the cloudhaus in cloudcroft, new mexico

  If you are looking for a great overlook of the Tularosa Basin or a place to watch the sunset, the Haynes Canyon Vista is a good spot. Just a 10 minute drive from the cabin ,  you can watch the sun go down and the stars (and Alamogordo) sparkle.               

    This is our list of the top ten things to do in Cloudcroft proper and in the broader region (within a couple hours' drive).  1. Stroll and shop in downtown Cloudcroft! Our favorite haunts include the outfitter shop High Altitude, the espresso shop Black Bear, the bakery Kennabelle's, and Off the Beaten Path for a craft and cat fix, but there's also lots of other shopping, a family-friendly bar, and the hustle-bustle of a small mountain town. Check for posters announcing live bands and public events. Pick up a copy of the Mountain Monthly (now free!) as well. 2. Land at Noisy Water for a wine-tasting flight! Do a wine tasting at Noisy Water Winery. For $15 (as of 2025), you choose from a long list of wines (including a delicious dry apple wine [not cider]) to sample at your pace. You can order a plate of finger grub while you imbibe. Noisy is also a good place to hang-out as a thirsty loner with a laptop.  3. Take a hike! There are several trails in and next to to...

One of the key crops in the Tularosa Basin are pistachios irrigated with groundwater from the basin. There are a few places in the Alamogordo-Tularosa area that sell pistachios, but  McGinn's Pistachioland  is the place to be, in large part because of THE WORLD'S LARGEST PISTACHIO! Pistachioland offers farm tours, ice cream, and a store full of merchandise, including (if you are nuts for nuts) pistachio boxers. They also have an interesting collection of hot sauces. Besides McGinn's Pistachioland , there's also  Heart of the Desert Pistachios & Wine  and  the  Pistachio Tree Ranch Country Store (with the large ALAMOGORDO sign).    

    When we've come to the mountains, we've been trying various jars of red and green chile. So far, there hasn't been one that has grabbed our palates--until now. While charging in Artesia, we strolled across the street to Greg's Foods for basic provisions and a few impulse buys, including a jar of red and green chile by Young Guns Hatch Valley Chile . We pried open the top of the red yesterday and lathered it first on scrambled eggs for breakfast and then pinto beans for lunch. Hoo-hah-hairy-monkey palms, it is good! A nice burn and full-bodied with red chile flavor. We are in love! The roots of the company are in Hatch and go back several generation. There's some chatter on reddit that a Denver company now owns Young Guns--a sin greater than the Chinese owning the firm. But as saner-typers have noted, the chiles are from the heart of the Hatch Valley. And based on the heat level, Young Guns have not cooled thier barrels for a wider audience with snowflake tongues...

    I stopped in to hear Rhiannon Lace play at Black Bear Coffee when she mentioned that she was playing at Tularosa Distillery. "Wha?" I wha'd. A distillery? In Tulie? And a chance to hear Rhiannon again? Oh, hell yeah! Turned out I misheard: Rhiannon performed at the distillery the night before . Regardless, the visit to this gorgeous little distillery was well worth it.  Peter and Heather Kauffman opened the distillery in November 2024, and it is glorious. Located on the northeastern edge of town, the distillery and breezeway-connected Tumbleweed Lounge are gorgeous, Corten-clad geometric objects rusting like old Ford pick-ups with unfettered views of the Sacramento foothills in their shattered rearview mirrors. At the moment, the Kauffmans are distilling and selling bottles of sotol with plans for agave. They are also seeking to sow and snare their own succulents, a nearly decade-long process. The lounge is decidedly hip, smartly decorated, and wouldn't be out o...

  Cloudcroft, New Mexico, is perched at the top of the Sacramento Mountains at nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. From the right vantage point, you can see White Sands in the Tularosa Basin as well as Alamogordo nestled against the foothills. On a clear day, you can see the Organ Mountains this side of Las Cruces. On a clear night, you can see the lights of El Paso reflected off the atmosphere. Cloudcroft has spent many a year struggling with its water supply, fed by springs and water wells. Given Cloudcroft's home at the top of the mountain, the springshed and aquifers beneath are not that big and are susceptible to drought. At one point, Cloudcroft pined to have the nation's first direct potable reuse plant (and the second in the world!) before a bad concrete pour (and rain?) put the project on the back burner. Some locals suggest rainwater harvesting as a solution to the village's water woes. Rainwater harvesting is collecting rain from a roof and storing it in a tank fo...