May 26, 2017 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

NATIONAL TRAILS DAY & Poker Hike!

On National Trails Day, Saturday, June 3, the New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association will open the Bonnie Brooks property for viewing the area’s newest historical site, BONNIE’S TRESTLE, currently undergoing restoration. Besides a close-up view of the trestle work, the property also offers a walk to the Mexican Canyon Trestle over a near-pristine section of original railbed not often available to the public. Gates are open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with refreshments and displays available at Bonnie’s cabin, near the trestle. To access the venue, start from the Depot at the Trestle Recreation Area in Cloudcroft, and follow the signs to Bonnie’s Trestle. The area will also be open on Sunday the 4th, and three weekends during the summer season, July 8 & 9, August 5 & 6, and September 9 & 10.

And, if you want to add some adventure to your Saturday, join the free Poker Hike that Rails-to-Trails is also sponsoring in conjunction with the Brooks property opening. The hike is only 1.3 miles long – perfect for a family. Start any time between 9 am and 11 am at the Trestle Recreation Area, and turn your poker hand in at the 5th and last stop – Bonnie’s cabin – any time before 12:30 pm. Winners will be announced at 12:45 pm, with prizes for the three best 5-card poker hands. Winners need NOT be present! This is not a race – winning is strictly by chance. Take your time and enjoy the hike.

April 14, 2015 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

NMRTA Annual Meeting – Friday, May 8th!

It’s that time again! Please join us on May 8 (that’s a Friday) at 6:00 at the Lodge’s Pavilion in Cloudcroft for our ANNUAL MEETING. If you haven’t been to one of our annual meetings in the past, it’s nice for you to know that this is not so much a MEETING but more of a casual, social gathering where we’ll feed you some free hors d’oeuvres, talk about what all the local Rails-to-Trails has done this last year and what we plan to do in the future, AND we always have a guest speaker. This year, we have Mr. Wayne Turner, who worked for the Santa Fe Railroad for 35 years — most of those years as a structures foreman building bridges. Mr. Turner will be presenting a “show & tell” of many unique tools used by the worker as they traveled with the railroad in those earlier years.

We can also expect short presentations from the Forest Service as well as several local area hiking groups. We expect it to last until around 9pm but it’s a totally open meet so you are free to come and stay as short or long as you like!

We certainly hope to see you up at the Pavilion at 6:00pm, Friday, May 8th! There’s no admission charge and should be a really great time!

February 2, 2015 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

JANUARY 2015 WORKDAY SUCCESS

We had a PHENOMENAL work day last Saturday! We ended up with 24 volunteers (including two Forest Service representatives) so we got a lot accomplished!

We worked on the Clarke private property (through which we have a legal easement in place for public access) down at the mouth of Laborcita Canyon outside La Luz.
We filled most (not all) of the holes caused by the old water line failures.
Cleaned rocks and weeds from most of the rail bed (though there’s more to do).
We worked on most of the old wood culverts — cleaning out the input sides — we have more to do with those.
MAJOR IMPROVEMENT: We routed the rail bed around one of the more dangerous spots near the end of the property.

MORE TO DO IN THE FUTURE