South Fork Campground also to be closed for bridge replacement project
Reserve, NM, Apr. 21, 2025—Gila National Forest, Reserve Ranger District will close approximately 4.5 miles of Forest Road 141 (Reserve Beaverhead Road) this summer while a contractor removes and replaces the South Fork Negrito Creek bridge, located just east of South Fork Campground. Forest Road 141 will be closed beginning May 5, from its intersection with Forest Road 503 (Catron County Road C-019, Rainy Mesa) to its intersection with Forest Road 165/4044A (Eckleberger Canyon). South Fork Campground will also be closed for the duration of the project. A forest closure order will be in effect through October 31, 2025, unless it is rescinded sooner.
Forest Road 94 (Cox Canyon Road) from Apache Creek, New Mexico, 12 miles north of Reserve is the recommended detour for traffic headed to locations east of the closure. New Mexico Highway 159 (Bursum Road) from U.S. Highway 180 south of Alma, NM, is a rough, single-lane route across steep terrain that can provide another option to the Willow Creek area for those with high clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicles.
The South Negrito Creek bridge was originally constructed in 1959 and due to its advanced age and deteriorated condition, needs to be replaced in order to maintain access for recreation, land management activities, logging and other commercial uses, and general traffic. The new bridge will be longer, to meet modern flood design standards, and more cost effective to maintain. For more information, contact Maribeth Pecotte at
