In 2023, with the help of many generous supporters, Natural Curiosity purchased the ghost town of Hermosa and founded the Hermosa Field Station. The purchase included the 54-acre historic town site of Hermosa, the nearby Hermosa Cemetery, and the 40-acre Kelsey Property - a historic homestead located ~10 mi south of Hermosa along Animas Creek. The Kelsey property is only accessible via hiking trails. Due to wildfires it is nearly indistinguishable from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness that borders the property on 3 sides.
Renovations to the main buildings at the Hermosa Field Station began in the Summer of 2023. Major improvements to structural integrity, solar electrical capacity, plumbing, heating, and aesthetics were completed by the Summer of 2024, the Hermosa Field Station is now open for business to host programs, researchers, trail crews, field trips, and guests!
In 2024, with the help of the New Mexico Land Conservancy, Natural Curiosity placed a conservation easement on these properties to protect the land in perpetuity.
Click above to explore current lodging and facility options available at Hermosa. Click below to visit the Hermosa Project legacy page with more info about the history of educational programs at the site and Natural Curiosity’s plans for it.
Location
The Hermosa Field Station is within the Gila National Forest ~22 miles South of Winston, NM. It is a gateway to over 700,000 acres of designated wilderness that begins ~3 miles West of Hermosa:
Aldo Leopold Wilderness - 202,016 acres
Gila Wilderness - 558,000 acres
Weather
An Ambient Weather WS-2902 home weather station was installed at Hermosa in 2023. When syncing properly, the current weather at Hermosa is available to the public by scrolling through this widget or clicking on it to visit the Ambient Weather site. The Ambient Weather Network App is available for mobile devices to see local data from this and other home weather stations in the country.
The Hermosa Field Station is accessible year-round, but occasionally rain or snow will impact the dirt roads along the way making the journey difficult or impossible for a short period of time. If you are planning a trip to Hermosa and have any concerns about weather impacting your travel, please check the current weather or call us at the field station for a road condition report: 575-322-1221
A Different Kind of “Remote Learning”
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Indoor Classroom
The Hermosa Field Station is an off-grid property that runs on solar power, propane, and a well. The Mercantile can be used as a modern lecture hall that still has plenty of historic charm. The large fireplace is a favorite gathering spot for evening storytelling or book discussions. We use the back half of the great room as indoor lab space. This Great Room can be converted into a large indoor event space for many creative uses.
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Outdoor Classroom
Hermosa’s backyard is 3.3 million acres of national forest and wildland, including over 700,000 acres of designated wilderness. The nearby streams, trails, and ecological diversity make Hermosa an incredible home base for students of all ages to learn about the natural world. It also provides an excellent event space for those looking for a remote setting surrounded by a vast wilderness.
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Backcountry Wilderness Adventures
Hermosa is surrounded by National Forest and is located only three miles from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness boundary. Public land trails heading west from Hermosa lead up to the continental divide and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). A signature adventure for our programs is a 27 mile loop hike from Hermosa to Reed’s Peak and back for a 5-6 day backpacking trip usually supported by a mule pack train.
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Wilderness Field Skills
We teach backcountry wilderness skills that empower students to confidently recreate and work in the backcountry. These skills include wilderness first aid, orienteering, knot-tying, biological survey techniques, horse/mule/donkey packing, cross-cut sawyer training, and wilderness survival skills.
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Field Research
Astonishing biodiversity and vast wildlands make the Hermosa Field Station an idyllic base for biological research. We conduct our own field research program based out of Hermosa that interfaces with our educational programs. We also welcome outside researchers at the facility and hope to host many different types of research that would benefit from better access to this area.
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Wilderness Stewardship
The Hermosa Field Station prioritizes good stewardship of the private and public land around us. Natural Curiosity trail crews have had boots on the ground maintaining public land trails since 2023 thanks to a NM Outdoor Recreation Division Trails+ Grant. We also partner with the USFS - Gila National Forest, Conservation Corps of NM (CCNM), and the National Forest Foundation (NFF) to provide a base of operations and logistical support for backcountry trail crews working in the area for the Black Fire Recovery Project.
