Drive up NM-536 from Sandia Park this week and the road ends just past mile marker 11. The south-side 10K Trailhead lot is no longer a place to park. Under the Forest Service closure order it is a turnaround, and every vehicle heading up the Crest Highway loops back downhill from there. The gate went up in spring. This is the first snow season with it closed, and for East Mountains households it moves the whole winter downhill. Everything that still runs on the east face sits below that turnaround. The only way to reach the top of the mountain is to cross to the Albuquerque side and ride the Tram.
What sits behind the gate
The Cibola National Forest closure order, number 03-03-05-26-02, covers 140 acres of mechanized thinning around the Crest and NM-536. The project removes dead trees and protects the Sandia Crest Communication Site. The Forest Service notes that the site carries emergency-response equipment and cell coverage for the Albuquerque metro. The places it closes are the ones a winter Saturday on the upper mountain used to depend on:
- The Crest House, Upper and Lower Crest parking lots, plus the Ellis parking lot
- The Ellis, Challenge, Switchback, Survey and Kiwanis Meadow trails
- The North Crest Trail from the Crest lot, and the South Crest Trail to its junction with Four Seasons
- The Klaus Trail and the Sandia XC Ski Loop
The Crest House building is gone too. It had been closed to the public since October 2021, and demolition and site preparation started in August 2026.
The ski area sits on the open side of the line
Sandia Peak Ski Area is below the turnaround, so its base is still reachable this winter. In March, KOAT reported that the ski area would not be affected the following winter and that the North 10K Trailhead lot would stay open. That reporting is from before the closure took effect, and it fits the current order, which names only the south-side 10K lot as turnaround-only.
Ski New Mexico projects December 19, 2026 for the ski area's opening, and earlier if conditions allow. The ski area is selling 26/27 season passes, with the adult Power Pass Core listed at $499. Passes this season are RFID cards. They are picked up on your first visit, not mailed. The lift ticket page says 2026/27 tickets go on sale soon, starting at $9 while supplies last.
The Nordic loop is the clearest winter loss
The Forest Service still lists the 10K Trailhead as open year-round, with cross-country skiing and snowshoeing among its uses. The groomed-style option nearby is a different matter. The Sandia XC Ski Loop and the Klaus Trail that reaches it are both inside the closure. If the 10K turnaround used to be the start of a ski loop, this season the 10K Trail itself is the option, and parking has to stay off the south lot.
Sledding moves downhill as well. Capulin Snow Play is a separate site from the Capulin Spring picnic area. It runs only when there is enough snow and charges $10 per vehicle when it does. As of this month its page shows the site closed.
These are the open sites on the east and north sides of the mountain and how the Forest Service lists them going into winter. Las Huertas is the only one that doesn't depend on NM-536 at all:
| Site | How it's reached | Winter status | Day-use fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tree Spring Trailhead | NM-536 | Site open; hiking, biking, horseback | $5 per vehicle |
| 10K Trailhead | NM-536, at the turnaround | Open year-round; XC skiing and snowshoeing listed; no parking on south lot | $5 per vehicle |
| Capulin Spring | NM-536 | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 per vehicle |
| Capulin Snow Play | NM-536 | Seasonal, snow-dependent; listed closed for now | $10 per vehicle |
| Nine Mile | NM-536 | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 per vehicle |
| Balsam Glade | NM-536 | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 per vehicle |
| Doc Long | Sandia Park side | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 per vehicle |
| Sulphur Canyon | Sandia Park side | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 per vehicle |
| Cienega Canyon | Sandia Park side | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 or day-use pass |
| Las Huertas | NM-165 through Placitas | Open year-round unless winter weather intervenes | $5 per vehicle |
Group pavilions at Balsam Glade, Doc Long, Cienega Canyon and Las Huertas take reservations May 15 through October 15, so that season has already ended. The Forest Service also warned that these east-side sites may be busier than usual because Crest visitors have been pushed downhill. KOB raised the same point when the closure was announced. Visiting several times this winter? The Forest Service sells a $40 New Mexico Enchantment Pass, and it accepts Interagency passes for standard day-use fees. Under a September notice on NM Fire Info, Stage I fire restrictions on the Sandia Ranger District were lifted September 18, allowing campfires outside developed recreation sites again.
The Tram is the only way to the top, and it takes a November break
From the east side, the high ridge is now reached by going around the mountain. The Forest Service says the Sandia Peak Tramway and Ten 3 restaurant are not affected by the closure. The La Luz Trail stays open up to the Tram, but hikers cannot continue from La Luz onto the Crest Trail or into the Crest Recreation Area. The Tramway's site says the same about its own operations.
The Tram has its own calendar. Its fall maintenance closure runs Tuesday, November 3 through Wednesday, November 11, and regular service is expected back Thursday, November 12. The Tramway notes those dates could change. For those nine days, no public route reaches the top of the Sandias. On the last of them, Veterans Day, November 11, day-use fees are waived across the Cibola. That makes it a cheap day for the downhill sites in the table above.
The Tram also doesn't work as a back door to the ski runs. The ski area's FAQ says it is not affiliated with the Tramway. Tram riders who want to ski down need their own equipment, and they would have to ski more than two miles to reach the rental shop.
The downhill calendar through ski opening day
With the upper mountain closed, the season's fixed dates are in the towns along NM-14 and NM-344:
- Saturday, October 31, 6 p.m.: Edgewood's Trunk or Treat at Venus Park, 181 NM-344.
- November 3 to 11: Sandia Peak Tramway maintenance closure.
- Saturday, November 7: The East Mountain Historical Society annual member meeting, with a presentation on the status of the Stone House.
- Wednesday, November 11: Fee-free day on the Cibola.
- Saturday, November 28: The historical society's final Route 66 Centennial talk, on the KiMo Theatre, at 11 a.m. at the East Mountain Public Library in Tijeras.
- Sunday, December 6, and Saturday, December 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Holiday Craft Markets at Lantern Ridge, 12540 N Highway 14 in Sandia Park, with an EMHS booth selling its publications, including a new 2027 calendar.
- Saturday, December 19: Projected opening day at Sandia Peak Ski Area.
Tinkertown on NM-536 also sits below the gate. The museum says it is open and accessible despite the Crest closure, with posted hours of Friday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those hours were posted in July, so check them before a winter visit. For a long scenic drive with the Crest Highway cut short, the Forest Service points to NM-14 north to Madrid and on to Santa Fe.
January 15 is when the order expires, which may not be when the Crest reopens
The current order runs until 6 a.m. on January 15, 2027, unless it is rescinded earlier. The Forest Service's project update gives a longer timeline. It says the thinning and the recreation-area renovation together will affect access to the Crest area through fall 2027. The second phase is a full rebuild of the Crest complex, scheduled for summer 2027. It is funded with $3.6 million from the Great American Outdoors Act and includes repaved parking, new walkways and railings, vault toilets, another observation deck and more picnic areas. The Forest Service points readers to the Cibola alerts page for the official closure order.
Seasonal access, trailhead fees and road closures change how a house in Cedar Crest or Sandia Park works day to day, and they belong in any honest description of the home. If you're planning a winter or spring sale on the east side of the Sandias, K2 Simply builds that local detail into every listing narrative. Request Your Premium Listing Strategy.
