Lincoln NF Sacramento Mountains OHV
The Lincoln National Forest encompasses 1.1 million acres of the Sacramento, Guadalupe, and Capitan mountains in south-central New Mexico, three distinct mountain ranges rising as sky island forests above the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert, with the Sacramento Mountains forming the primary OHV riding zone around the resort community of Cloudcroft in Otero County. The Sacramento Mountains are one of the most dramatic landscape transitions in the American Southwest: riders can begin at White Sands National Park or Alamogordo (4,335 feet, Chihuahuan Desert) and within 30 miles reach the Cloudcroft area at 8,650 feet, where ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forest replaces the desert scrub in an elevation gain that mirrors the latitudinal vegetation change from Arizona to Colorado. The Sacramento Mountain OHV trail system threads through the Lincoln NF on the slopes and ridges of the Sacramentos, with the Cloudcroft and Mayhill ranger areas serving as the primary access communities. Trail character is high-elevation southern Rocky Mountain forest: ponderosa pine open park country at 7,000 to 8,000 feet, mixed-conifer and Douglas fir at 8,000 to 9,000 feet, and the spruce-fir summit forests above 9,000 feet that cap the highest Sacramento peaks. The Lincoln NF also provides OHV access to the Guadalupe Mountains district near Carlsbad Caverns, a completely distinct desert canyon riding environment from the Sacramento highlands. ATVs, UTVs, and off-highway motorcycles are permitted on designated routes. New Mexico OHV registration required. The Cloudcroft Ranger District office (575-434-7200) manages Sacramento Mountain OHV trail status.