest Service order.
WMW6c2mnr11.jpg 

WMW6c2m-p1r-RTS.jpg

LENGTH:
1.4 miles
See Text
ELEVATION:
7960 -9100 ft
1140 ft
difference
DIFFICULTY:
Moderate
SCENIC
RATING:
3
Contour Interval: 40 feet
White Mountain Wilderness Trails (34 MB)

Full Topo Map
Route Color Codespaved roads
(red)		FS roads, open
(blue)		FS roads, closed or impassable
(magenta)
main trail(s)
(black dashes)		---connector trail(s)
(green dashes)		---damaged or intermittent trail(s)
(orange over black dashes)		---closed trails(s)
(red over black dashes)		---
Symbolstrailhead
(blue triangle)		 blue-triangle.jpgtrail junction
(blue dot) 		blue-dot.jpgtrail end
(blue square)		 blue-square.jpg
This trail has been badly damaged by the Little Bear Fire and subsequently heavy rains.  It has been closed to the public by Forest Service order, and it may never reopen.  I have presented John Stockert's description from the 2002 edition of the Trail Guide: Lincoln National Forest.  Perhaps his descriptions will help us to remember what we lost.

DESCRIPTION:  The T12 Telephone Canyon Trail and T20 Rodamaker Canyon Trail form one continuous path and are joined on the ridge where T25 crosses them.  At this common junction, vistas are spectacular and encompass a large portion of the White Mountain Wilderness!   If you walk from one trail to the other, it is suggested that T12 be ascended and T20 be descended, due to the steepness of the latter. The lower end of T12 begins in a recreation residential tract where privately owned homes are on public land. No camping is permitted here.

 From its lower end, T 12 passes through an open corridor of old growth forest of southwestern white pine, Douglas-fir, and oak. It provides a nice, interesting stroll for a family due to its moderate grade and scenery. The easy‑to‑follow, well constructed path has a common gradient of 20%. Distant views are few and filtered. The trail name comes from a telephone line that passed through the canyon from Ruidoso to Monjeau Fire Lookout between 1936 and 1958.

ACCESS:  To access the lower end of T12 from Smokey Bear Ranger District Office in Ruidoso, drive NM48 north 4.2 miles to the junction of NM532, Ski Run Highway. Turn left and follow paved NM532  2.5 miles to the junction of Forest Road FR127A, Eagle Creek Road. Turn right and drive the largely graveled and narrow FR127  1.4 miles to the locked gate to the Eagle Creek area.  Park and hike 0.5 miles to the trailhead, masked by a T12 sign near the Eagle Creek Summer Home Association building.

 To reach T12 from its junction with T25, Crest Trail, drive NM532  0.9 mile from the intersection of NM532 and NM48 to the junction of FR 117, Monjeau Lookout Road, and turn right. Follow this mostly graveled route 5.0 miles to a junction on the left, a short road to the T 25 trailhead. Hike T25  0.3 mile to the junction with T12.
LOCATION(S) OF ACCESS POINT(S)
Lat/Lon hddd mm ss.sUTM/NAD83
Junction of T12 and T25N33 25 31.8
W105 44 21.8		13 S
431263
3698703
Lower TrailheadN33 24 40.4
W105 44 31.8		 13 S
430992
3697122

Last Hiked:  2001Web Page Updated:February 4, 2014
Copyright Lynn Melton 2014Contact: LNFTG14@gmail.com