Comales Campground

We usually stick to Southern camping grounds, but we decided to head North for the weekend. Our first choice was packed! Most of those spots were reserved by travel trailers and the first-come-first-serve sites occupied early. We drove on for another 10 miles down the road (hwy 518) and found the Comales Campground. We pulled in and drove through the sites. We ran into a nice couple packing up camp, and they had also picked the spot as their second choice. They gave us a slight warning about the traffic along the site, but we (dogs included) were eager to setup the tent and get out of the truck. The site was nice, and the sound and site of the stream below was perfect, but the traffic on the road was a bit annoying. We got caught in the rain the first evening and heard the traffic. We couldn’t break down camp and move on at that point, so we were committed. Camping beats working, so we stayed two nights and enjoyed our time. It was frustrating to hear cars honking and semi trucks using their engine brakes (just to be jerks), but a few drinks helped us get over it. I think this space is perfect for people with travel trailers or RVs. The ideal spot to setup a tent is closer to the stream, but the ground is rocky. The flat, soft dirt was closer to the road…so we bent a few stakes setting up shop near the edge of the trail by the stream.

I liked the small roadside campground in the Carson National Forest. It’s located near some of the smaller ski slopes about 30 miles south of Taos NM on Highway 518 near Rock Wall New Mexico. The National Forest Service campground has 10 sites along a nice mountain stream. The campground is just off the highway with some privacy between the campsites. They have picnic tables and fire rings and clean Pit toilets. This site did not have a host and works from a self service. The hiking and fishing are the highlights here along with the scenery. I also appreciated this was mostly empty in the peak summer season. This is a nice option if you want to avoid the crowds a do some trout fishing in a relatively quite location. The only downside is the noise from the highway.