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Eagle Nest, New Mexico

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Cimarron census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87718. It stands on Willow Creek. The Survey maps it on the Eagle Nest quadrangle. 315 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 8,238 feet above sea level.

Eagle Nest within Colfax County

On record in Eagle Nest

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Eagle Nest grew from 290 to 315 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010290
2020315+25 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

46 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of Eagle Nest between 1993 and 2020, burning about 137 acres in total. 30 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Natural30
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Debris and open burning3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionGORMAN
13 September 2019Naturalunder an acreCimarron District20-20480249X
26 August 2010Naturalunder an acreCimarron DistrictTOLBY
26 August 2003Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionBLACKJACK
22 August 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionGORMAN
16 August 2020Naturalunder an acreCimarron DistrictCABIN TOP
8 July 2013Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionBALDY TREE
6 July 2012Naturalunder an acreCimarron DistrictHORSESHOE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Colfax County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 27 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 27 workings within 5 miles of Eagle Nest: 14 unknowns, 10 past producers, 3 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Silver, Copper, Gold. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Ajax MineGold, Copper, SilverPast Producer1895, 1940
Elizabethtown - Baldy DistrictLead, Silver, Gold, Copper, Nickel, Tungsten, UraniumPast Producer1866
Iron Mountains ProspectsGold, Copper, IronPast ProducerContact Metasomatic
Klondike MineSilver, Copper, GoldOccurrenceGold, Malachite
Legal Tender MineGold, Lead, SilverPast Producer1937
Legal Tender MineGold, SilverPast Producer
Pay OreCopper, GoldUnknown
Red Bandana MineSilver, Gold, Copper, LeadPast Producer1875, 1942
Ajax MineGold, IronPast Producer
Iron Mountain ProspectGold, IronPast Producer

Every working recorded in Colfax County

Storms near this place

7 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Eagle Nest in 7 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 5 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. The reports record 1 death and 4 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2015Flash FloodEagle Nest1 killed, 3 hurt, $50,000New Mexico Department of Transportation closed US Highway 64 as heavy rain caused debris, boulders and a mud slide to cover several miles of the road. Philmont Scout Ranch also reported major flash flooding on the Ponil Creek basin that ran through a boy scout camp site in the nearby mountains. The flooding washed away 4 boys, killing 1.
July 1998LightningEagle Nest1 hurtA 38 year old man was injured slightly when struck by lightning while working outside at Eagle Nest.
June 2025HailEagle Nest-Penny size hail was observed in Eagle Nest from a strong thunderstorm.
August 2018HailEagle Nest-Hail up to the size of golf balls reported near Eagle Nest Lake.
August 2012HailEagle Nest-Nickel size hail reported in Eagle Nest.
July 2005HailEagle Nest-no account filed
June 1999HailEagle Nest-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Colfax County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Virginia City2.1 miles13
Idlewild2.2 miles11
Perryville (historical)2.3 miles13
Val Verde Ski Area3.1 miles11
Lakeview Pines3.8 miles11
Elizabethtown4.6 miles11
Deep Tunnel (historical)6.6 miles15
Moreno (historical)6.9 miles10

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Eagle NestAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2164992The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 905936. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.