Gila National Forest begins North Star Road repairs, expects short weekday closures

North Star Road is about to put a real time tax on Diamond Creek trips: Forest Service Road 150 will see temporary closures of 30 to 60 minutes Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. as reconstruction gets underway near the north end of the route. The work zone is roughly 43 miles north of Mimbres, and heavy equipment may be in the corridor as crews move through the site.

For anyone planning a trailhead start or a backcountry drive, the pinch point is easy to map. Diamond Creek Trailhead sits east of Forest Road 150 near the north end of the road at 6,456 feet, and Diamond Creek Trail #40 begins at Diamond Creek off FSR 150, running 18.3 miles one way to the Continental Divide at Diamond Peak near the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Area. If your plan depends on getting through that stretch on a tight schedule, the safer move is to reroute your day or pad the drive with extra time. The weekday closure window is the key go or no-go issue; the alert is limited to Monday through Friday, so weekend access should remain open unless conditions change.

The forest said the work began the week of April 13 and is expected to run through early May, with the alert last updated April 15 and kept in effect through May 31, 2026. The project is not just a quick patch job. The forest’s summary describes heavy maintenance on North Star Mesa Road that includes surfacing, drainage structure replacements, and road stabilization, all aimed at keeping the route functional after weather and use take their toll.

The partnership behind the repair also gives the job extra weight. Gila National Forest is working with Bat Conservation International and Fowler Brothers Construction, and the restoration tie-in reaches well beyond the road corridor. Bat Conservation International says it works across 258 million acres of U.S. government-managed lands, and its five-year agreement with the forest is tied to recovery after the 2022 Black Fire, which burned 327,263 acres in the Gila National Forest and severely damaged riparian zones used by more than two dozen bat species. For spring travelers, the takeaway is straightforward: weekday drives into Diamond Creek can still work, but only if your itinerary can absorb a short, unpredictable stop.