Leasburg Dam State Park Campground

Large private spaces. Beautiful desert scape. Lots of small trails throughout the park.

General: Very small (24-site) campground north of Las Cruces. Sites are in three loops and all but six of them have electric hookups. All sites need to be reserved. 

Site Quality: Sites are gravel with a concrete pad; they are generous in size and spaced far enough apart to provide more than sufficient privacy. Each site has a covered picnic table on a concrete pad. 

Bathhouse: Clean and basic. Challenging to get water out of the taps (hint: the far-left sink in the women’s bathroom will give you the most water). Didn’t use the shower so cannot comment on that. 

Activities: In addition to several short trails that traverse the campground, there is one established short trail (Upper and Lower Mogolian trail). The ranger recommended a nearby hike less than 10 miles away that takes you through a slot canyon and then you can hike to a mesa; I highly recommend this one. There are also two small cactus gardens, a playground, and an amphitheater (although I don’t know if any programs were offered). 

Aside from an occasional train, this campground was very quiet; two nights was the perfect amount of time to spend at this campground.

Well. I would have liked to have stayed here as we had reservations. Due to issues beyond our control we arrived after dark and the park closes and locks the gate at sunset. So there we are with reservations and can’t get in so we have to scramble to find something else. But let’s say we did arrive before they shut the gate. We wouldn’t have been able able to go out to eat or get groceries after dark. And if we had to call 911 the responders would have been slowed down by having to get the gate open. I wouldn’t want to put myself in that type of dangerous or inconvenient situation. Totally ridiculous.