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.

Grindstone Lake was one of our favorite parts of visiting Ruidoso! I know there are other lakes…read morenearby, but this one is definitely a must-see. You pay per vehicle, and you can bring your own chairs, food, fishing gear, kayaks, or anything else you want for a fun day by the water. There are a few benches, but they fill up quickly, so I'd recommend bringing your own chairs. The inflatable water park was the highlight for our kids! Life jackets are provided, and they had an absolute blast. They couldn't stop talking about all the fun they had. There's also a restroom on-site, which made our visit even more convenient. We had such a great time and would absolutely come back!

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!

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 time visitor & loved it! Might be best to visit in fall/winter due to heat, but an August…read morevisit meant the park was NOT crowded. I would say start with the Visitor center, they provide maps, insight on wild life, environment & safety tips. They offer free guided tours at 7:30am daily & you can rent sleds to use on the dunes! Entrance is $25 p/car, valid for 7 days. The map clearly indicates the trails/hikes, i attempted all, but gave up half way due to the heat, it really was difficult to handle. The trails are easy to walk, great for pictures & do keep an eye for animal paw prints on sand. The picnic area features shade, tables, and grills, might be nice in winter, or sunset. Despite the heat i genuinely enjoyed the experience, and would highly recommend! Preparation: take plenty of water, food, snacks. Theres a tiny gift shop, but NO restaurants onsite. I repeat- bring plenty of water #1 priority

Wow! This place is…read moreridiculous. It's vast and gorgeous and simple and experience not to be missed. The white sands are so beautiful and serine. Soak it all in. Listen to nature and nothing. Breathe and be still! Watch the 15 min video at the visitor center, gives you perspective. Sledding: get less sleds than you're thinking. You only need 1-2 sleds for group of 4-5ppl. The hills are steep and you likely won't all go at the same time so save a few dollars. Find a track already paved, make it easy for yourself. Bring/wear: Wear sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and comfy shoes. (Or go barefoot, for real!) it's really bright out and hot. We're here in September. Bring lots of water and snacks. Visitor center: they have maps, sleds, bathrooms, so much info, all the merch and goodies. You'll be going from the car to the sand so don't worry about packing too much on you. Enjoy!

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!

Stayed at Silver Springs for 2 nights and it was wonderful. The staff were so nice and helpful…read more They have a beautiful stocked pond that you can fish from. Beautiful property and everything is maintained so well. It butts up to the forest so you can hear the trees. This is definitely the place we will stay in the future!

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.

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.

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.

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.