12/16/2020
The Catwalk National Recreation Area in the Gila National Forest serves as a testament to man’s ingenuity, tenacity, and engineering acumen. This recreation area provides today’s visitors to the Glenwood River District site with a glimpse into western New Mexico’s mining past of more than a century ago and the natural splendor of a slot river canyon.
The Catwalk, as it is commonly known, derives its name from the original plank-board walkway placed atop a three-mile steel pipeline constructed in Whitewater Canyon in the 1890s to funnel water to a silver and gold ore processing plant near the canyon’s mouth. Although little remains of the old pipe, the modern, all-access trail, which features elevated steel bridges (catwalks) bolted to the massive rock canyon walls, follows the original pipeline route above Whitewater Creek.