Campgrounds

October may be the best month of the year at the Wild Rivers Recreation Area, north of Questa. Summer heat has left the gorge, the light is low and clear, and the trails that drop 800 feet from the rim to the Rio Grande are far more forgiving than they are in July. The recreation area, managed by the Bureau of Land Management within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, protects the place where the Red River joins the Rio Grande in a deep canyon cut through dark volcanic rock.

Hopewell Lake is one of the quietest pieces of trout water in the Carson National Forest, and October is the month to check its status before making the drive. The Forest Service currently lists the Hopewell Lake Day Use Area as closed, so anyone hoping for a late-season picnic or a last cast should confirm conditions with the Carson before heading up Highway 64.

High above Questa, Cabresto Lake offers one of the quietest corners of the Carson National Forest in October. The Forest Service lists the small campground there as open, with four semi-dispersed campsites at 9,500 feet on a level ridge overlooking the lake, surrounded by high peaks. It is a simple, high-country base for anglers and hikers who prefer fewer crowds to full facilities, and mid-October is a fine time to see it before winter weather settles into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

October brings a quieter, golden window to the Valle Vidal, the large unit of the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico near the Colorado border. Broad meadows, spruce and fir forest, and cold, clear streams give this high country a different feel from the busier trailheads around Taos and Red River, and fall is when that space is easiest to appreciate.

The Carson National Forest runs more than 30 developed campgrounds, from high alpine basins to pinon-juniper country — and knowing which ones take reservations, which are first-come, and when they open can make or break a summer trip. Here is a practical rundown.