This New Mexico forest climbs to 12,000 feet and hides the world’s most famous bear

It’s bigger than you’d think

Lincoln National Forest spreads across 1.1 million acres of southeastern New Mexico, and most Americans have never heard of it.

It climbs three separate mountain ranges, tops out above 12,000 feet, and drops back down into Chihuahuan Desert scrub.

There’s a waterfall fed by desert springs, a railroad trestle that once crawled up a mountain, a solar observatory at the end of a road named after a wavelength of light, and the grave of the most famous bear in American history.

Three mountain ranges, one million acres

The forest runs across the Sacramento, Guadalupe, and Capitan mountain ranges, split into three ranger districts: Sacramento, Smokey Bear, and Guadalupe.

The low end sits around 4,000 feet, where the land is dry and scrubby. The high end tops out at Sierra Blanca Peak, which rises to 12,003 feet.

Between those two extremes, the landscape shifts from desert to spruce and fir forest, and the air temperature drops fast as you climb. Pack layers even in summer.

Named for Lincoln, shaped by Roosevelt

President Theodore Roosevelt signed the order in 1908 that merged smaller southwestern forest reserves into larger units, which is how Lincoln National Forest took its current shape.

The forest itself started in 1902 as the Lincoln Forest Reserve, honoring Abraham Lincoln. Long before any of that, the Mescalero Apache Tribe held deep historical and spiritual ties to these mountains.

Their reservation still borders the forest along the Sacramento Mountains, and that connection shapes what you’ll find here today.

The bear cub that climbed out of a fire

In May 1950, a wildfire burned about 17,000 acres through the Capitan Mountains.

When firefighters worked through the charred ground, they found a badly burned bear cub clinging to a pine tree.

He was nursed back to health in Santa Fe, then sent to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where he spent the rest of his life as the face of wildfire prevention. When he died in 1976, his body came back to New Mexico.

He’s buried at Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, where exhibits cover forest health, fire ecology, and the story of how one cub became a national symbol.

Desert waterfalls built on a 250-million-year-old reef

About 42 miles west of Carlsbad, spring-fed water drops 150 feet over limestone cliffs at Sitting Bull Falls. The limestone comes from the Capitan Reef, a coral reef system that formed 250 million years ago.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the day-use facilities in the 1940s, and the stone shelters they constructed still stand. A paved path leads to the viewing area, and it’s wheelchair accessible.

If you want more than a look, a 3-mile trail climbs to the top of the falls.

A trestle that once hauled timber up a mountain

The Mexican Canyon Trestle was built in 1899 for a railroad nicknamed the Cloud-Climbing Railroad because it gained over 4,700 feet of elevation in about 32 miles.

The trestle stretches 323 feet across a canyon and stands as tall as a six-story building. It carried timber and passengers to the mountain village of Cloudcroft until the line shut down in 1947.

After a restoration project, the trestle reopened to the public in 2012 and now sits on the National Register of Historic Places.

Walk a mile through pines to the trestle

The Cloud-Climbing Trestle Trail starts at a replica railway depot near Cloudcroft.

The first half-mile is paved, the rest is packed dirt, and the whole thing runs about a mile through fir and pine trees. On clear days, you can see the white dunes of White Sands in the distance.

You’ll also pass the remains of the S-Trestle, which once held two 30-degree curves.

Don’t try to climb the trestle itself, since it’s off-limits for safety and preservation, but the view from the trail is worth the walk. The surrounding Trestle Recreation Area has routes stretching up to eight miles.

Drive a road named after a wavelength of light

The Sunspot Scenic Byway runs 15 miles from Cloudcroft down to the village of Sunspot.

The road’s official designation is NM Route 6563, a number pulled from the wavelength of hydrogen-alpha light measured in angstroms.

Along the way, roadside signs mark the scaled-down positions of the planets in a model solar system. Overlooks give you views of the Tularosa Basin roughly 5,000 feet below.

The drive passes through dense Sacramento Mountain forest, and the Dunn Solar Telescope at the end of the road is temporarily closed for maintenance, so check current conditions before you go.

A stone fire tower that survived a major wildfire

Monjeau Lookout sits at 9,841 feet on the Smokey Bear Ranger District. The CCC built the original stone tower in 1936 and reconstructed it in 1940.

The structure uses native stone topped with a metal cab, and it’s listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Places.

The 2012 Little Bear Fire swept through the surrounding area, but the tower held. You reach it by a 5.5-mile gravel road north of Ruidoso.

It’s generally open from May through October.

The southernmost major ski resort in the country

Ski Apache sits on the slopes of Sierra Blanca Peak and runs 55 trails across 750 acres with a vertical drop of 1,900 feet.

The Mescalero Apache Tribe owns and operates it under a special use permit on Lincoln National Forest land.

The mountain averages around 180 inches of natural snowfall each year, and the Apache Arrow Gondola rides to the summit. When the snow melts, the gondola keeps running for sightseeing and mountain biking.

No other major ski area in the United States with a full season sits this far south.

Miles of trail through pine forests and wilderness

Two federally designated wilderness areas sit inside the forest: White Mountain below Sierra Blanca Peak and Capitan, which includes the 10,083-foot Capitan Peak.

Near Ruidoso, the Grindstone Lake Trail System puts over 18 miles of singletrack through pine forest and along the lakeshore, open to hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders.

The Osha Trail near Cloudcroft is a 2.5-mile loop with views of the Tularosa Basin and White Sands National Park. Always check trail status before heading out since some may be closed for fire recovery or maintenance.

Waterfalls and wildflowers above Cloudcroft

About eight miles outside Cloudcroft, water drops roughly 50 feet over a bluff at Bluff Springs and into a stream below.

The area sits at 8,100 feet, surrounded by spruce, fir, and meadows that fill up with lupine, fireweed, and heartleaf arnica in summer.

A short trail leads to the top of the falls and connects to the larger Willie White Trail system. Dispersed camping nearby costs nothing.

In fall, aspens and maples bring color down the Sacramento Mountains, and the forest around Cloudcroft turns into one of the better leaf-peeping drives in New Mexico.

Plan your visit to Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico

You can reach the forest from several directions, with gateway towns including Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, and Carlsbad. The forest headquarters sits in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

General access carries no entrance fee, though some recreation areas charge day-use fees. The forest stays open year-round, but snow closes certain roads and trails in winter.

White Sands National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park both sit nearby.

Before you head out, check with the local ranger district about fire restrictions, trail closures, and current road conditions.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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