Cloudcroft
Historic town · Cloudcroft · New Mexico
Cloudcroft sits at 8,600 feet in the Sacramento Mountains above Alamogordo, a former logging-railroad resort town where the aspens and Gambel oaks actually turn color, unlike most of the desert Southwest. The Lodge at Cloudcroft, once managed by Conrad Hilton, sits at the center of a small downtown of shops and a rail-history museum built for cooler mountain air.
Don’t miss
Color nearby peaks: October 22–October 26
Color builds from October 15 · mostly bare by November 17
Sampled at Cloudcroft’s own coordinates and elevation (2639 m) rather than a regional average.
New Mexico is sampled at 51 weather points, then moved 5 days earlier so the model agrees with 2 published peak dates from krqe.com. New Mexico is running 3 days earlier than its own average this year. How the forecast works
When to go to Cloudcroft
You get about 18 days of color here, from the first turn through to roughly November 2. That runs roughly 3 days later than the rest of New Mexico. Height explains the gap, since this sits at 8,658 ft. The elevation is 8,658 ft, which pulls the turn earlier.
You will find it at Cloudcroft, NM, in New Mexico.
Cloudcroft on the map
Drag the date slider to see when color reaches this corner of New Mexico, or tap a pin for that stop’s own peak window.
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Frequently asked
- When does Cloudcroft peak in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for October 22–October 26 (best estimate October 24). Color starts around October 15 and is mostly bare by November 17.
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