Looking west from the 9,700 foot rim of the Sacramento Mountains

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known”

Carl Sagan

The Sacramento Mountains rise over 5,000 feet above the horrific wastes of the Chihuahuan desert in southern New Mexico. Down in Alamogordo as you look around you at the miserable desert waste, it is hard to imagine cool, lush evergreen forests covering vast amounts of acreage on the brown, dead looking escarpments to the east. If you follow US HWY 82 east out of town and up the canyon approximately 16 miles, you will find just that. Deep forests of Aspen and Doug Fir fill the canyons and carpet the top of the plateau. The city of Cloudcroft, New Mexico – population 2,000 is located wholly within the Lincoln National Forest at an elevation of 8,668 feet. This is a great starting place for anyone who is going to do some exploring in the Sacramento Mountains on the Lincoln National Forest. There are several restaurants and some interesting forest trails in and around this town. My favorite trail is the Mexican Trestle trail located just west of town. This 2.5 mile trail is really an improved path and can be travelled by hikers of all abilities. It follows along a ridge top and then drops down the canyon a bit through aspen and fir forest to a view point of a very large and picturesque wooden rail road trestle that is nearly intact. It is a remnant of the old Alamagordo and Sacramento Mountain railroad that was built in the late 1800s in order to gain access to the vast quantities of lumber on top of the plateau. The 26 mile rail road climbed over 4,000 feet over that distance via numerous trestles and was a true engineering feat of the time. If you turn south on New Mexico Highway 6563 just before you reach Cloudcroft, you will be on the “Sunspot Highway”. This National Scenic Byway follows the rim of the range at an elevation of over 9,000 feet for a distance of 16 miles south to the National Solar Observatory on Sacramento Peak which is better known as “Sunspot”.

The 14 mile long “Rim Trail” parallels this highway through the Lincoln National forest and provides stunning vistas of the White Sands area and Organ Mountains beyond to the west. When you arrive at Sunspot you will be surprised to find a little compound or outpost consisting of a Visitors Center, several laboratories, a military style red and white checked water tower, several living quarters and numerous different types of telescopes. One telescope in particular catches the eye immediately and it is the snow white Dunn Solar Telescope that rises 136 feet above the surrounding forested mountain top. The white of the tower is striking with all of the dark evergreen trees surrounding it. So much so that it is plainly visible from US HWY 54 far below to the west. Even though this tower is over 100 feet tall, it is amazing to realize that 228 additional feet of the structure is underground!!! The telescope has a window in the top which allows sunlight to hit two mirrors. These mirrors then direct the sunlight into a long vacuum tube which prevents any changes to occur in the light due to heating or shimmering. This allows the scientists to make accurate observations and study of conditions on the Sun itself. Even more amazing is that the entire 200 ton vacuum telescope rotates when the sun moves. This incredible telescope was completed in 1969 and is worth a visit in its own right as it is truly unique. Other telescopes and instruments at Sunspot are used to measure the sun’s corona and magnetic field. The Visitors center offers tours and admission is extremely reasonable as adults pay $3.00; youth pay $1.00 and children under 11 are free. When I visited this interesting spot there were about 20 mule deer milling about and there were piles of old snow lingering from the winter season. Due to it’s high elevation, Sunspot receives a good deal of winter snow. I walked to the edge of the rim just south of the giant telescope and enjoyed an incredible view as the sun set through the mist below the craggy Organ Mountains far to the west. I also walked several stretches of the Rim Trail which were well marked and had several well defined trail heads with parking. Back towards Cloudcroft I hiked the Mexican Trestle trail and it was beautiful. For more information on visiting the Lincoln National Forest in the Cloudcroft vicinity call 505-434-7296. You can visit The National Solar Observatory website at http://www.nso.edu/ and obtain more information on visiting Sunspot.