Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Geography

Eagle Nest is located in western Colfax County at 36°33′8″N 105°15′41″W (36.552109, -105.261336), in the Moreno Valley, between the Cimarron Range to the east and the main mass of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west. The village is at the north end of Eagle Nest Lake, a reservoir on the Cimarron River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.1 km²), of which 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²) is land and 0.85 square miles (2.2 km²), or 16.76%, is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 306 people, 141 households, and 90 families residing in the village. The population density was 71.0 people per square mile (27.4/km²). There were 333 housing units at an average density of 77.3 per square mile (29.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 84.97% White, 0.33% African American, 3.27% Native American, 6.21% from other races, and 5.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.75% of the population.

There were 141 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.65.

In the village, the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 41.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $36,477, and the median income for a family was $38,750. Males had a median income of $22,292 versus $18,333 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,974. About 18.4% of families and 22.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.5% of those under the age of eighteen and 20.8% of those sixty five or over.

Eagle Nest Lake

Eagle Nest Lake State Park is New Mexico's newest state park, and a popular camping, fishing and sightseeing attraction. A new visitor center was scheduled opened in 2010. The main game fish caught in the 2,400-acre (10 km²) lake are kokanee salmon and rainbow trout.

Climate

Eagle Nest has a borderline humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), bordering on an alpine subarctic climate (Dfc) with very large day-night temperature variations, very warm days and chilly nights in summer, and extremely cold nights in winter. On average, 250 nights have minima below 32 °F (0 °C) and 40.3 nights fall below 0 °F (−17.8 °C), though maxima top freezing on all but 25.5 days. Eagle Nest holds numerous low temperature records for New Mexico, including the coldest temperatures ever recorded in the state during January, March, April, May and November.

Snowfall is fairly heavy, averaging 62.8 inches (1.60 m) and reaching 140 inches or 3.56 metres between July 1934 and June 1935, but the abundant sunshine and relatively low latitude limit cover even in mid-winter to 4 inches (0.10 m).