Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / New Mexico / Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Heart Lake and Latir Mesa (Latir Peak Wilderness)

Latir Peak Wilderness, Carson National Forest (Cabresto Lake, near Questa)

The Latir Peak Wilderness, north of Questa, is a small (about 20,500-acre) wilderness at the north end of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, according to Wikipedia. Its high country is Latir Mesa, a sweep of alpine tundra at about 12,700 feet, with Venado Peak, Latir Peak, and Virsylvia Peak above it. Heart Lake, the source of the Lake Fork of Cabresto Creek, sits just below.

Cabresto Lake, just outside the wilderness, is the main trailhead. PMags described the area as “a little used area” in 2011.

The hike

Taos News describes the route to Heart Lake: start at Cabresto Lake, about 9,200 feet, and walk the north edge of the lake for a mile to enter the wilderness. Follow the Lake Fork of Cabresto Creek for just over two miles, then turn right at a trail sign and cross the creek. A steady, switchbacking climb through aspen, spruce, and pine leads 1.7 miles to a left turn signed for Heart Lake, and a short final climb crosses an alpine meadow. It puts the lake about 4.5 miles from the trailhead with roughly 2,300 feet of gain, and the Forest Service gives about 4 miles on the Lake Fork Trail #82 to the junction, then half a mile.

SummitPost’s 2009 trip report noted the Lake Fork Trail creek was flowing well even in October, with many small side streams.

From Heart Lake, the Forest Service describes a loop: climb to the ridge, follow it south, and descend the Bull Creek Trail to the Lake Fork Trail. SummitPost’s clockwise version went the other direction, up the Bull Creek Trail past an unnamed lake at about 11,340 feet, along the ridge over Cabresto Peak (12,448 feet), Venado Peak (12,734 feet), and Latir Peak (12,708 feet), across Latir Mesa, and down to Heart Lake. It came to about 18 miles and 5,700 feet of climbing as a long day; Heart Lake back to the trailhead was about 5 miles. Virsylvia Peak was a 1.5-mile side trip.

The Latir Lakes, in the basin north of the ridge, are on private land. The Forest Service says visiting them requires a permit from the Rio Costilla Livestock Association. PMags recommends carrying both the Wheeler/Latir Peak Wilderness map and a Latir topo map, since the main map omits some trails and features.

Taos News warns that afternoon thunderstorms tend to move in from the east and south, so plan to be off the ridge early.

For a nearby trip south of Red River, see Wheeler Peak via Horseshoe and Lost Lakes, or Columbine Canyon to Gold Hill across the valley.

Tips

Camping

The Forest Service asks campers to use existing sites at least 300 feet from Heart Lake; camping and campfires are not allowed along the shore. No wilderness-specific rules on group size were found on the Forest Service or Wilderness.net pages read for this page. Domestic sheep and goats are prohibited in Carson wilderness areas. The Carson National Forest lifted its 2026 fire restrictions on July 21; check for new ones. PMags suggests camping at Cabresto Lake the night before.

Inside Intel: A 2017 AllTrails reviewer on this route mentioned “great campsites around the lake” (the review doesn’t name which lake), and PMags noted in 2011 that most backcountry use seemed to concentrate at Heart Lake, where he saw tents. On his own loop he camped in the trees by a small creek in the Lagunaitas drainage, which gave shelter from rain, and wrote that the drainage had nice campsites no one was using.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Thunderstorms over Latir Mesa:

Storms tend to roll in from the east and south by afternoon here, so a tent that sheds hard rain matters at Heart Lake. Compare the tents reviewers trust.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.