Lincoln National Forest

— The second full week in July is National Forest Week in the United States. The event was created by the National Forest Foundation (NFF) in 2019. The NFF is an organization that works “on behalf of the American public to inspire personal and meaningful connections to our National Forests, the centerpiece of America’s public lands.” If you have ever traveled to some of our national parks and other public lands, you have likely seen or hiked through some of these national forests. Sometimes visitors do not even realize they are in a national forest.

Back in 2017, we spent some time in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and experienced the beauty of the Lincoln National Forest around that area. For several days, we hiked around exploring all the beauty that the forest had to offer.

The very first trail we hiked was the Cedar Creek Loop, where I made the photos shown here. The trail was very scenic and even had some wildlife along the way. The loop was approximately 4.5 miles (7.25 km) around with only 450 feet (137. 15 m) in elevation gain.

According to the USDA Forest Service, the majority of the Lincoln National Forest is “located within the Sacramento Mountains of southcentral New Mexico.” The Lincoln Forest Preserve was established by former president Theodore Roosevelt in 1902 and covered half a million acres of forest land. It was only later, during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, that the Lincoln National Forest was created by combining the preserve with the Alamo National Forest.

The USDA Forest Service gives more facts about the forest. It now covers “1,103,441 acres in parts of four counties in southeastern New Mexico” with elevations ranging from 4,000 to 11,500 feet” (1,219-3,505 meters). If one explores all the diversity in the forest, one can experience “five different life zones from Chihuahuan desert to sub-alpine forest.”