Hike Hell's Half Acre: Y L Canyon and Maple Canyon Hell's Half Acre, NM

Oct 16, 2020 — Hell's Half Acre is a weird little series of slot canyons and conglomerate rock features just north of Silver City, put on my radar from Doug Scott Art's website. He has done extensive exploration of the side-canyons, and I was hoping to mimic parts of his route. However, I underestimated the difficulty of the route and ran out of water, and for a bunch of other silly reasons I only got to check out one of the major highlights of the area, Maple Canyon. It's also a very remote area that likely gets very little visitation, so plan accordingly. Slot canyons are dangerous, even nontechnical ones. The approach road was in great shape for any vehicle, and I parked at a small pull-out. I was a little confused at the private property boundaries of the area since everything seemed to be boxed off with fences. However, some research later helped me conclude what portion is officially on private land (purple line on my map). I can't imagine the ranchers would mind a hiker strolling through, but I recommend taking the orange line to get into Hell's Half Acre instead. It's definitely more efficient and keeps away from what I believe is the private property boundary. This approach involves hiking along a mesatop, descending on some light Class 2 boulders, and continuing through grasses down into the major canyon that runs through Hell's Half Acre, "Y L Canyon".

Once in Y L Canyon, I headed through the obvious winding drainage that slowly became more interesting. The walls grew taller and more imposing, and lots of side-canyons popped out from either direction. Most looked brushy and uninviting. Y L Canyon eventually opened up, and shortly after I left the main drainage and ascended a brushy side-canyon to get over to the northern portion of Hell's Half Acre (marked on the attached map). This involved hiking up a steep, loose slope to a gain a high point, then dropping down to the north in another brushy canyon. From here, I was in the heart of Hell's Half Acre, where the sky seems to be the limit in exploring the area. I may have to return to see more at some point in my life, but I was happy with the introduction I got to see. I ended up doing a bit of bushwhacking and ultimately ended up with a bit of poison ivy/oak.

I followed Doug Scott's map and found myself in Maple Canyon, a very cozy box canyon with maple trees growing between hanging cliff walls. The lighting was surreal and I felt very isolated. I followed Maple Canyon to its end, hoping to be able to scramble out, but was stopped by a dryfall at each of my attempts. I returned the way I came instead, leaving behind the many conglomerate slot canyons for another person to explore. I did attempt another side-canyon, but I saw kitty cat prints leading into the canyon, and none coming back out, so I played it safe and nixed the idea.