nelson canyon vista trail

This short loop trail, less than 1/8 mile easy walk to the loop from the highway and 1/4 mile easy walk for the loop itself, gets you to a spectacular view of the Tularosa Basin. This view does not show as much of the White Sands as the earlier viewpoint, but one sees lots of the rest of the Basin. Along the trail, there are some interpretive signs put up by the Forest Service, about things like the Forest Service planting trees where there used to be a logging road, about the fire around 1900, after which aspen and oak grew, etc. There is parking for a couple of cars in a "carved out" spot at the side of the highway. The trail is well-marked; indeed there is a sign on the left-hand side of the road a bit before one gets there (coming from Cloudcroft) and another sign right by the side of the highway, where you park.