Camping near Abiquiu Lake

Nothing wrong with this campground, per se... 
The sites are large, and shadier than we'd have thought (we brought a patio umbrella all the way from Chicago and discovered our site was under a large pinion pine, go figure). 
The pit toilets and the plumbed facilities are clean and maintained. 
Open fires are not allowed. 
But, we rarely saw anyone. One couple walking their dog and the camp host who we didn't meet until we were leaving. We joked that all the RV's were "Breaking Bad" meth labs, this being New Mexico. The sense of desolation is enhanced by the wind, the cawing of birds and occasional howls of coyotes or wolves (?). It was downright spooky.
Heron lake is currently at 25% capacity. Which means the boat ramp and marina are perhaps a mile from the current shoreline, dried up and one of the saddest sights you'll see. 
However, it was a good base of operations for our trips to Chama to spend the day on the scenic railroad, as well as day trip into Taos.

I often camp by Diablo Canyon, which has wonderful sunsets and decent off trail hiking.  There's even a cave for those who know where to find it. 

I've also camped down by the river for the access to water for splashing about and cooking, but the area is popular with Mexican families and sometimes attracts a party crowd.

There are plenty of more remote spots off the main gravel road that would be even quieter.  The terrain is juniper and oak, with cottonwoods by the river. 

Temperatures run hot in the summer and freezing in winter, although it is the best choice for winter camping near Santa Fe.   Summers the wife and I most often drive up Artist Road and camp at Big Tesuque or the skiiiway at the top, but we did choose Buckman this summer when thunderstorms pounded the mountains. 

It does take time to drive the gravel road, and there's not much for ordinary folks around Las Campanas, the wealthy housing division between the camping and town.  You might get to Airport Road and Cerrillos under an hour, but getting to the Plaza will take longer. 

Cell service is spotty.

This is such a mixed review. We stayed here the weekend of July 26. We arrived Friday night and found a beautiful campsite on the right side of the entrance with a beautiful view of the canyon below. Watching the sunset over the ridge is breathtaking. We enjoyed our time until Saturday evening right about 8:30 where we were watching the sunset from the ridge. We heard one gunshot, followed by 6 gunshots and the sound of bullets whizzing past us. We immediately ducked behind the car. We had not heard any gunshots the whole day and did not see any hunting areas nearby. Where the sound of the bullets and gunshots were from it felt like someone was shooting directly at our campsite from beside us or in the canyon. We made it to the car and got out to the Hw 4 to flag someone down given that we had no cell service. A man stopped and told us that unfortunately that’s pretty common in the area and it was probably just some drunk assholes and it was not malicious. We were so shaken we could not stay there that night and packed up as quickly as we could. I enjoyed the beauty of this area but would not stay here again after this experience.

This camp spot is a great find! We wanted to stay close to Chama but not be crowded in an RV park and this is just the ticket. There are some deep potholes but our RV had no problem. There are two pit toilets. There are a few tall trees but not much shade. There's a bunch of level parking and setup was a breeze. Lots of space to park our rig!  There is nice hiking and gorgeous views. It was absolutely silent all night long. There were a few people coming and going during the day, but it's really not crowded for as close to town as it is. We had the local Game and Fish constabulary come and make sure that we had the correct habitat stamp on our hunting licenses so that we had a right to be here. We were very glad that we found this place and it was a wonderful place to stay. Stayed two nights.

Black Canyon Campground is just before the Hyde Memorial State Park entrance. From what I could see for the latter, for RV's there's only one option and this is the campground on the left (west side) while heading up 475 after entering the State Park. The other campground on the right (east) is currently closed for renovations. The West side campground has 10 sites - #37-46. That's it. 

The Piggyback trailhead is located in the closed campground. Even this looked like it hadn't been used in awhile, with one bridge crossing blockaded. While hiking through I observed that it appears the East side campground has been closed for awhile evidenced by a tree growing through a bench near the Tesuque Creek. I did a little research and one article says the campground closed in 10/23 for a complete solar install. I did see 2 electric boxes in the ground where the road used to be? Another article said this campground closed due to water filtration issues. I believe this because there is still no water at this campground as of 7/25.

All this being said, the park is close to Santa Fe, a beautiful drive up into the mountains and if you can snag one of the few spots in the open campground, it's a win for the location and electric if you need it. Also, a level pad, picnic table, fire ring. I fit a 25' Class C in no problem. I would skip site 37.  Next time, I would stay at Black Canyon. It's cheaper for about the same amenities and I didn't really need the electric hook up.