Whether you're an RVer or tent camper, Artesia, NM is a great place to post up for the weekend—or longer. Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Artesia. At The Dyrt, campers like you share their favorite spots, plus tips and photos. No matter where you're headed in Artesia, you'll find the best spot for you and your camping crew.
From the KOA website: Kick back with family and friends at this beautiful desert oasis built in 2000. This award-winning KOA is big rig friendly: All sites are huge 30/50-amp pull thrus with free Wi-Fi and free cable TV. The staff will spoil you as you enjoy the 2,000-square-foot community room, meals delivered to your site, a beautiful commercial laundry, outstanding restrooms, a fenced dog park and a heated pool. From this KOA in the heart of SE New Mexico, visit Carlsbad Caverns, Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park, Sitting Bull Falls Recreation Area, Roswell's International UFO Museum and White Sands National Monument. Check out the Robert H. Goddard rocket collection at the Roswell Museum and Art Center and the "Billy the Kid" history at the campground. A horse hotel also is available. See how this KOA is going green with the help of a wind turbine. Pool: March 15 - October 15. Max pull thru: 75 feet. Your hosts: Scott, Susan and Brian Bacher.
Located just 14 miles southeast of Roswell, Bottomless Lakes State Park is your place for bottomless fun! Enjoy non-motorized boating in your kayak or canoe, camp, fish, picnic, swim, hike, go birding or even scuba dive! The unique lakes at this park are sinkholes, ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. The greenish-blue color created by aquatic plants is what gives the lakes the illusion of great depth.
$18 / night
$9 - $15 / night
With the Best RV park amenities in the area, Bud’s Place RV Park offers green lawns, large pull-through RV spaces, city water/sewer/power hookups, a stocked fishing pond, children’s playscape, 24-hr laundry, bathroom, and shower facilities, and cabins for those without their own motor home. Conveniently located across the street from the renowned Carlsbad Softball Complex, hosting some of the largest softball tournaments every year in the U.S., Bud's place location serves as a strong attraction for families traveling through the area, softball tournament participants, and longer-term visitors who appreciate the park’s central Carlsbad location and lifestyle amenities.
Bud's Place offers 98 total RV spots, with 30/50 amp, direct city water, and sewer hook-ups, and 28 cabins (2 -ADA compliant cabins) year-round on our spacious park that's pet friendly, with a dog run, fishing pond, and spots with grass and trees in most spaces. It is perfect for families looking for a clean and economical RV site, sports tourney stays, and adventurers looking to explore.
$25 - $45 / night
Nice gravel sites. Wide roads to get into sites. Pool, playground. Restrooms OK. Only issue not great Wifi.
Reservations are needed and can be made online through the NM State Park website. The drive into the camp area was a little bumpy. Watch the curves! At the time we arrived the water was a beautiful aqua color with a clear sunny sky. The rest of our time there was overcast which gave us a nice break from the heat. The beach area was not crowded at all during our time here. Bring your kayak/canoe/SUP. They rent pedal boats. The mosquitos were out around dusk, so be sure to have bug spray! We would definitely stay again.
This place makes a good basecamp for Carlsbad Caverns NO, Guadalupe Mountains NP and more. Even Roswell is less than 90 minutes away and Living Desert Zoo State Park is close, too. Staff does a good job with upkeep and the bathrooms seem new, they are really nice. Laundry room well maintained, as are the sites, which are mostly level gravel. Road noise near front can be a bit annoying, but the front sites seem bigger and nicer, so worth the trade-off.
This was a really large campground - there was hundreds of campers. It actually looked like an old KOA. We choose it for proximity to Carlsbad Caverns.
Level, gravel lots with picnic tables. There was a decent amount of trees. I only saw one dog area but I think there is more. The dumpsters were located all over in enclosures.
The laundry room was pretty spacious and had some recreational options, but the bathroom, which was fairly new looking, seemed small for the size of the campground. I didn’t see any playground - we did peek into the pool building and it looked kind of sketch.
I appreciated the ease of the late check-in and how we could use showers and laundry at any time by using a key card. I didn’t love the registration system (form email), but in the end, it worked just fine.
I don’t get the sense that there are destination campgrounds in Carlsbad so I think this is a pretty good option.
Overall a good campsite, some minor drawbacks. Site is close to highway, so lots of road noise throughout the day and night. Contained tent hexagon shelter structure was nice, allowed for contained and divided campsites. Marginal shade and pretty dusty.
We were here several years ago and thought this place looked run down. Granted it was late December which was not the best time. It is very much improved since that visit. Almost 290 large sites. Most have water, electricity and sewer. 3 dog areas. Shower and bathroom areas were clean. Laundry facilities. Heated indoor pool. There used to be a card operated security gate that closes at night. About 20 mikes to Carlsbad Caverns and 50 miles to z Guadeloupe Mountain NP. Would come back if we are in the area.
Long ways from the caverns. Wifi is weak/slow/intermittent.
Room between sites. Most sites are gravel with shaded picnic tables. Peaceful nights.
The intake person was respectful which is my reason for 2 stars and not 1 star. I left my belongings to run to the store. I came back to everything gone. Even my daughter's bible! I am surprised by this. I had just dropped the payment in the payment box for the stay so I lost the $27 too. I didn't stick around for the police because I immediately felt unsafe. I'm disappointed. We had planned to enjoy the views and relax.
Stayed here for a week while seeing GMNP and CCNP and loved the accessibility. Less than 10 minutes from Walmart and less than 45 minutes from both parks. Very friendly staff. Dog parks left much to be desired.
Hasn't changed much in the 7 years between visits. Very little shade but neat to see the lakes. Water is clear and I bet feels really great in the summer heat. Still pretty full considering the time of year. Local sites are just down the road at the Bitter Lake Rec area. There is also a 3 mile bike ride.
$14+$4 ReserveAmerica Fee This is a local park for us. We were in Site 19 which is a Handicap site with a concrete pad (RA did not specify that this was a handicap site). Other sites are packed gravel. Site was a "short" site and close to the bathhouse which we did not use. Sites are 50/30/20 with a water hookup. Only a few sites have sewer. Dump station is at the entrance of the campground. The deer flies were not a problem during our visit (they are worse around the salt cedar trees). We were only bit twice and we did not use insect repellant. Since we could not check in until after 4PM, we parked over in the picnic area by the lake. We knew this and had planned it. Dogs are not allowed on the "sand beach" but there are plenty of access points around the campground& picnic area edges of the lake that pets can use. Goat's Head stickers are a problem here, as they are in most of the desert. Our dog wears "shoes" to protect her feet from the stickers and from hot pavement. Wifi was available in the park but we could not connect. We stayed in a Truck Camper 7/4 - 7/5/2023.
We had a great site with water and electric. The showers are brand new. The laundry is clean and all the machines work. The pool is sketchy and the water was very cold. Our site had nice shade and extra room for our vehicle. The pet areas are nice
The red rocks and contrasting blue lake make it a beautiful place to camp. The sites are roomy enough that even when full it doesn’t feel crowded.
Fine campground. Geared mostly for RVs. Not very big so books up quickly. Reservations online. $14 + tax and fees = $18ish for the night. Nice lake area. Outdoor beach showers.
Full service campground with many amenities. Indoor pool, laundry facilities, showers and bathrooms. Most sites are full sun with a few partial shade. Level sites. Gravel pads with picnic tables. Helpful staff.
This is a lovely campground. Not much privacy as the sites are close together. It is very similar to a KOA set up. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful. The bathhouse is AWESOME and the laundry facilities are ample. Great wifi and cable hookups if you are needing that sort of thing. They have 4 dog parks - one in each corner of the park. They are on the small side but adequate. Only issue I had was the sewer connection for my site was high so the line didn’t drain easily, and also I had to unhook as the site wasn’t long enough to accommodate the trailer and tow vehicle. But other than that this was a great and secure place to stay while visiting Carlsbad Caverns.
Good shower. WiFi not very Stanley.
We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were in site 5 for 4 nights in late March. The campground is nice, well maintained and quiet CG. It was quite windy the day we arrived with wind speeds of 25 mph and gust up to 45 mph, which kicked up a little dust from time to time, but the weather was beautiful otherwise. Lea Lake is deep blue and crystal clear.
AT&T coverage was excellent, with 1-3 Bars of 5G service and speeds up to 12 MB/s. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and Starlink had up to 20 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.
For just a spot for the night it costs $9 which is basically nothing, but it really should be free. The place smells SO strong of all the poop from the birds and wow it’s windy. I’m from Idaho and have dealt with that kind of thing a lot on the little lakes up there but omg it’s awful here. On the bright side it is very quiet and pretty with easy access to stores around. I would not pay to stay here unless you’re desperate and don’t mind not going outside
Close to the Caverns and convenient to town. Wide sites with FHU. Very clean bathrooms and showers. Heated pool and large laundry. Good wifi.
Very nice little state park. We used it as a stop over. Lots of scenery, quite the change from most of Eastern NM. Would be a nice place to spend a weekend in the summer when it's warm enough to use the lake.
Decided to stay here while on our way to Tucson. Great location to launch to Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountain National Parks. Indoor heated pool. Very nice staff throughout the park. Definitely recommend
Check in was a breeze, the camp hosts escorted us to our site, which is nice and big. No issue parking the F150 behind the 36’ RV. Pool was closed for yearly maintenance. Very nice gift shop and 4 clean dog parks. Quiet even though it’s near the road. Turn in to Carlsbad Caverns is 12 miles away.
Nice bathroom, friendly staff. A few trees, but mostly desert. Need an exception to have a dog over 25 lbs. They also want to know what kind. People are bad at not picking up after their dog.
It’s twisty roads getting to the park and no where is made for anyone with a trailer. Tight spaces, gravel, covered picnic tables. Water and power, surprised booking fee. Makes it not on the cheap side anymore. Haven’t found the dump station, but it’s got to be close,
Arrived in the Dark during December and it was one of the darkest ingresses at a KOA I’ve experienced. The office was about to close due to me arriving later than expected. Staff was very kind and got me situated.
Got to the site and seems the neighbor parked in my designated but all good, I’m just wanting my boots up for the night[lucky I didn’t have a larger displacement haha, all good).
Facilities were immaculate and warm during this arctic blast.
A great place to help bridge west to east travels in my opinion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Artesia, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Artesia, NM is Carlsbad KOA with a 4-star rating from 39 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 5 glamping camping locations near Artesia, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
