This is our second hike during grandson Thomas’ visit and while camping at the Columbine Campground on the Red River (near the town of Red River NM).
The Drive In
To get to the trailhead, drive through Red River on NM 578 and continue to the end of the pavement. Then continue on the first road to the right, Forest Road 58; because of recent rains this somewhat rough gravel road had water running down the road in some sections. (A high clearance vehicle is preferable, but there were “street” autos in the parking lot.) Continue for a bit more than a mile to the parking lot. The trail proceeds from there.
The Hike
Middle Fork Lake Hike.PatThomas.2019-08-23
There are signs and a gate announcing the trail, “Access to Middle Fork Lake”. The trail is a two track (now closed to vehicle traffic) that makes for easy walking. 
Since I’ve been collecting photos of flowers, and always on the lookout for flowers I’ve not seen before, we challenged Thomas to find one that is new to me. We hadn’t gone 100 yards when he pointed to a plant going to seed – and a -new- one to me. (And further on in the hike he pointed out another new one, and paused to inspect 3 or 4 interesting mushrooms.)
The trail follows closely the Middle Fork of the Red River and crosses the stream some a couple of times. The first crossing is on a bridge just a few hundred yards from the trailhead. Because of the steep ascent of the canyon, there are many cascades and waterfalls which add to the scenery, both visible and audible. About 1.25 miles along, another river crossing presents itself, this one without a bridge. Logs have been put in place and with hiking poles we successfully crossed to the ‘other side’. (With only 1 set of poles, we did have to throw them back to the next person to cross, ‘tho Thomas with his good balance could well have made it without the poles.)
After making the bridgeless crossing, the trail departs the river canyon and heads uphill, not too steep but the trail has to make another 700 ft gain in that last 1 mile (10,186 ft elevation to 10,849 ft). Along the trail is very nice forest: 
grasses, shrubs, ferns, flowers, mosses, mushrooms, and healthy ponderosa and douglas fir, many with spanish moss hanging from their branches. And the goal, the Lake, adds a very nice reward for the 1,229 ft climb and makes a most pleasant setting for our mid-hike break (which with Pat’s preparations has become more of a light lunch – a large cup of raman, PB&J sandwiches, and coffee).
The return to parking was uneventful .. well not quite – the customary mountain showers showed up, raining enough that we donned rain gear for a few minutes. Then safely across the log crossing again, we headed down the the truck and into Red River for a beer (and root beer float for Thomas).
Statistics
Total Distance: 4.69
Elevation: start 9,636 ft, maximum 10,863 ft, minimum 9,634 ft
Gross gain: 1,229 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,761 ft, descending 1,761 ft
Maximum slope: 41% ascending, 39% descending, 10.9% average
Duration: 5:42
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If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
References and Resources
USDA Forest Service: Middle Fork/West Fork Road Trail 487
AllTrails: Middle Fork Lake Trail
TripAdvisor: Middle Fork Lake
DougScottArt: Middle Fork Lake Falls
