Round Mountain, Tularosa, New Mexico

If you have ever driven between Ruidoso and Tularosa you are sure to have seen the tall mountain with the cross on the top.  Growing up in Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, we had climbed to the top when I was a child.  I was on the way home from Las Cruces one November and decided to take a short hike to the top.  The trail is hard to see – essentially I followed the runoff streams from the top.  It is a very easy hike that almost anyone can make.  It is only 277 feet high and was apparently the location of a battle in 1868.  More info is available here.  

If you are on the way between these two towns and have a few minutes to spare, you may want to take this short hike just for fun.