Some events could only happen in New Mexico. The Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race in Cerrillos is one of them.
This past Saturday, May 2, the village of Cerrillos hosted what New Mexico Pack Burros calls "the biggest little pack burro race in the West." The 2026 race sold out before race day, which tells you plenty about how fast a mining-town tradition can find its audience.
The race starts at 10:00 AM on Main Street in Los Cerrillos and runs through the trails of Cerrillos Hills State Park, the old mining country just south of Santa Fe. Two course options — a short 2.5- to 3-mile loop for first-timers and families, and a 6-mile route for racers who know what they're in for. The longer course follows Western Pack Burro Association rules, which means a real pack saddle, a pan, a pick, a shovel, and a lead rope no longer than 15 feet. No cutting corners.
What makes the event work is what it actually is: part trail run, part Western history lesson, part comedy.
Because when you add a burro to any plan, the burro gets a vote.
Pack burro racing comes from mining country. The tradition honors the working burros that carried tools, ore, and supplies through rough Western terrain back when the only way to move heavy gear was on the back of a stubborn animal. Modern racers do not ride. They run or hike alongside their burro, leading by rope, while the burro carries the pack. It is a partnership, not a vehicle.
In Cerrillos, that history is not a theme. It is under your feet. The 6-mile course passes old mine shafts now sealed with safety rails and netting, follows trails that connect to the actual mining record of these hills, and runs through a village that has been here since long before any of us decided to drive out and watch a race.
The American Trail Running Association lists the event as a burro race with 3-mile and 6-mile distances, mostly on unpaved trail. The race has been running since 2022. In four years, it went from a small idea to a sold-out event with people planning travel around it. New Mexico does that to things. Builds quietly, then suddenly.
You do not have to run to enjoy it. Half the entertainment is watching the partnership between racer and burro. Some teams move like they have trained together for years. Some teams negotiate every few yards. Some burros decide, mid-course, that this is a good moment to stop and think things over. That is the beauty of it. The race is not polished. It is not overproduced. It is a real community event — dust, laughter, stubborn animals, serious athletes, and a whole lot of New Mexico character.
For ranch guests and visitors planning a Santa Fe trip, this is the kind of event worth building a day around. Start in Cerrillos. Watch the burros and runners take off from Main Street. Walk the village. Then make your way back toward the ranch for a horseback ride, a carriage ride, a movie town tour, or an evening on the property. It is all part of the same story — New Mexico land, working Western animals, old mining towns, film history, and people still finding ways to keep all of it alive.
If you are visiting in early May next year, keep this race on your radar. Come for the burros. Stay for the mining history. Take the long way back through the Turquoise Trail. Make a day of it.
We love seeing events like this happen nearby. They remind people that the West is not just something you watch in old movies. It is still moving. Sometimes it moves on horseback. Sometimes it rolls in a carriage. Sometimes it trots down Main Street in Cerrillos with a pack saddle, a runner trying to keep up, and a burro who has not yet decided whether today is the day to cooperate.
That is the kind of trip that does not feel like a vacation. It feels like you stumbled into something real.
