cibola national forest

MLWade

Love exploring all the trails. Views are spectacular. Wish I had more time to send on the trails. Also great for biking, running, hiking etc.

798taram

The Cibola National Forest offers great hiking, picnic, and recreation areas. If you follow the road to the top of the mountain, you can see for miles across Albuquerque. Be wary of overexertion - it's a high elevation!

323karenj

You should not come to NM and skip this place. It is as if God sprinkled a little bit of all the beauties on the earth here. Beautiful.

vampyresskiss

fresh air, nature and fun. Great place to unwind and check out the vast openness. I love the forest and seeing the birds.

GiniaLea

The forest provides lots of space to run and explore. There are camping, hiking, and picnic areas for all levels of family activities. Hiking for all levels of experience.

680PatM

Worth the drive or the walk. Avoid noon to three on hot days. Wear hiking boots and bring water. Great views of the valley and wildlife.

ET-MCMLX

From the city side there isn't a lot of access via road, the best place was from the Sandia Peak Tramway, the terminal at the bottom is in the park, and has access to a trail to the top. Great for hiking, huge boulders, great view. Take lots of water, its a desert. Stay time is dependent on what you do, you could hike to the top of the mountain in a few hours, or wander the lower trails in less than an hour. No bikes on the trails.

djwjune

The view from the Tram is super. The Tram was terribly crowded but it was the holidays. The forest is visible from Sandia Peak.

240CindyT

We went for a hike in the lower area, through the foothills. A great place to walk. Lots of mountain bikers - everyone was friendly and it was a great holiday hike.

Silemi2013

I loved this walk althought it was not easy. Uneven paths, rocks, mean cacti that can pellet your pants, shoes and skin with tiny but hard to remove needles. Parking was free, but I did not see any other facilities nearby.

84fredj

If you want a good escape from Albuquerque be sure to hit the hiking trails at the base of the Sandia Mountains. There are many hiking trails that enter the national forest in which you can get away from fast pace of the city. The trails range from easy to hard in intensity. I recommend getting hiking trail maps from the Cibola national forest ranger station. Be sure to bring water with you.

jkhughes09

We ended up here by mistake when we were trying to find the Sandia peak tram. We ended up at the peak but not by tram. The view at the top however was worth the drive. We got here right before sunset and it was beautiful. It is much colder and windy so make sure and pack a coat and maybe head covering.

980kittyb

We drove to the top of the Sandia Mountains on the east side. We visited the Gift Shop. We had coffee and hot chili soup. We hiked the trail near the gift shop. It is the trail that takes you to a stone building built by the CCC back in the 1930s or maybe the 1920s. I do know the history but for the life of me I have forgotten the name of this stone building that sits on a cliff overlooking the whole area of New Mexico. For the time of year late October which should have been very cold well we were wearing shorts!

915pama

Love driving the winding roads from Albuquerque to the top of Sandia mountains. Nothing more peaceful than hiking around on the well-groomed trails and seeing the stone house and seeing snow in the fall with the aspen quaking golden leaves. A favorite place to me for sure.

cvon27

I drove through around sunset/twilight and it was an amazing experience! Lots of great views and places to turn off the road for hiking trails. I made it to the top just before sunset and the view of the mountains and the city below was breathtaking!!