Wander The Road

Lincoln National Forest

Bridge in Lincoln National Forest New Mexico

History of Lincoln National Forest

Lincoln National Forest sits in the mountains of southeast New Mexico on land that has been home to the Mescalero Apache people for centuries. The area later became the backdrop for the Lincoln County War in the late 1800s, a bloody territorial dispute that brought figures like Billy the Kid into the public eye.

President Theodore Roosevelt designated it as the Lincoln Forest Reserve in 1902, making it one of the earliest national forests in the country. The forest also has a connection most people don’t know about. Smokey Bear, the iconic symbol of wildfire prevention, was a real black bear cub rescued from a fire in Lincoln National Forest in 1950.

Today the forest is managed with a focus on balancing recreation and conservation, drawing visitors who come for the hiking, camping, and the kind of quiet that is getting harder to find.

Know Before You Go

Tales from my visit

My friend Brandon had been to Lincoln National Forest several times before and sent me a pin to meet him at the campsite. I drove up from Tucson and he came from Las Cruces. The drive took me through low lying desert before the road climbed up into the mountains where the trees just seemed to appear from nothing.

We ended up making a few trips there over the years. The cows were a constant. They would always wander into camp, and on the trip these photos are from, they completely surrounded my truck. You learn to just coexist.
One morning we drove up to the lookout and the whole road was socked in with fog. We could not see a thing but it made for an incredibly spooky morning that I still think about.

The highlight for me was seeing the Mexican Canyon Trestle, also known as the Cloud-Climbing Trestle. Built in 1899, this wooden railroad bridge stretches 323 feet long and stands 52 feet high. Standing there looking at it knowing it was built entirely by hand with no modern machinery is the kind of thing that stops you in your tracks. I would absolutely go back.

If you find yourself in the area, the Sunspot Solar Observatory is also worth a stop on your way through New Mexico.

Photos From My Visit

IMG_4828
IMG_4816
IMG_4829
IMG_4824
IMG_4814
IMG_4778
IMG_4815
IMG_4836
IMG_4843
IMG_4845
IMG_4848
IMG_4849
IMG_4850
IMG_4854
1_IMG_4850
IMG_4755
IMG_4749
IMG_4757
IMG_4764
IMG_4763
IMG_4767
IMG_4773
IMG_4765
IMG_4776

Lincoln National Forest is the kind of place that surprises you, with pines and peaks rising out of the New Mexico desert where you least expect them. If you want more national park units and public lands from actual visits, the Places section has everything I have covered so far.

Fort Bowie National Historic Site is a short trail through the Dos Cabezas Mountains to the ruins of an Apache-era military fort and one of the more rewarding walks in southern Arizona. Agua Fria National Monument is a 71,000-acre stretch of high desert north of Phoenix with prehistoric ruins, petroglyphs, and almost no crowds. Monument Rocks National Monument is something else entirely, with ancient chalk formations rising out of the Kansas plains that almost nobody knows about.

If you want to see everything in the National Park Units section, the full list is here.

The newsletter is where I share the extra stuff: finds, trip notes, and places that do not always make it to the blog. Subscribe on Substack if you want to follow along.

National Park Adventures

Load More