About the Sandias

Click above to learn about this auto tour guide to the Sandias.
Click above to learn about this educational guide to the Sandias.
Click above to enjoy an entertaining and educational video about the Sandias⏤mountains created by the Rio Grande rift only 10 to 20 million years ago but made mostly of granite 1.4 billion years old⏤produced by NMPBS in conjunction with Albuquerque’s tricentennial in 2006.
Click above to watch a short video that explains how conditions of our beloved forests “…are prime for what could someday be a catastrophic fire.”
Click image to check out this great video about the uniqueness of the Sandias (“…young mountains formed of old rock”) created by our friends at the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center.

Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway

“The Tram” makes Sandia Crest easily accessible and one-way hikes of the iconic La Luz Trail possible, but be sure to check their website before starting your journey.

Adjoining the upper tram terminal is the Ten 3 restaurant where you can experience breathtaking views while dining at 10,300 feet above sea level.

Click image to access website. Click here for live view from webcams.

Medallion Trees

For years the identity of the person or persons who took core samples, meticulously counted tree rings to determine the age of each tree, then attached medallions to at least 84 trees scattered throughout the Sandia Mountains remained a mystery. In most cases, the medallions show an identification number, the estimated germination year of the tree, and an historical event that happened on or about that year.

A 2020 Albuquerque Journal article described two friends’ quest to find all 84 of the trees. A similar Albuquerque Journal article ran in 2025. These and other newsarticles enhanced the mystery. Two hundred people joined a Facebook group.

The mystery was solved in 2025 when John Holmes announced to the Facebook group that his father David, who had died at age 92, was the man behind the medallions. John and Sandia hiking expert Mike Coltrin entertained the FOSM membership with fascinating stories about David Holmes, the medallion trees, and David’s blazing of Faulty and North Faulty Trails.

Slides from the presentation can be viewed here. Also available is David Holmes’s comprehensive history of events related to the Sandias. A video of the presentation can be accessed by clicking on the image below.

Sadly, several medallions are missing from their trees, which seems to indicate the work of selfish souvenir hunters. Please leave the medallions as you find them for others to enjoy.

One of the missing medallions, Robert II Crowned King of Scotland Tree, is on display at the Sandia Ranger Station having been removed by the Forest Service from a fallen tree alongside South Crest Trail.

FOSM member Jamey Browning, who has found and photographed all 84 medallions or the trees on which they once were mounted, created a comprehensive collage showing the medallions along with photos of the trees on which they were (or should have been) found.

Jamey also has been replacing missing medallions with near-perfect replicas even some of which have been stolen.

Click to enlarge.
Medallion on display at Sandia Ranger Station
Click to read 2025 Albuquerque Journal article.
Click above to hear Mike Coltrin and John Holmes tell FOSM members about John’s father David while John’s sister Debbie looks on. (1:13:10)

Aircraft Crash Sites

Unfortunately, the proximity of the Sandias to a major civilian and military airfield has made them the location of more than a dozen aircraft crashes over the years with the most famous and deadly being the crash of TWA flight 260 in 1955.

FOSM co-founder Sam Beard, who has visited most of the sites (and was the first person to arrive at one of them), presented a summary of the crashes at a FOSM membership meeting in 2021 augmented by a compilation of newspaper articles, NTSB reports, and other information. We learned in 2025 that Sam used David Holmes’s history as one of his sources of information.