Tips for Hiking Cloudcroft’s Mexican Trestle Trail

Cloudcroft, NM is my favorite spot in Southern New Mexico. It’s a small but beautiful getaway in the middle of a desert that stretches for hundreds of miles! At 9000 ft elevation, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Cloudcroft and some places in Colorado – which is why everyone around here loves it!  Cloudcroft is not a big town by any means, but it has a small list of historic, must-see spots.  Today’s post is dedicated to one of them!

The Mexican Trestle is one of Cloudcroft’s most iconic landmarks.  Seriously, just google Cloudcroft NM and look at images…I promise you will see more than one pic of the trestle!  This trestle has a lot of historical significance to the town and is located in such a way as to give you great views of the trestle and views that go down the valley towards Alamogordo.  As you’re driving into or out of Cloudcroft, you will pass an overlook off the highway that offers a nice photo op. This is the way most people get to see the trestle, but not everybody knows the way to get up close and personal with it!

The Trestle Recreation Area is home to the Mexican Trestle Overlook trailhead, which takes you right up to the trestle.  It’s located in between the Overlook for the Trestle and the town of Cloudcroft (literally, directly on the outskirt).  This day-use recreation area is full of hiking trails that you could literally spend days exploring if you wanted! The above picture is what greets you when you park. This pseudo-train depot is a nod to the historical significance of the Cloud Climbing Railroad that ran between Alamogordo & Cloudcroft before the highway was built.

These trails are well marked….kind of.  The name of this trail is creatively named “Mexican Trestle Overlook.” There’s plenty of signs, but they don’t always have this particular name marked. I want to say the trail is right around a mile, give or take.  My sister and I like to take our time and pause to take the scenery in, and it took us about an hour roundtrip. Ready?? Let’s go!

(Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that when you click on the link to buy a certain product, I will receive a small commission off the sale.  It doesn’t affect the price that you pay, and the commission I receive doesn’t have any bearing on my recommendation! Regardless, I hope that you like the products and give them a try whether you use my links or not, cause I truly suggest only what I use and love!)

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What You Need To Know:

Directions:

Coming from Cloudcroft: The Trestle Recreation area will be as soon as you leave town on your left.  You will go past the turn-off to Sunspot HWY and it’s pretty much right after that. Once you turn left you will pass through the Day Use gates and quickly reach the little train depot.  The trailhead is direct to the left of the depot. If you hit the overlook off HWY 82 then you’ve gone too far.

Coming from Alamogordo: You will drive toward Cloudcroft on HWY82. You will pass the trestle overlook off the highway.  As you are almost to Cloudcroft there will be a turn off to your right for Trestle Recreation Area.  If you hit Cloudcroft, you have just gone too far.

Luckily it’s a small town, and if you miss your turn-off, it will take no time to turn around.

Tips:

• One thing not everyone knows about New Mexico is that it has a monsoon season in July & August.  Now, Cloudcroft wasn’t named “Cloudcroft” for nothing.  It’s often cloudy here and has a pretty decent chance of precipitation year-round.  However, in the monsoon season, expect showers during the afternoon and plan accordingly.  They are usually very light and brief.
• This trail seems to be OK for kids above 5 years.  My friend’s son was 4, and he managed it OK until we started going uphill for a long way.  I have also seen families with children of all ages on this particular trail. If you do bring your young kids, make sure you bring plenty of fluids and keep them hydrated!
• Please be aware that Cloudcroft has a lot of forested areas, and there are bear and mountain lions out here.

What You Need To Bring:

• Rain Jacket – Cloudcroft often gets afternoon showers, especially during monsoon season!

At your first fork in the path, you are going to take the right path and start a descent.

After hiking a short way down this fork, you’ll come to your first scenic overlook called, “Devil’s Elbow”.  From this overlook, you can see all the way to Alamogordo and the White Sands desert!

Keep following this path until it looks like it’s about to dead-end into a private property gate.  To the left of the gate, the path keeps going and you’ll see the sign below.

Here’s a little scenery you can expect along the way!

Ok, so below is the only truly ambiguous place that I came to! When you reach the fork pictured below go to your right!

So cool that we can see this historic landmark up close and personal!

Hope this has helped y’all decide to hike this trail! It’s such a beautiful hike, I can’t tell you how highly I recommend it!

Don’t forget to leave me a comment! Have you been to Cloudcroft?? Do you think it’s as beautiful as I do?? Have you been on this awesome hike??

Until next time!

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