Some Red River stories begin with a gold strike. This one begins with a honeymoon. John and Judy Miller honeymooned in Red River in 1957 and decided to move there in 1963. John went to work as assistant manager at Red River Ski Area and, with four children to feed, also took a job at the molybdenum mine down the road. Skiing was not a side interest for the Millers. It became the work of their lives.
In 1970, with partners Gary and Fran Starbuck, John and Judy bought Powder Puff Mountain from Lester and Jan Lewis. John was mountain manager and Judy handled customer service and public relations at the friendly beginner hill, one of the first western ski areas to feature snowmaking. During the 1970s John bought cross-country skis to rent and began teaching Nordic skiing in the Red River backcountry. When the Millers sold Powder Puff to Red River Ski Area in 1979, John started Miller's Cross Country Ski Tours and kept guiding visitors through the upper valley.
What changed everything was a visit to a large groomed cross-country ski area in California. John came home convinced that people should be able to discover Nordic skiing on prepared trails, without first tackling a demanding backcountry tour. In the winter of 1985-86, the Millers, along with their daughter Ellen, opened Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area near Bobcat Pass, east of Red River. John Miller and Quincy Lee built about 10 kilometers of mostly groomed trails and offered rentals and lessons. More trails followed in 1986, along with a small warming hut.
The forest kept growing into the name. During the 1990s the Millers added 15 kilometers of snowshoe trails and 5 kilometers of dog-friendly ski and snowshoe trails, added snowshoe rentals, and opened a cross-country shop in town called Miller's Crossing. By the 2009 season Enchanted Forest boasted 42 kilometers of trails, 27 for cross-country skiing and 15 for snowshoeing, plus a day lodge and a yurt for overnight stays. Its living traditions are what regulars remember best: John teaching countless first lessons, Judy leading outings including the Ladies Ski Days she had begun before Enchanted Forest opened, the Just Desserts Eat and Ski, and holiday luminaria tours through the trees in the Carson National Forest.
In 2010 John and Judy retired and passed the reins to Ellen and her husband, Geoff Goins, who bought the business that year and carried it forward with yurt stays and the same family welcome. A severe wind storm in 2021 damaged much of the area, and hard work restored many of the trails and yurts. John and Judy, who kept hiking and watching wildlife into their 80s, died within four days of each other in November 2022, during Thanksgiving week.
That is why this fall's news landed so hard. After several increasingly difficult winters, Ellen Miller-Goins and Geoff Goins announced that Enchanted Forest, tucked into 600 acres of the Carson National Forest above Red River, will not open for the 2026-27 season. They wrote that it has been more than a business, and that they will not operate it this winter. The ski area remains for sale, and the owners hold out real hope that a new owner will step in and reopen it. For now, the groomed trails above Bobcat Pass will sit quiet for the first winter in four decades, waiting to see whether this living piece of Red River history gets its next chapter.
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