If you're looking for a place to pitch your tent near Chama, look no further. The Dyrt is an easy way to find tent camping spots near Chama. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Chama, New Mexico's most popular destinations.
4 developed campsites + dispersed camping at 8000' with superb river fishing access just west of NM Game & Fish Recreation Area
Stunner campground sits at 9700-foot in elevation beside the Alamosa River, two miles below the top of Stunner Pass. There are 5 campsites with tables, fire pits, a vault-type toilet, and adequate parking.
There is no water supply, so plan to bring your own. Firewood is limited. Convenient trailer spaces available. The Alamosa River is nearby for fishing. Unfortunately, naturally acidic water severely limits fishing in the Alamosa River between Stunner Campground and Terrace Reservoir. Big game hunting is possible.
The ghost town of Stunner is just east of the campground. This was a mining town that failed, due to nonproducing mines and transportation problems. Parts of the town are private property, so pack out all your trash and observe posted no-trespassing signs.
Located in Southern Colorado (not Nevada) in the beautiful San Luis Valley is a 40-acre homestead open for camping and glamping. We are a primitive campground. Flat RV and camper spots with 360 views. Just turn your lawn chair! All RV's and pull behinds must be self-contained. We are not offering hook-ups at this time.
Do you love animals? Well, so do we! There are horses, goats, a cow, rescue dogs and of course chickens living on the ranch. All of our farm animals are friendly and we are happy to schedule time for the kids (includes adult children) to pet and give treats. Fresh eggs will be available to purchase as long as the girls are keeping up. Potluck cookouts every Friday night are sure to provide some great memories and you might even meet a new friend or two!
The Red Lake trailhead is on FDR 114, approx. 2 1/4 miles from Highway 17. The parking area is large enough to accommodate horse trailers and other vehicles. There is also another smaller turnaround on FDR 114 at the dead end.
Scout
There were about 4 spots clustered together right after the second bridge (a little over 2 miles from the main road). i took the right fork after that towards the rainbow springs trailhead and didn’t find anything else, but there might be more spots if you take the left fork after the second bridge instead. at the end of october the paid campground you pass by is closed for the season, no water and vault toilets are locked
Traveler
This spot is pretty open with room for a small rv or tent camping. Area Code It's a short drive up to Poage Lake at the top of the mountain and also a short drive to Beaver Creek Reservoir down the mountain.
Traveler
The sites are spacious and well-maintained, providing a perfect blend of privacy and community. Area Code The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, making check-in a breeze.
Scout
area is pretty rocky so i would be careful with a ground tent. We stayed in our van and it was great.
Traveler
Easy drive up 160 from Pagosa. Pitched the tent in the afternoon and headed to town for a soak.
Room for a couple cars and several tents. Not PERFECTLY flat for the tent-folk.
View is killer - we hit it at about peak color.
Scout
It's a lovely location, and the camp is hosted by the Army Corps. They do a good job, the facilities and grounds are very well maintained. Drinking and marijuana consumption is strictly prohibited, with the hosts making regular rounds. The sites are so close together it may as well be one big group camp; I could hear everything going on in the sites around me at all hours of the night. Even when folks were in their tents and campers. Forget trying to enjoy a quiet evening stargazing. Was surrounded by large family groups who were having a great time, which I'm glad about, but it is not my cup of tea for camping.
Guide
Stop here just for and sleep stop overnight. Road is well maintained. Several places to pull off the side of the road or actual sites too. We have a 35' 5th wheel and had no problems menivering the area. Nice lake with a parking lot at the end the turn around at if you wish to take the road all the way to the end.
ScoutI recently had the pleasure of staying at Big Meadows Campground, and it was an unforgettable experience! From the moment I arrived, I was struck by the stunning natural beauty surrounding the campground. The sites are spacious and well-maintained, providing a perfect blend of privacy and community. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, making check-in a breeze. Other then this you can find me here!
https://www.carmatec.com
Scout
Mostly RV sites, some tent sites. Some with no hookups, partial hookand full hookups. Awesome staff. Full bathroom & laundry facilities.
GuideThe weather is perfect in the summer! The Cumbres & Toltec steam train goes by the campground twice a day at the trestle. The Rio Chama flows along the edge of the campground. The staff was friendly and helpful. The town of Chama is within walking distance. Definitely worth staying.
Guide
We had site 22 which is away from the stream. Quite steep front to back. Level side to side. We were at our limit of ability to level the TT. Almost every site is big and well spaced. The whole area is treed with TALL lodgepoll pines with a few TALL ponderosa pines as well. Absolutely stunning. If you need solar, this is not the place. Otherwise it’s lovely.
Traveler
There are 20+ campsites along FR667. Some can accommodate RVs, some only tents. We parked a popup at the 1st campsite past the bridge near the trailhead. 2 waterfalls are close, Pagosa Springs is 30ish mins away. Our kids tubed down the creek. Lots of ATV traffic, some bikes, but overall quiet.
Guide
We spent a few nights in the dispersed area near Hopewell . We rolled in at 5 and had plenty of sites to choose from. We chose one of the lower areas, with one large open space surrounded by smaller sites. There were many more up the road, and there was constant traffic headed uphill until about 9PM. Once the traffic stopped it was very quiet, only the cattle calling through the trees. It rained for several hours and our spot stayed solid. Some offshoot roads were rutted out. The main road had minimal rocks and holes, didn't get very muddy. TMobile\Google mobile service worked well enough. Verizon did not work.
ScoutNo water sources within walking distance. The lake is aways away. It's a pull off on the dirt road that's big enough to fit a small camper on the side of a cliff with high exposure. No cover for thunderstorms.
TravelerDown a dirt road, you get to where you make a turn, and immediately you’ll start seeing unimproved site. The better sites appear to be closest to that turn, but if you keep driving you’ll find plenty of sites not within earshot of anyone else.
One think I noticed with ATT service you’ll get 2, sometimes 3 bars by my location (below). As I drove the road I was seeing mostly 1-2 bars.
Bring your own everything and enjoy the peaceful and quiet!
Guide
Grate spot on the river No cell service Someone has left trash
Traveler
Nice quiet area outside of Pagosa Springs. Lots of flat spaces, road is bumpy with some potholes, but not bad at all for BLM. 1-2 bars of Verizon LTE depending on where you are. We parked fairly fair up the road, no traffic.
ScoutWe had no trouble finding available spots out here on weekend nights, tons of open spaces to choose from. It rained quite a bit during the nights but never got muddy enough to get stuck anywhere. We had some surprise cow guests stop by in the morning! Lots of fun biking nearby!
Scout
Incredible spot, river is incredibly cold even in August. Most sites have river access: Wildlife is abundant. Air is cool. One of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever camped at. The only downside? The F’n ATVS. Disrespectful to other campers and stir up SO much dust, also just out right dangerous? Because of this the road is full of washboards. Folks out here apparently also do not care to pick up their trash or have any common curtesy of how to leave a campsite. Very unfortunate:( PSA: clean up your trash and pack out your used toilet paper…. 🤢 We stayed at 3 different sites. Sites get better the further along you go, road is rough but nothing a standard 4x4 vehicle can’t handle. (We have a Toyota Tacoma) There are hiking trails/ ATV trails too. We will definitely be back. Great spot during the week when there’s less traffic!
Scout
We enjoy tenting in relatively primitive national forests and usually avoid private campgrounds. But our friends recommended Last Resort on the River, and we were pleasantly surprised. The tent sites are separated from the RV sites in a forested area along the river. We shared a campsite on the river that had lots of trees and plenty of room for two tents and a canopy. Several other tent sites are carved out of the brush along the river. This makes a very nice setting with lots of privacy. The sound of the river is soothing and there was very little sound from the road.
It was a short walk to the amenities of the campground. There is a picnic shelter where we sat out a rainstorm, a very nice bathhouse for showering and washing dishes, as well as a comfortable indoor sitting area and another outdoor area with chairs and a fire pit. Ice and firewood are available at the office. Rich delivered them to our site. There are also some ice cream treats there and a few snacks. There is a fishing pond and a volleyball court. The rabbit hutch would have entertained the kids, if we had any with us.
There is no cell service, but the wifi was excellent and reached our campsite on the river. My wife was able to participate in a Zoom meeting from the picnic shelter where there was a convenient electrical outlet for her computer.
Rich is continually upgrading the property. He was very responsive and always willing to help. We highly recommend this campground.
Scout
This little campground is so beautiful and clean! We had an awesome end site. The host was very nice and gave us the rundown on all of the amenities. Sweet little rocking chair porch. Would definitely stay again.
ScoutThis dispersed area is close to Hopewell Lake and Campground where there is fishing and vaulted toilets. The Continental Divide Trail goes right through this location.
Guide
Love the spot got very busy at night bugs everywhere
Guide
Great camping area, stayed here for just one night. There was plenty of camping areas along the river. About 8 spots. Some were large enough to handle RVs. Others you might require four-wheel drive.
GuideNice area, seems like 3+ camping areas, I stayed here for about 4 days. Some fire pits and good views on the drive up. Road was not busy. Verizon signal was spotty. Most of the time I did not have any signal.
Guide
There only seemed to be about 2 camping spots. However there is area to just pull off and park. I stayed here 1 night no issues. There is no Verizon phone signal. Stayed at the first large pull off with a stone circle fireplace. It was nice and quite, not a busy road.
Traveler
Our truck broke down 1 mile from the ranch and we weren’t sure what to do so I hopped on my mountain bike and rode to the welcome center. I met a wonderful lady who offered a gentleman who worked there to help me. He grabbed his truck and towed me and my trailer to the campsite. We ended up staying there for about five or six days while the truck was being fixed in Albuquerque. Couldn’t have broken down in a better place. The scenery is beautiful and the people are nice. It’s true they had meal plans, but we were prepared to camp off grid so we didn’t need anything. Instead, we enjoyed the views and the museum and the, swimming pool and horseback riding. Completely unplanned. It’s probably important to know this is not a remote campsite because there’s lots of amenities and if you’re the kind of person looking for a flat asphalt pad to park is your camper on them, you might wanna move on. We definitely love this place and would recommend it to anyone looking for secret little area to chill out. The vibe was perfect. looking forward to coming back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Chama, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Chama, NM is Turkey Creek Road with a 4.4-star rating from 15 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Chama, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 27 tent camping locations near Chama, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
