365 Things To Do In Southern NM: Day 15 - The Fall Colors

Yes, I know what you're saying - fall colors? In the desert? Sure! Granted the century plants and prickly pear aren't changing colors but if you take a quick drive to the Lincoln National Forest in the Sacramento Mountains to the east, you'll see plenty of seasonal changes.

The Lincoln National Forest covers a little over 1.1 million acres. Ever hear of Smokey Bear? This is where he was born and rescued from a fire in the 1950's by soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas who were in Capitan to help with a fire. Also in this area is the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, NM.

One of the nice things about living in Las Cruces is that we're only 2 hours away from the forest. I remember when I was younger, we used to brag about being able to drive up to the mountains and go skiing at Ski Apache then come home and go swimming in the afternoon.

As you can see from the map, there are a couple of towns in the forest - Cloudroft, Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs - home of the Ruidoso Racetrack and Rainbow Futurity -as well as Mescalero. At the base of the Sacramento Mountains, you'll find Alamogordo - home of Holloman Air Force Base where the stealth fighter was based.

Many of my friends make sure to plan a visit to the 'east. They'll leave Las Cruces, visit White Sands National Monument then have lunch in Alamogordo. Then they'll head up to the mountains and spend the night in one of the many campsites or cabins. It's a great weekend getaway for a lot of us and, when the snow starts to fall, it's nice to be able to go up and have a snowball fight. (Snow down here lasts maybe a couple of hours.)