A hotbed for cyclists of all walks, Silver City sits at the edge of the nation’s first wilderness area. The town of roughly 10,000 people welcomes bike tourists and bike racers for short sojourns that often turn into full-time residencies. Silver City has become a secret training ground for world tour roadies, a haven for Great Divide riders, and the hideout for cycling coaches and retired pros who’ve noted the less-traveled roads and sparsely populated trails that abound in our region.

The landscape the Tour of the Gila traverses has been home to indigenous groups like the Mimbres Mogollon and the Chiricahua Apache for hundreds of years, remains the livelihood of local ranchers and inspires artists in all media. The mountains that called to early prospectors now supply minerals like copper to the world.

Silver City is a cultural and commercial hub for the residents of three rural counties in southwest New Mexico. Further, it’s a destination for those from across the globe. See what’s so magnetic about Silver City for yourself.

In 2024, southwest New Mexico celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Gila Wilderness. The world’s first wilderness–exemplary for its natural history and biologic diversity–has held important cultural and societal across the ages. It’s a landscape that inspired not only the Tour of the Gila 37 years ago but the Wilderness Act, which was put into law 40 years after this chunk of the American southwest was set aside for protection in 1924.

Tour of the Gila encourages cycling fans, competitive athletes and the local community to join in celebrating this pivotal example of nature in all its pristine and unmarred wildness. For a calendar of events and more information about the Gila Wilderness, visit the Gila National Forest’s centennial webpage.

For a taste of the wilderness landscape Tour of the Gila participants, supporters and volunteers experience, check out this photo generously donated to Tour of the Gila by Jay Hemphill, who shares more photographs of the Gila at 100 in his new book by Mimbres Press.

Gila Wilderness landscape photo courtesy of Jay Hemphill, photographer of Gila 100 book (Mimbres Press 2024).