Ruidoso, Lincoln national forest and gila hot springs

Anyone familiar with some beginner friendly trails around these areas. Will be leaving ft worth on 10/30/20 and heading west. I will be letting my wife do some driving so I would prefer easier trails for her. We will be staying in the RTT. should be a nice week away!!!!!

 

I am pretty sure New Mexico currently has a two week mandatory quarantine for people arriving from out of state. It may be over by 10/30, but I doubt it.

 

Haven't heard or read that...... my parents just went and had no issues. They have been traveling most of this year. Supposed to meet them in Ruidoso. The people at the gila hot springs camp ground didnt say anything about when we booked a spot......

 

https://www.newmexico.gov/2020/07/07/new-mexico-travel-restrictions-in-effect/
https://cv.nmhealth.org/travel-recommendations/
https://www.newmexico.org/covid-19-traveler-information/

I guess your parents haven't been caught.....

 

Well. Owell, We're still going either way!!

 

They do have a two week quarantine but most folks up in the mountains don't give a hoot. I was in Cloudcroft this past weekend and it was packed with out of state plates.

There's a good fire road in Ruidoso, #120 here;

33.3908931, -105.6105889

It is decently long and not difficult, open to any traffic. It's well marked and easy to stay on trail, most of the land it goes through is private.

You can check out Monjeau Lookout too,
33.4309539, -105.7314630
You'll probably have to park at the campground and hike the last 1/4 mile but it is worth it, believe me!

If you go to Cloudcroft there's a nice one here;

Switchback trail
32.9749771, -105.7567468

Take a right here, left is a dead end.
32.9866472, -105.7582542

And another right here onto Forest road #162 then straight all the way out.
32.9960363, -105.7458440


Once you make it back to pavement take a right to get back to Cloudcroft.


Bluff Springs has a waterfall, that's here;
32.8313584, -105.7374886
Might be busy though. You can follow that road all the way across to Hwy 130, take a left back to Cloudcroft.



Let me know if those coordinates do or don't work and I'll sort it out.

Have fun!

 

Thanks. My parents are going to be in there winnebago revel. 4wd short wheel base. That van is a beast. Dad upgraded it with fox suspension too. Its pretty bad ass. I will if I have a pic of it. Thwy will be with us so I honestly do know how much trail/ fire road driving we will actually be doing

 

mom and dads rig!!!!!

 

That looks like a nice ride! They would be more than capable of traversing those trails in that, as long as they don't mind a little bouncing. I've seen guys pulling 5th wheels and running full size RV's on those trails. They're not that rough, I see cars a few areas too.

Where are you guys planning on staying in Ruidoso? Campground?

FR 120 in Ruidoso takes about 45-60 minutes depending on your driving, not too bad.
The trail up to Monjeau is just a gravel road, you go through a residential area first so that's pretty smooth.


EDIT: This just came up on the news here, not sure if it'll still be in effect on the 30th but just in case.




I'm certainly not trying to discourage you, just updating! I'll keep an eye out if anything new comes up.

 

Lincoln national forest is where were staying when we do Ruidoso. My parents have done some trails in the revel

 

Right on, they have a lot of dispersed camping along the trails.

 

Thats the plan. We booked a spot for the gila hot springs campground also. Then from there we may head back to tx down to terlingua

 

Another road to check out is West side road (FS91). It's about 30 miles and drives along the edge of the national forest with great views across the valley where you can see all of Alamogordo, Holloman AFB, White Sands National Monument, and the Organ mountains.

You can start from Sunspot or High Rolls.

High Rolls start: 32.932169, -105.839853

Sunspot start: 32.716528, -105.760705

 

Also, for Gila National Forest if you have time I highly recommend driving through Chloride Canyon on your way to the hot springs. It's a bit of a detour, but it takes you through the old Chloride mining town and you get some good views of the forest.

 

Very good information, thanks for sharing!

 

I think were going to do this.

 

I love new roads, I haven't been on #91 yet. I might hit it this weekend if I don't have to work overtime!


EDIT: Hot dang I didn't realize that image was that big!

 

Haha. Also the area just below the tunnel at high rolls on the south side of the road is fun to play around in. The hang glider dudes jump off from there and cruise all the way down to Alamogordo from there.

 

Sounds like the opposite side of the road right there by the Aquatic Dwellings waterfall, isn't it?

 

Yup, been there!