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At this New Mexico park, mountain bikers pedal amid hundreds of oil wells
Glade Run Recreation Area is a destination for cyclists, hikers, birders and other outdoor enthusiasts
FARMINGTON 鈥� The Glade Run Recreation Area on the outskirts of Farmington hosts cattle, ATVs, dirt bikes, hikers, birders, runners and mountain bikers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a free-for-all,鈥� said Mike Eisenfeld, the energy and climate program manager for San Juan Citizens Alliance, 鈥渂ut kind of fun.鈥� Case in point: This year marks the 45th running of the , a mountain bike race through the recreation area that lured Eisenfeld to Farmington in the first place.
About 88,900 people visited the area in 2025, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which manages most of the area. But surprises await visitors amid the juniper and pi帽on trees.
鈥淲hen I moved here 30 years ago, you would go to the Bureau of Land Management and ask them about (Glade Run), they鈥檇 tell you about the trails,鈥� Eisenfeld said. 鈥淏ut you didn鈥檛 know that within that 50-square-mile recreation area that there鈥檚 500 oil and gas wells.鈥�
The trails and dirt roads that draw hikers, bikers and ATVs also connect the wells, many of which are only lightly fenced off.
鈥淲e are kind of used to our trails weaving through the oil and gas infrastructure,鈥� Eisenfeld said. Even so, 鈥淪ome of these sites have some pretty dangerous elements to them 鈥� that can include things like emissions exposure to benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene.鈥� All of those chemicals are toxic compounds tied to oil and gas production. He also recounted a story of a young girl who, he said, died when she tried to ride a pumpjack.
Eisenfeld said he and others have asked the Bureau of Land Management to be more forthcoming about the oil and gas operations within the recreation area, so the public can be aware of the emissions and other dangers.
The recreation area sits in the middle of the San Juan Basin, a large oil and gas field that stretches across northwest New Mexico and up into Colorado. While fossil fuel production has been a major employer and economic driver in the basin for the past century, a recent report from the Bureau of Land Management said that its gas production is in a and that after a short bump, oil production will begin to drop as well.
Work plugging old wells and the surrounding land is a constant throughout the basin.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that there could be a robust reclamation economy that allows Farmington to prosper to some extent,鈥� Eisenfeld said. 鈥淯p here in this area, there鈥檚 a vast need for an economy based on cleaning this place up.鈥�
Los Angeles-based Capital & Main is a nonprofit news organization that reports on economic, environmental and social issues.
