The wooden sign at the top of La Luz used to be a finish line. This summer it is a turnaround point. From April 30, 2026 through Fall of 2027, the Cibola National Forest has closed the switchbacks above the Tramway Trail junction along with the Crest Trail #130 above the upper tram terminal and the Sandia Crest area itself, all for a hazard-tree and fuel-reduction project the Forest Service is calling the Switchback project.
For a neighborhood whose front yards look directly at those switchbacks, that is more than a trailhead notice. It is a quiet inversion of the everyday summer default. The mountain most Sandia Heights residents used to reach by climbing up has to be reached, for the next two seasons, by riding up. The routine reorganizes around the base of the Tram, not the summit.
The Trail You Cannot Finish This Summer
The lower La Luz is still open. The upper La Luz, the Crest, and the Kiwanis Cabin loop off Trail #94 are not. Practically, that means a hiker leaving from the Juan Tabo trailhead can climb to the Tramway Trail #82 junction at roughly the one-mile, 360-foot-gain mark and continue up to the tram upper terminal for a ride down, but cannot push through to the 10,678-foot Crest House or walk the north segment of Crest Trail #130 out to Del Agua Overlook. The classic seven-and-a-half-mile ascent from Juan Tabo to the Crest, with its five life zones from desert scrub to Hudsonian forest, is off the table until the Forest Service reopens the switchback corridor.
Two summers is a long time in a household's habits. If someone in your family logged the La Luz-to-Crest hike as an annual tradition, this is the year to reroute rather than retire it.
The Tram Becomes The Shortcut, Not The Souvenir
The Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway continues to run daily, weather permitting, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the last passenger tram down at 10 p.m. The reason it matters more than usual this summer is that the South Crest Trail #130 remains open from the upper terminal at 10,378 feet, and it carries thirteen miles of mixed terrain south along the ridge. For residents used to using the summit as a destination for out-of-town guests, the tram is now the practical way to put boots on the crest at all.
A few local facts worth carrying in your head before you go:
- Summit temperatures run 20 to 30 degrees cooler than the valley floor. A summer afternoon in the 90s on Tramway Boulevard is often in the 60s at the top.
- The tram closes without notice for high winds, lightning within a set radius, and icing. Check the base station status before you drive down.
- Adult round-trip fare is $34, with senior, military, and teen fare at $29 and youth at $24. A $3.75 grounds fee is added to online tickets.
- Route 66 Centennial exhibits have been installed along the ride this year, with a drawing at the top for anyone who completes the informational stops.
The tram is also marking sixty years of operation this year. Ben Abruzzo, the balloonist behind the founding of the Balloon Fiesta, bought the ski area in 1958 and led the tramway's engineering; it opened in 1966 and remains the third-longest single-span aerial tram in the world. The Abruzzo family still directs the tramway and TEN 3, the summit restaurant, even after the ski area sold to Mountain Capital Partners in 2023.
If you have never sat down at TEN 3 as a resident, this is the summer to do it. The reservation window on a fine-dining night asks you to arrive at the base 45 minutes to an hour ahead, which happens to be exactly the pace of a foothills evening in July when the storm cells are moving in from the west.
A Different Kind Of Saturday At The Base
The lower parking lot is not just a staging area this year. It is a small events venue. The Street Cars and Cable Cars series, timed to the Route 66 Centennial, uses the third Saturday of the month from June through August:
| Date | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| June 20, 2026 | 9 a.m.–12 p.m. | Free |
| July 18, 2026 | 9 a.m.–12 p.m. | Free |
| August 15, 2026 | 9 a.m.–12 p.m. | Free |
Car owners are asked to arrive between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Parking is first come, first served. Attendance is free whether you bring a car or just walk over.
The other change at the base is Homestead Cafe, the coffee and casual food spot on the outdoor deck at the lower terminal. It is now a workable Saturday morning stop even if you are not riding up, with a discounted cup for car-show attendees. For a household within a five-minute drive, that is a genuinely new local option that did not exist during the last full summer.
The Foothills Below Your Driveway
The closure at the top has made the foothills below the tram more valuable, not less. The Sandia Foothills Open Space covers roughly 2,650 acres of drainages, piñon-juniper, and singletrack, with elevations from about 5,720 to 6,800 feet. Summer hours across the open-space trailheads run 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. from April 1 through October 31. The trailheads worth knowing, roughly north to south from the neighborhood:
- Elena Gallegos Picnic Area, 7100 Tramway Blvd NE. 640 acres, sits at about 6,500 feet, with views west to Mount Taylor and north to the Jemez. Access to the Pino, Domingo Baca, and Trail #365 corridors. Day-use fee is $1 on weekdays and $2 on weekends at the pay stations at the trailheads. A season parking pass is $30. The one-way loop road makes it easy for a first-time guest to navigate.
- Piedra Lisa Trailhead, east of Tramway on Candelaria and south on Camino de la Sierra. Access to Trail #365 and the Foothills Trail.
- Embudo Canyon Trailhead, east of Tramway on Indian School Road. Access to Embudo Trail #193, including the one-mile, 320-foot climb to the seasonal waterfall at the canyon mouth.
- Menaul Trailhead, east of Tramway on Menaul Boulevard. Four shaded picnic areas and access to Trails #365 and #401.
Two of Elena Gallegos's reservation areas quietly become the answer to summer entertaining. Kiwanis Reservation Area seats up to 250 under a shelter with three coal grills, a volleyball net, and a horseshoe pit. The Double Shelter accommodates 50 with an amphitheater. Both are booked online through play.cabq.gov, and the reservation window opens November 1 for the following calendar year, so August dates for this summer are best pursued now, on the chance of a cancellation. Fire restrictions can shut the grills down on short notice; the number to call for current status is 311.
One planning note that matters more than usual this monsoon summer: the foothills read cool by ten degrees against the valley floor, and the afternoon storm cells arrive fast. Evening rides and hikes are the local answer, and they happen to be the best light of the day on the west face.
The Thesis, Restated
Sandia Heights was built on the premise that the mountain is a room in the house. This summer, one of that room's doors is locked. What the closure quietly does is reveal how much of the neighborhood's identity actually sits below the Wilderness boundary, in the 2,650 acres of foothills, the parking lot at the base of the Tram, the Elena Gallegos picnic tables, and the fifteen-minute ride that most residents treat as a tourist thing. For the next two summers, the tourist thing is the local thing. It is worth using it that way.
If you are thinking about how a home's specific position on the hillside affects your day-to-day access to those trailheads, or how a Sandia Heights property will present to buyers who read the closure as a two-summer inconvenience rather than a permanent change, Giulia Urquhart is glad to walk the details with you. Get a Free Home Valuation to start a conversation grounded in the specifics of your street, your grade, and your view.
