Best Equestrian Camping near Albuquerque, NM

Top of New Mexico" near Albuquerque is a fantastic camping spot if you love open spaces and beautiful desert views. The sunsets here are breathtaking, and you might even spot wild horses roaming around. There's plenty of space for tents or RVs, and it's quiet and well-maintained, making it a perfect place to relax and enjoy nature. It can get a little windy, but that just adds to the experience. The road to get there winds through some houses, but once you arrive, you're surrounded by pure nature. also the food is so good, there are many food brands like subway menu who offers quality fast food services.

CAMPGROUND REVIEW: Turquoise Trail Campground, Cedar Crest, NM

Turquoise Trail Campground is a small privately owned campground located five miles north of I-40 off Route 14 (exit 175) just outside the east side of Albuquerque. Tucked along the base of the Sandia mountains, at 6940’ elevation. http://www.turquoisetrailcampground.com/

There is plenty of visible signage to guide you down Snowline Dr into the campground.

As you approach the office/museum on the right, the RV/Camper loop is visible on the left (which appeared full). Behind the office building are two tent loops (upper and lower). There are two very clean bathroom/showerhouses located between the office and tent loops. A laundry room and dishwashing sink is located at the back of the office building. *This is also the only water access for the tent loops.

RV sites have full hookups. Tent sites have only a leveled, gravel tent pad, picnic table and standing grill. Only stove fires were permitted at our visit due to open fire restrictions.

Tent sites are separated by scrub brush, which offered partial privacy between most sites, but you will hear your neighbors. The outer tent sites back up to a residential area, with a fence separating. Bring earplugs for undisturbed sleeping, as road noise from Route 14 can be heard, along with local dogs randomly in the distance.

At $20 a night, the campground is convenient and sufficiently met our needs as we traveled west on a tight itinerary.

Shower tokens are provided with your nightly fee. Each token gives you 7 minutes of shower time.

There is plenty to do nearby, with bike trails and hiking trails…though nothing of particular interest in the campground itself.

The bustling city of Albuquerque is the next exit west, so you are still very close to shopping, eateries, and nightlife.

Really easy to get to, up this lil windy residential road, go slow, that opens up into a huge public land past an open gate. Lots of paths from cars, just follow anyone you'd like and then pull over beside any ol bush. Don't run over any cactus.

Stayed for two nights and the sunsets were awesome. During the day it was very very windy but not too hot. Saw some wild horses the first morning but when I got too close one of them starting running toward me and I said hell no. Classic dispersed desert camping but with good service and close to Albuquerque.

We live in Albuquerque, but wanted to spend a day hiking the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Kiva RV Park is just a 5 minute drive from the NWR, so we stayed there on a Friday night, so we could get up bright and early for our hiking the next day.

The folks running the place were very friendly. Led us to our spot and made sure everything was okay for us. It's a fairly humble place...gravel roads and parking spots. No concrete to be seen. Each slot has a fairly wide planted area, but this is not patches of green lawn. They have mature native trees and shrubs that are well maintained. Plenty of big cottonwood trees provided shade. The place is clearly run on a low budget, but is well maintained and there is pride in the work here. When we visited, it appeared to be nearly full, and it felt like perhaps 50/50 mix between long-term residents and overnight(or nearly overnight) visitors. There is a large corral area for horses. We walked over to it but there were no horses there. There's a little dog park, a bathhouse and laundry. We didn't use any of those amenities, so I can't comment. I believe the laundry is listed as free.(This is not the case with the wifi, which was complex and had a fee.) I just used my hotspot from my Verizon service and because we had 4 bars, that worked just fine for streaming some Netflix that night.

We really like the place. Lots of neighbors, but everyone was very friendly, and no late partying. A few kids. But really, it was all very pastoral and nice. We'd stay here again. 

Not all was perfect. Aside from the less-than-friendly wifi: 1) The sewer hookup is just an open pipe. No threads. A little stinky when you take the cover off.  2) It is almost literally right next to the interstate. There's no denying those traffic noise is real. We slept with no issues, but if traffic noise doesn't act like white noise for you...you might want to look somewhere else. We're lucky; but I know this is a deal-breaker for some.

They do offer a Good Sam discount of 10%, so with tax, we paid $34. Well worth it. Very nice stay.