A suspicious ranch at the foothills of Archuleta Mesa on the Colorado
side?

by Norio Hayakawa
November 13, 2010

November 11, 2010 was quite an interesting day for me.

A colleague of mine from Dulce and I drove the entire circumference of
the Archuleta Mesa, beginning from County Rd. 357 (going north) from
Highway 64 in Lumberton to view the eastern slope and then entering
into Colorado (near Edith), and then going west and then north on
County Rd. 359 (Coyote Park Rd.) and then going northeast on County
Rd. 542 (Montezuma Rd.) and then viewing the northern foothills of the
Mesa.

From there we went south on County Rd. 500 (south Trujillo Rd.) and
then to Indian Rte 169 (Juanita Rd.), crossing into New Mexico side to
see the Western Slope and finally to the southern hills of the Mesa
along the Navajo River north of the town of Dulce. All these roads
were dirt roads.
It took us about 45 miles to take the entire trip around the Mesa.
This really showed me how large the entire Archuleta Mesa area is.
(By the way the Archuleta Mesa includes Mount Archuleta on the west
side, just south of the Colorado state line).

In this trip we did not see anything unusual, except for a somewhat
suspicious-looking private ranch (the Redding Ranch) on the northern
side of the Archuleta Mesa (the Colorado side).

There seemed to be a metallic hangar-like building in the ranch and,
if that is the case, then most likely a landing strip behind it.
There were some small buildings in the ranch, along with four or five
metallic (bullet-proof?) hunting-towers that seem to guard the area.
Those hunting towers definitely seemed out of place in such an area.
This former private ranch (the Redding Ranch) changed hands many times
and is now under the total control of the Utes of Southern Colorado,
and the warning sign says "No Trespassing" and "property of the Utes
tribe". Could this be an outpost for a base or an operating area in
Archuleta Mesa?

It seemed to me that this type of a compound could easily be used by
any Black Ops programs.
Moreover, the Redding Ranch may be the only access to the Archuleta
Mesa from the Colorado side.

As for the Eastern slope areas of Archueta Mesa (as we drove on County
Rd. 357 from Lumberton towards Edith), it seems that the Mesa is
inaccessible to any heavy traffic (such as trucks, etc) since it is
protected by the river and since there are no bridges on any
northeastern portion of the mesa.

According to the Air Force Colonel from whom Anthony Sanchez got the
information, the second, two-level underground installation is located
in an area between the Eastern slope of Archuleta Mesa and County Rd.
357, near the Colorado stateline.

True, it seems that there are some ranches (which could easily be used
as outposts for any Black Ops programs) near the northerneastern
portion of the Mesa on the Colorado side. However, the logistics
involved in creating such an alleged entrance and concealed heli-pads
in that area may have been difficult or nearly impossible with lack of
any bridges to get to the Eastern as well as to the Northeastern
slope.
As I just mentioned it seems that the only access to the Mesa from the
northeastern side or from the North side of the Mesa (i.e., from the
Colorado side) may be from the Redding Ranch.

Anyway, as I mentioned, we continued driving further westward from the
Redding Ranch area (still on County Rd. 542 - i.e., Montezuma Rd. -
and then turned southward towards New Mexico from County Rd. 500
(Trujillo Rd.).
Then we took Indian Rte 169 (Juanita Rd., which is a public road) and
entered New Mexico through County Rd. 551 (which is also a public
road) to view the Western hills of the Mesa, which is also very rugged
area.
Then we turned eastward on J-9 Rd. (a public road) towards Dulce.

J-9 Rd. splits into two, one becoming the Narrow Gage Rd. (also a
public road which becomes Jicarilla Rd. that merges with Hwy 64 which
takes you in front of Best Western and then on to Lumberton and to
Chama) and the other one which becomes J-2 Rd. (also a public road).

The J-2 Rd. (a public road) is the road alongside the southern rugged
hills of Archuleta Mesa.
About a third of a mile on J-2 Rd. (from the juncture of J-9 Rd. and
J-2 Rd.) there is a steep road that takes you towards the summit of
Mount Archuleta. Legally one must be accompanied by a Jicarilla Apache
person in order to drive or hike on this steep road. Mount Archuleta
is located near the west side of the Mesa slightly south of the
Colorado stateline. It definitely seems that one would need a 4-wheel
drive just to drive on that steep, rugged road towards the Mountain.

Then about a mile or so east on J-2 Rd., there is a steep road towards
the Mesa called the Seguro Canyon Rd. This also seems to be a rugged
road and probably the only road that will take you only to a point one
third (if one is willing to hike for two or three hours further) to
the radio antenna towers of the Archuleta Mesa). Legally one must also
be accompanied by a Jicarilla Apache person in order to drive or hike
on this road.

All of this shows that the access to Archuleta Mesa from the southern
hills is extremely difficult, unless one is willing to hike for 5 or 6
hours to the top of the Mesa on the eastern side (the communications
towers area) from these two steep roads.Moreover, as I mentioned,
legally one must be accompanied by a Jicarilla Apache person to get to
the top.

The way to get back to Dulce from J-2 Rd. is to keep going east on J-2
Rd. Then you will cross the bridge which connects J-2 Rd. and the
River Rd.
The River Rd. then becomes Hawks Dr. which takes you back to Best
Western Hotel area on Hwy 64.

Norio Hayakawa
http://noriohayakawa2012.blogspot.com/