Best RV Parks & Resorts near Carrizozo, NM

Beautiful scenery with huge tall trees. Site was spacious with fire rings and picnic table. Lots of hiking trails. Dump station and potable water fill area, but not at site. Dry camping only. $5 showers. Didn’t take reservations, but do have overflow area that is a huge parking lot. It could take a lot of “overflow”. There was still snow on the ground in mid April. No AT&T coverage, but Sprint worked. There were some steep grades getting there with tight turns. Fine for our Class B, but a big rig would probably be sweating. Concrete and grass RV pad. We used site 21 and backed up to the woods. Very cool. Bear country too, but didn’t see any

Dint judge a book by its cover… this is a well run place. John keeps everything clean and maintained. If you need a stopover to see white sands and everything else is booked, it is better than you expect at first sight.

A handful of sites are available for short term folks - all long pull through - option with/without sewer. The non sewer sites are along the pond and afford a bit more privacy (wish we’d done that - don’t make our mistake). It is mostly like long term stays and older rigs but don’t let that dismay you.

Sites go opposite directions and are snug - so you’ll be close to your drivers side neighbors and have a shared space with your door side neighbors if you go for a with sewer pull through.

What brings this up to a 3 is the meticulous care of the owner/manager John and the surprise amenities. A pond, a small play set (swings, slide) nice laundry room, some exercise equipment including a pretty modern bow flex! And a great book room that has a chalkboard some desks and a couch if you need a fresh space to work. He even has sleds to loan out for the dunes.

John’s a Vietnam vet and a great character. He runs a clean campground and will take care of you. It makes the grounds feel safe and well tended. Would definitely support this business if we came back through.

Scenic and wooded, but was hoping for more privacy. Sites very tightly packed, I could literally reach out my window and touch the neighbor’s awning. 30 amp at my site didn’t work, used 50 amp w/adapter so not a big deal but annoying. The demographic here is older, mostly retirees here for extended stays. Stayed 3 nights, did not see (or hear) any kids other than our own, didn’t see anyone under 45 other than us either so not the best place for kids/families. It it’s also very tight driving through with a trailer and very tricky backing into the sites due to hills and tight sites. Location pretty good, 3 min to Walmart, 15 min to grindstone lake, etc. NO fires allowed, regardless of any local burn bans in place or not... bummer.

This BML maintained campground is like new! There are no reservations, so it’s first come. An iron ranger for payment is at the entrance, but there is also a nice ranger on site who drives around the campground in a ute. I camped in a pull through site a few up from the entrance, but there was very little road noise from Highway 380, which is a beautiful drive. Most camp sites have electric, paved pads, covered picnic tables and fire rings. RV dump is also on site. Camping with electric is $18 and Dump station costs $15. It also costs $6 to take a shower. I didn’t visit the bath house, but like everything at this campground it looked maintained.

The highlight for me was the location, the experience of camping next to this extraordinary geologic site, and the 3/4 mile Malpais Nature Trail that offers a boardwalk style hike through the lava flow. 

Quiet camping with distant views of White Sands Missile testing area, Little Black Peak and amazing stars!

Great hike to see 20,000 plus Jornada Mogollon petroglyphs, 1 mile round trip. Fee area, $5 cash only. Dogs leashed in campground/picnic areas and no dogs on trail.

Really clean picnic areas and flush bathrooms. 11 picnic sites, 1 ADA. Campground closed but when open there are: 2 RV hookups (water and electric 30 amp and 50 amp, no dump station) and 11 dry camping sites (5 of the 11 have tent boxes). One water spigot in campground. Each site has a picnic table, shelter, upright grill, and garbage can.

Call 575-585-3457 to reach this site.

Website is http://www.blm.gov/visit/three-rivers-peteroglyph-site

Three Rivers Petroglyph BLM , NM Campground: Great location between White Sands and Valley of the Fires. It is about 3 miles from the highway off a gravel road that is in good condition. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 3 because most sites are in a large open gravel area . Our site: 4 Price 2024: $ w interagency pass Security: No Usage during visit: Full each night mostly with one or two night stays. Site Privacy: 1 and 2 are set off by themselves a bit. The rest have no privacy. Site Spacing: fine Site surface: gravel Reservations: First come first serve v Campground Noise: Quiet Outside Road Noise: No Through Traffic in campground: Folks come in to hike. Electric Hookup: Sites 1 & 2 Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Yes. Filter the water. Generators: Yes Bathroom: Very well kept flush toilets. Showers: No Pull Throughs: Most are Cell Service (AT&T): 1 to 2 bars. Setting: Open desert shrubbery between the splendid looking White Mountains and Recent Weather: Winy time of year. Solar: Absolutely. Insects: None. Host: On site. Rig Size: Some sites can fit a large 5th wheel.
Sites: Most of the few sites are spread out in a graveled area. There is not much distinction between sites. Sites 1 and 2 set off from the rest and are the best sites.

Valley of Fire CG, NM: The RV area sits on a ridge. Great views. Tenting area sits by itself. No views there, but looks nice. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 5 for a campground offering space and extraordinary views. Price 2024: $ 35 w interagency pass Security: no Usage during visit: RV area was full every day. Site Privacy: no Site Spacing: nice Pad surface: blacktop Reservations: Some sites require reservations. Some sites are first come first serve. Campground Noise: Nice and quiet Outside Road Noise: light trafficed highway might create some noise for the first few sites.
Through Traffic in campground: Some day visitors. Electric Hookup: some sites Sewer Hookup: no Dump Station: yes Potable Water Available: at most sites Bathroom: one main bathroom. Also, two smaller bathrooms towards each end of the campground. Showers: yes. Clean. Push button timer type. Hot water Pull Throughs: yes Cell Service (AT&T): four bars Setting: on a ridge overlooking the black lava flow on one side and desert on the other Recent Weather: windy Solar: definitely Insects: none Host: yes Rig Size: large rigs, no problem Sites: 1-14: views both ways. Extraordinary sunset views. 15- 18: the views are nice, but one direction. away from the valley of fires view. 18 & 19 are more secluded.