Cloudcroft New Mexico Getaway

Outdoor fun is easy to find in Cloudcroft New Mexico. Cloudcroft is a charming village deep in the Sacramento Mountains of Southern New Mexico. We went to New Mexico in mid-September to escape the West Texas heat. We found green foothills followed by mountain valleys with waterfalls, 200 mile vistas and cool days in the mid 60’s.

Getting to Cloudcroft

Cloudcroft, New Mexico is 370 miles from San Angelo, Texas. It is a world away in scenery, temperature and culture. We went to Cloudcroft to visit my childhood home in nearby Alamogordo and to revisit my growing up memories of the area around Cloudcroft. I grew up going to Cloudcroft almost every weekend. The Sacramento Mountains were my playground. My Dad worked for the US Forest Service and he had insider knowledge of the best places to hike, camp and enjoy this little-known part of Southern New Mexico.

Nightlife

Cloudcroft New Mexico has a population of 400 year round residents. It hasn’t changed very much since my childhood and still has a laid back family orientation that is hard to find in 2019. The village usually rolls up the sidewalks around 7 pm and the only entertainment is listening to the bull elk bugling and watching the stars through the pine trees. It is not unknown to see black bear, deer and elk within the village limits. It is certainly common to see the same wildlife within 5 miles of the village.

Lodging

We opted to rent a cabin about four miles out of the village. It was the best lodging that we have ever found in the area. Previously, we had stayed at Spur Landing Townhomes and The Lodge Bed and Breakfast.

The cabin is privately owned and listed on Airbnb. It is geared toward four or fewer adults, has heated floors, satellite TV and wifi. We are not TV or internet addicts but it is a luxury in this part of the world. Our phones did not work at the cabin but they did work within the village of Cloudcroft.

The cabin was very clean and comfortable. The décor was nice—neither too fusty nor too masculine. We got a kick out of the black bears and ladybugs in every room. Two grills on the covered porch made cooking out fun and easy. One grill is a basic charcoal grill (with woodchips to smoke food). The other grill was a really great Traeger pellet grill. We smoked a ribeye steak on the Traeger for 45 minutes and finished with a quick sear on both sides. It was the best steak that we have ever had!

If there was better than a 5 star rating on Airbnb, this cabin should get it. We didn’t see any need to improve anything about the cabin.

Dining

Dining out in Cloudcroft is primarily family style and there are no chain restaurants. There are a couple of cafes/diners and several bakeries. Rebecca’s at The Lodge has resort style dining with spectacular views and good food. The menu is geared toward adults and is considered the ‘special occasion’ place for the area. We chose to cook and picnic from the cabin and only ate out one meal in Alamogordo–see more on that meal under the Alamogordo heading.

Day Trip to Alamogordo and White Sands

One day, we drove 16 miles down the mountain to Alamogordo and White Sands National Monument. The drop in altitude from over 9000 feet to 3600 feet means much warmer weather. However, the temperatures were still about 10 degrees cooler than in San Angelo.

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument is 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo and has 275 square miles of gypsum sand dunes. It is the largest gypsum sand dune field on earth. It is awe inspiring and is a feature that can be seen from high points throughout the mountain ranges of Southern New Mexico.

As a child, it was great fun to slip slide my way up a tall dune, and roll down the dune parallel to the base. The sand was pretty soft and sometimes I was sure that I was flying. At the end of the visit I removed my shoes and all clothes down to my underwear to be allowed into the car. This limited the amount of sand inadvertently carried home. My Dad always teased me that we were going to be stopped by the park service police due to removing sand from the monument. I probably did carry out 1/2 cup in my hair each visit.

The National Park service has several well defined hiking trails. The limiting factor to hiking is related more to temperature than to change in elevation or difficulty. Hiking trails is not recommended when the temperature is above 85 degrees. We went on a one mile trail mid-morning and by the time we returned to the car, the temperature was 83 degrees and we were soaked with sweat. We were not really good for any additional activities until we took a long rest. The sun reflects off the white sand and it is much hotter to walk across the sand than the air temperature indicates. However, the purple mountains in the distance with the brilliant white sand dunes in the foreground are not to be missed.

Alamogordo

Growing up in Alamogordo was much like growing up in mythical Mayberry, USA. Alamogordo, still has small town charm and is good way to spend an afternoon.

We started with lunch at CJ’s Si Señor – 2300 N White Sands Blvd. We had wonderful Southern New Mexico food topped off with sopapillas and honey. The green chili sauce was flavorful but wasn’t too hot. We arrived hot and hungry and left cool and stuffed. We both ate the lunch special of Navajo tacos. Navajo tacos are Indian fry bread topped with ground beef, green or red sauce, cheese and guacamole—-yum! Our entire bill, including sopapillas was less than $20.

After lunch, we visited the Federal Building downtown to view the Peter Hurd murals. The murals were completed in 1940 and were part of the WPA arts program. My father worked in the building and as a child I was fascinated both by the pueblo architecture of the building and by the murals inside the gated entry.

We stopped by the Loews Signature market to pick up supplies. The market has New Mexico spices as well as prime meat and a large deli. We were delighted to find fresh Hatch chili that is roasted, peeled and ready to use. We used our trip to this market to supply us with all the fresh items that we needed to cook in our Cloudcroft cabin.

Picnic to Three Rivers Campground

Down the mountain from Cloudcroft and an easy drive beyond Tularosa is Three Rivers Campground. You will want to use Google maps to find the campground as it is on a country road that turns into a dirt ranch road. The road signs are pretty scarce. The campground itself is beautiful. There is ponderosa pine, juniper and lots of New Mexico trees found near water. The stream is 50 feet wide and has house size boulders among deep pools. It is like camping in the ‘wild’ with campground amenities.

Hiking Around Cloudcroft

The best place to get hiking information for the Cloudcroft area is at the Cloudcroft Ranger Station for the Lincoln National Forest. The Ranger Station is located on County Highway 6563, one mile south of Cloudcroft. Outside the Ranger Station are racks of brochures on nearby picnic facilities, campgrounds and trail information. The trail information includes maps as well as details about difficulty, vehicles allowed on the trail and trail facilities.

The trails are well signed and the difficulty level is accurate. The forest and county roads are easy to find and are surrounded by beautiful scenery. All of the roads around Cloudcroft have multiple pullouts and scenic overlooks.

One of the best overlooks is the Cloud to Rails Trestle bridge. It is on the South side of Highway 82 between Cloudcroft and High Rolls. It has multiple overlooks and signs detailing the history of the railroad. There is an excellent hiking trail right outside of Cloudcroft that hugs the south side of Mexican Canyon and goes to the trestle opposite the overlook on Highway 82.

Whatever you choose to do in Cloudcroft New Mexico, you will have an easy time finding fun, outdoor entertainment. Hope you try Cloudcroft and have a great trip!