Cloud Croft New Mexico

Cloud Croft New Mexico, I don’t know about you but when I look at photos of snow like these, I can almost feel the cold air, even when it is hot outside now in July. This is the only moisture we saw during our month visiting Texas and New Mexico area back in March.

Established as a vacation getaway and logging town in the late 1890s by the developers of the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, tiny Cloudcroft (pop. 688) sits in the heart of the Sacramento Mountains at nearly 8,700 feet above sea level. The railroad chugged away in the late 1940s, but this easygoing village, with its unpretentious Western vibe, continues to draw tourists from all around the country.

Cloudcroft Trestle Bridge

The trestle was regularly used and maintained by the railroad until about 1947, when the line was abandoned. By the 1980s, a dip had formed in the center of the trestle, and Lincoln National Forest personnel had become concerned about its condition.

The trestle was built in 1899 as a part of the A&SM’s efforts to access timber in the forest, and after that, the line was used for nearly half a century to transport tourists to Cloudcroft, the picturesque little village located nearby. At 8,675-feet in elevation, Cloudcroft is among the highest-elevation communities in the United States—hence, the numerous references to the clouds.

Cloud Croft New Mexico

Sandra J