Cloud climbing trestle trail, the trail head starts off in a small state park area with picnic…read moretables and a small paved quarter-mile hoop with overlooks. The cloud Trestle Trail will go down to the old Mexican trestle that you see from the highway coming into Cloudcroft. There's also two other trestles on the trail in the tree line that you can see on. This is the cloud climbing trestle trail about 1.3 miles from the top of the mountain down to the valley and up another mountain to the Mexican trestle. You can continue on the loop or come back up the way you went. When you continue you hike along the old train tracks to the backside and back up to the backside of park.

This is a great trail. It took us about an hour. It was a great workout. The views were stunning…read more Coming to Cloudcroft in October is my favorite time of year because of the wonderful colors that you find on this walking trail. There's lots of red and yellow. The trees are changing color and you know it's fall. Plus the weather is fantastic.

We came out yesterday, and had a wonderful time. So much so, that we came out again today! ‍…read more Bring shade! A tent, umbrella, some type of protection from the hot sun, because it is !! Parking is $10, by reservation only, on the weekends, and Monday-Thursday is first come first served, but also $10. If you have an established residence, second home, it's $10 for the entire season. Ignore the ticket taker's attitude as you drive in. We have been here three times, morning, and evening, and she's always here! Lol! She is extremely rude! She evidently hates her job because she is unfriendly and grills everyone to the third degree! Like I said, ignore her, and have fun! Registration is online at the Ruidoso Parks and Recreation website. The water park, known as The Wibit, is $20. This is a main attraction for family-fun. Life vests are required at all times while swimming, and using the water park, but they rent you one as part of the $20. Food and drinks are allowed, but of course, no alcohol is ever permitted. We most definitely will be returning, and highly recommend it!

Even though the wind harshed my picnic, making me retreat to inside my car to finish, still…read morefantastic.

Shhhh....Don't tell anyone about this beautiful 2.5 mile loop trail! Great for local leaf peeps in…read morefall and has a great overlook to white sands

Wonderful easy hike, 2.61 miles. Just outside of town towards Alamogordo. This is one of our…read morefavorites. We have been many times. This is one of the few trails that we have hiked and have seen wildlife. We have seen turkeys, mule, deer, elk, and even wild mountain horses. OK maybe not wild but who's to say they weren't. This trail goes through different parts of the forest where you have hardwoods and aspens with beautiful fall leaves, evergreen pines, and a hole grove of Christmas trees. The hike is fairly easy, with some, elevation especially in the beginning. There is a very large parking lot at the trail head with plenty of parking and some picnic tables. Also, along the trail, there's several spots that have benches to sit at where there's a view of the Valley below that look all the way to White Sands and Alamogordo. The elevation you are at is about 8600 feet.

This is a great trail it is 4.3 miles. Trail head starts off wide really nice once you cross the…read morepedestrian bridge to the other side it's a A mixed use trail with horses a ATVs so it's a little rough but it cleans up as you head back up the mountain through the tunnel and back to your car. It is nice because it is a loop.

Great view on the short end of the trail. Good trail. Back half of the trail is icy. Navigable, but…read morewas apprehensive for my 9 year old probably because I am a wisest now days...

Still beautiful no matter the season. Must go if in the area. PAW approved on every levelread more

Absolutely gorgeous!!…read more - Difficulty level: easy-moderate - Pet friendly - Benches to sit periodically - mix of walking and incline/descent hiking - waterfalls

First tip - bring sunglasses. Serious sunglasses. Like the kind you wear after your pupils get…read moredilated at the eye doctor. The sand reflects the sun and makes everything brighter Second - heed the heat warnings. We visited on an 85 degree day. But out on the sand dunes it is hotter. There is no shade. And the white sand reflects the heat making it 10-15 degrees hotter. We actually saw a man being rescued off the Dune Life Nature Trail with heat stroke. This is only a 1 mile loop trail. That being said - this is a pretty quick visit. We drove the 16 mile scenic loop. (Any car can make the drive). Stopped quite a few time for photos. Stopped to climb the dunes. And took a walk down the Playa trail. I think we were in and out in about 2 hours. We wanted to take the Nature Life trail - but didn't want to interfere with the emergency vehicles. And the boardwalk is currently closed. If we had done one of those - that would have added an hour. But White Sands is truly an extraordinary sight. From about 10-15 miles away - you can see the white sand dunes in the distance. As you drive into the park, you see scrappy green and brown vegetation growing out of the gypsum sand and you wonder how but about 4 miles in, most of the vegetation just disappeared and you just see miles of white sand. It's crazy. It's a quick visit, but definitely a visit worth making.

This was a terrific 1/2 day stop. There is a fee but no one…read morein toll booth so no pay. I had never been here , def if you have time, go to the Visitor center to understand the 10,000 year life s span from start to present There is a mile nature walk on the your car loop you drive around. First lot. Farther in is a 3&5 mile loop with markers. No water or cell service past the toll booth. There Are bbq and picnics small set ups with shade. Once you leave the car and follow the markers, the white is endless. AND there is NO sound. 255 acres of white sand from parking to the mountain range. Shocking !!! The white sand is actually fine grain gypsum. Like in drywall , but not from here .

This place was a nightmare. Over priced cheapy dirty lodging. The cabin was not as listed. It's a…read moreSHARED double wide trailer with the owner although listed (and priced) as a private cabin. Listed as family friend, yet we got a complaint that our kids noise was excessive from INSIDE of the cabin. The cabin comes with bad views and lots of attitude. Lodging walls are plastered in cheap tacky prints in goodwill frames with price tags on every single one. The "maintenance guy" came onto the property on our 1st morning to yell at us and treat us like children over the fire pit we used the night before, while my husband was still sleeping. He came trying to intimidate us, threatening that we are going to be charged for excessive damage, at the very start of our stay. There is NO communication here. No instructions, no checkout or checkin information, nothing. We placed a log on a propane firepit because we were supplied a nearly empty propane tank, and were unaware we could burn a log. Again, no information about ANYTHING anywhere inside or out, just an inaccurate map. After being berated and yelled at by the "maintenance man" multipe visits, we spent our Saturday morning cleaning out that firepit with our bare hands. It looked and functioned 10x better than when we arrived. Not my idea of vacationing! So we didn't mess with it the remainder of our 2 days there, robbing us of one of the few amenities we came for. We came for the view and campfire, both we didn't get to experience here. We went to politely and professionally talk to the owner after the maintenance man drama and he could care less and then sat there making lavish statememts, and saying comments like, "wheres your realtors license"... huh?!?! There's lots of lodging in this area, stay anywhere but here! You will find better accommodations at cheaper prices. Also, after reading my negative reviews, the camp sent me a private message on social media calling me "low life". The owner also made a very bizarre comment on my Facebook review requesting that I friend him. This is the usual MO with any negative review (guest shaming and intimidation) as you can see on any site with 1 star reviews.

Great location, was passing through and was able grab the "cozy cabin" for a night, but the star…read moreof the show is the ristas food truck, ristas was insanely good, the seared ahi tuna, and a monster quesodilla were better than any sit down I've ever been to. Tons of wildlife on the property, camp host even tried to lure them closer to get pics! Best spot in NM!

A+ friendly service and a great time all around. We tent-camped nearby, but stopped here to fish…read morewith our kids. It was their first chance to catch fish, and they were not disappointed. Nothing matches the excitement of little ones the first time they reel in a fish! The folks who run it are super friendly and helpful. They had everything we needed to have a great fishing experience, including rods and bait. Obviously, you pay more than you would to fish on state/federal land, but when you consider the fact that you are bound to catch some fish and you avoid paying the $25+ fee per adult to buy licenses, it is a great alternative. We rented rods, bought plenty of nightcrawlers, reeled in six trout, and had a couple of hours of great family fun all for under $80. Also, we had a great meal to look forward to that night!!

Nice RV park! Setting is beautiful and our spot was perfect. New management team are very nice and…read moreaccommodating. Kevin was helpful and made sure we had everything we needed! He and his wife are so easy going, which made the stay even that much better ! Listening to the fun and laughter of the people fishing was a delight! We so enjoyed our stay.

Quiet and spacious campground for star gazing and close to White Sands NP. We would definitely stay…read morehere again. Friendly camp hosts. They also have sleds to borrow at the camp host station for sledding the dunes at White Sands.

Beautiful, quiet park with clean camping facilities. Has restrooms and showers. Great sleeping in…read morethe Chihuahua desert. Close proximity to White Sands and Los Alamos. There is the Dog Canyon trail, which is worth the trek. We didn't make it all the way through due to timing, but will definitely be back to finish.

Great Trail, very beautiful, some of the largest pine trees I've ever seen. Trail is 1.5 miles long…read moreand it's pretty much at an 8 to 14% grade all the way up the canyon to the top. At the top there are several other trailheads that start and you can continue or head back down to the parking area. At the parking area there is an old corral that is still used today as we were there a couple of cowboys pulled up with their horses and had cows in the corral they were loading up.