Saturday, October 31, 2026
Halloween morning arrived cloudy and cold in Red River, 39 degrees and feeling like the mid-30s in a light west wind, but the day improves as it goes. Clouds give way to partly sunny skies by late morning, the high reaches about 50 degrees, and west winds pick up to around 13 miles per hour with gusts near 25, so a warm layer earns its place on any walk today. There are no weather alerts for the area, sunset comes at 6:05 PM, and the dry, clearing afternoon is well timed for costumes, cameras, and one last October drive around the Enchanted Circle.
This is prime wildlife season in the high country, even as the elk rut that peaked in late September and early October winds down. Large elk herds gather in the Moreno Valley through fall and winter, and the open meadows around Eagle Nest Lake, a 2,400-acre alpine lake on the Circle, are one of the most reliable places to watch for elk and deer from the road. Bald eagles are regular winter visitors at the lake, fishing the open water and roosting in lakeside trees, and the valley also draws hawks, waterfowl, coyotes, and the occasional bear or fox, so binoculars are worth packing today.
The scenery is shifting from gold to frost. Wheeler Peak, at 13,167 feet the highest point in New Mexico, watches over the whole loop and is clearly visible from Eagle Nest on a day like this. By Halloween the high aspen stands along NM-38 and over Bobcat Pass have mostly dropped their leaves, while the last cottonwood color holds on in the canyon bottoms along the Red River itself. The 84-mile Enchanted Circle drive through Taos, Questa, Red River, Eagle Nest, and Angel Fire still delivers big Sangre de Cristo views in every direction, and the bare branches simply open up the long vistas toward the peaks.
Closer to town, watch the rocky slopes between Questa and Taos in the early morning, one of the most reliable stretches in northern New Mexico for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep close to the highway. Wherever you stop, watch wildlife from a pullout or trail, keep a respectful distance, never feed wild animals, and give elk and deer plenty of room, especially near the road at dawn and dusk. Drivers heading in today should know the shared morning radar showed the Enchanted Circle itself clear, while rain covered parts of the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, Kansas, and the Colorado Front Range along I-25, so allow extra time on those wet corridors.
The day ends in town with the free Halloween Carnival tonight from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the Red River Conference Center, with donations at the door supporting RRVC Ski Days with the Red River Ski and Summer Area. Enjoy it while the weather holds, because Sunday brings a change: rain is likely with a high near 51, turning toward rain and snow showers Sunday night as clocks fall back an hour. Ski season is now in sight, with Red River Ski and Summer Area Opening Day planned for Wednesday, November 25.