One of northern New Mexico's most beloved Nordic ski destinations will go quiet this winter. Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area, tucked along Bobcat Pass just outside Red River, has announced it will not open for the 2026-27 winter season after 40 years of operation.
Owners Ellen Miller-Goins and Geoff Goins shared the news in a September 2026 letter to the Enchanted Forest community, calling it one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. The ski area was founded by Miller-Goins' parents, John and Judy Miller, in the winter of 1985-86, after they fell in love with groomed cross-country skiing and saw that the rolling terrain on Bobcat Pass was ideal for it. Ellen and Geoff took over the business from them in 2010 and have carried it forward ever since.
Through the decades, Enchanted Forest became far more than a trail network. Spanning roughly 640 acres of Carson National Forest land, it grew into a full winter experience: a day lodge, cozy yurt stays, an established groomed-trail system, the celebrated candlelit Luminaria Tour, guided snowshoe trips, and the Just Desserts gathering spot that became a tradition in its own right. Thousands of skiers learned the sport there, and generations of families returned winter after winter.
The owners point to a string of increasingly difficult snow seasons, capped by the 2025-26 winter — the worst in the area's history. Last season, Enchanted Forest could not open for groomed cross-country skiing at all; it managed only guided snowshoe trips and yurt stays, which were not enough to sustain the business. A hoped-for sale of the property that might have given Enchanted Forest a new beginning recently fell through.
Continuing even limited operations this winter would require taking on the considerable cost of liability insurance and other fixed expenses before knowing whether the snow will cooperate. After last winter, Miller-Goins told Taos News, the family simply does not have the financial or emotional reserves left to gamble on another season. "At some point, you have to ask whether these are still individual bad years or whether the nature of winter itself is changing," she said.
This is not necessarily the end, however. Enchanted Forest remains up for sale, and the owners say announcing the closure may help connect the ski area with a buyer who can give it a second life. Unlike last winter's limited operations, the 2026-27 season will see no skiing, no guided snowshoe trips, no yurt stays, and no other operations — a full pause while the family hopes for a new chapter.
For Red River visitors and Enchanted Forest regulars alike, the news lands hard. Four decades of tracks on Bobcat Pass don't disappear overnight, and the owners' letter makes clear how many of their guests became family along the way. Anyone interested in the future of the property — including the lodge, yurts, and established trail network — can inquire about the listing while the Goins family waits to see what the next winter might bring.