Best Tent Camping near Cibola National Forest and Grasslands

This was our first time at this lovely National Monument and we simply loved it. The campground was small with only a few spaces for bigger rigs, but we fit without any problem. Love those small spaces! 

The campground is perched on the mesa above the monument’s protected dwellings, artifacts and trails at the valley. You can get there by walking about 2.5 miles from the campground along a stunning trail, or driving around the road. We simply loved hiking here, choosing a different way each day over the four days we were there.  So much to explore!

Campsites have the standard picnic table, bear box locker, and fire ring. The trees were mostly shorter scrub junipers and other high desert trees so there was lots of sunshine for solar powered rig, but no electrical service at any sites.  Nice privacy between sites.

The bathrooms were clean, heated, and had flush toilets and running sinks with potable water, plus a small dish cleaning sink, but no showers. 

The Visitor Center is an awesome CCC structure from back during the depression as are many of the hiking trails in the valley.   We were here for Halloween, so carved our pumpkins in memory and celebration of the people who lived here so many years ago.

Nearby Los Alamos has all the services you need as far as supplies, services and restaurants. But if you can plan your hike to end before 4pm, the cafe at the VC is really worth it!!

My husband had the great idea of tent camping just the two of us. Up to this point our tent camping adventures were reserved for grandbaby time. But I said What the hey! Let's do it. I wanted somewhere cooler than home. The Santa Fe area had plenty to keep us busy for the week.

We did not get a tent spot but opted for a small trailer site with electric and water. Our spot was near the bathhouse but not too close. Each site has native trees and plants, so everyone has privacy. The site had a nice flat spot for the tent, picnic table, fire pit and grill. We had more than enough room to set up our awning for a dining area. We loved our little spot for the week.

The bathhouse was clean and very nice. New tile and fixtures. It was a little small for the size of the campground.

They have plenty of activities there for everyone and in the evening it is very quiet.

We were very excited on our first night to settle into our campsite after a long day of adventuring. Just a short drive to the outskirts of Santa Fe in mountain country we found our campground, Rancheros de Santa Fe.

Upon entry the staff was very friendly and welcoming and we felt like this would be a great place to call home away from home.

The campsites were laid out well with room between campers and because it was the end of a weekend, they were not entirely at capacity which made for a pleasant sense of space in the great outdoors.

Our campsite was positioned in the "high road" tent site area which is a primitive campsite without additional amenities. Each campsite has a fire ring and also a picnic table for campers to utilize and a pad site for tents slightly raises from ground level.

It made for a beautiful night sleep under the chilly New Mexico skies.

By morning we ventured up to the public showers and restrooms which were clean and had amazon water pressure and hot water to set the morning in motion perfectly.

The facility also offers a pool and theater room during summer months so while we didn't get to take advantage we were excited to know upon return we would have these features available.

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Overall we give this campground a 4 of 5 Bunniea! The only things we noticed which kept it from a 5 were the lack of wifi reach in the back sections of the campground, wouldn't have been a big deal but cell service in the off grid location was also patchy so the wifi would have been handy. And the pad site was not designed for a tent quite our size. Our tent is a 12x8 and had a little side hang on on the 12 foot end.

Given the area described has piles of trash and little else to recommend it, it seems a shame to be close to gorgeous wilderness and stare at rubbish.

Head out just a bit further and turn onto the well maintained dirt Buckman road?  There are canyons to explore and access to the Rio grande at the road's end, offering water in an area with next to none otherwise. 

If these lowlands are too hot in the summer, drive up Artist Road to Big Tesuque or the ski-way at the end of the road, where shade, cold streams, and elevation keep nights pleasant even in July or August. 

You won't be any further from Santa Fe, although it can take awhile to drive from the river or ski-way to town if you park as far away as possible.  

All of the above sites have fire rings and vault toilets, and Big Tesuque and the ski-way have some sites with picnic tables as well.  Firewood can be scavenged, especially if one gets away from the immediate campsite area.

This was our first time camping in the Manzanos. The campsites are well made with a picnic table and fire ring. There isn’t a tent pad but all of the spots have a nice section of relatively flat ground. There are several vault toilets spread through the site. Cost is $7 per night. There is no water source at or near the campsites so make sure to bring enough for your stay. The campground is clean and well maintained. The sites are relatively close together but the campsite wasn’t crowded. The road in is a forest road. SUV’s will be fine but starting to push it for cars. You can walk from the sites to the Fourth of July trail

We stayed here only overnight as part of our cross-country trip. Overall, nice for a quick stay but would not for an extended visit.

Pros: Everyone there was friendly and accomodating. They have personel maintaining the gate 24/7. Restrooms & showers were clean. They offer RV sites, cabin rentals (which we were told they were all booked but saw no one there- possibly closed due to pandemic though), and tent sites. We tent camp. The site had a fire ring, picnic table, a shaded area, and is covered in pea gravel. The shaded area is not waterproof or "fully" covered. But seems it would help with the heat to provide some shaded comfort. It rained the night we were there, and I was unable to get all of our tent spikes into the ground for our rainfall (think there may have been concrete a few inches below). If you are staying for an extended time, I recommend bringing a tarp that you can tie to the shaded area to help with heat / rain. Each tent site is separated by a privacy wall (see pic). The best part was the sunrise! Absolutely stunning as you are literally at the base of the mountains. You just have to ignore the giant Geico billboard on highway in your view.

Cons: EVERY review will tell you about the noise from highway, and it is no joke!! We were so tired we did not care. But it is BAD! If you are looking for peace and quiet - THIS IS NOT THE PLACE! You can see the highway wall in my pics. It appeared to be in what seemed as "not the best part of town". It is fully gated 24/7 which I appreciate, but makes you wonder where you are staying. However, we did not have any issues, and the few people we saw were all very polite. We arrived later in the evening and ran out to get a quick bite, but everything closes at 9p so be mindful.

Pandemic note: We stayed here 6/1/20-6/2/20. Everyone was wearing masks, VERY mindful of social distancing, and you could not even go in to the office - they come out to you.

I would recommend this only as a quick stop-over / last option campground.

We stayed at the Buffalo Grove Site #66 for one night. If you have an RV/trailer, Buffalo Grove is the best loop as all have 30/50 Amp, city water hookup, covered table, lantern and paved sites. There are other loops in the campground that may have 50 amp and no water or 15/30 amp with water and gravel. The Juniper loop requires a 100ft hose for shared spigots.

Some sites in Buffalo Grove are drive through or back-in. Decent space between camps and some privacy but there’s not a lot of large shrubs, extremely scarce actually and no trees whatsoever making all sites at this campground super hot with full sun. We were praying for the rain to come. There are tent sites available but I can’t imagine withstanding this kind of heat in July. We hardly saw anyone hanging outside during the day.

According to their map, there should be a playground right behind our site but it is nonexistent and clearly has been for some time and they’ve never updated their maps for it. The check-in was quick and simple, they gave us a map to our site and they were very friendly! The bathroom and shower facility close to our campsite was very clean and showers are free. There’s working water fountains outside of the bathroom. There’s no sewer hookups but there are two dump stations with water near the campground host location just outside of the Buffalo grove loop. There are no stores or laundry facilities inside the campground however if you drive past this campground you’ll find a mini mart, gas station, and laundry place.

If you go down to the boat ramp there’s covered picnic tables right off the shoreline with a bathroom on the left and you can walk on the shoreline to the right and find several picnic tables with no shade. The fishing and swimming are down a different road and the swimming area is by far the most popular area. They don’t allow pets here (at swimming area, OK at campgrounds) and there was literally no one fishing (unless you’re on a boat)!

Alcohol is not permitted and currently there’s fire restrictions that are not allowing fires (wood or charcoal, but propane is fine) though there are no fire rings in the Buffalo Grove area, not sure if that’s the case for other loops.

Tent Rocks is about 5 minutes away but they are currently closed. The crest dam road is also currently closed at this time. Overall a great stay, we would come back - preferably in the spring!