Karen N.
Guide
GuideSanta Barbara Campground
Beautiful weekend
Stay at Santa Barbara Campground in Northern New Mexico. Was a beautiful spot. Road to Campground was well taken care of Beautiful trails throughout area
Equestrian Camping near Cleveland, NM
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RV Park at HIPICO Santa Fe offers equestrian campsites with horse corrals near Cleveland, New Mexico. This facility welcomes tent and RV campers while providing specialized amenities for horses, including on-site corrals for overnight stays. The campground features full hookups with water, electric (30/50 amp), and sewer connections for RVs, along with drinking water, toilets, showers, and trash service. Located approximately 60 miles from Cleveland, the park serves as a convenient base for equestrians exploring northern New Mexico's riding opportunities. The horse-friendly grounds accommodate both pets and horses, though fires are not permitted within the camping area. Well-maintained facilities include sanitary dump stations for RVers staying multiple nights.
Located 100 South Polo Drive in Santa Fe, this equestrian camping facility connects riders to nearby trail systems while providing necessary amenities for both horses and humans. The campground maintains a 4-star rating among visitors who appreciate the combination of horse accommodations and camping facilities. Trailer parking is available adjacent to the camping area, allowing convenient access to horse corrals. The equestrian-friendly campground operates year-round, though availability may vary during events. Reservations are recommended, especially during peak riding seasons or equestrian competitions. HIPICO's location offers access to multiple riding areas within driving distance, making it a practical base camp for equestrians exploring the northern New Mexico region.
Best Equestrian Campgrounds near Cleveland (9)
1. Agua Piedra Campground
"There is a trail head with 2 trails, one atv accessible and one hiking/horse that goes up to Indian Lake. Beautiful views and about 1200' elevation change."
"Tent camped at this location in the middle of September (a week before closing). Very beautiful place to watch the leaves change, trailheads close by and picnic tables at each site."
from $30 - $175 / night
Check Availability2. Santa Barbara Campground
"Stay at Santa Barbara Campground in Northern New Mexico. Was a beautiful spot. Road to Campground was well taken care of Beautiful trails throughout area"
"The trails are absolutely wonderful and well worth taking a few hours to walk part of them. Hard core hikers will use the campground as a starting point for a lengthy hikes."
from $30 - $80 / night
Check Availability3. Iron Gate Campground
"During rainy seasons, ruts form with deep mud on some spots driving up."
"It's a nice little place tucked away in the woods. The road to get there is a bit rough, hence the title. By no means, Not a road for a large trailer or 5th wheel. Wild life everywhere.."
4. Jacks Creek Horse Camp
"The sites on the outside of the loops are decently wooded, smaller and not well suited to RVs. The sites on the inside of the loops have longer, RV sized pull in and little trees."
"Great overnight spot to use as a "home base" with lots of trail access. Multiple units of corrals and plenty of parking and turnaround space for large trailers."
5. Borrego Mesa Campground
"About a 15min drive from the highway. Only 5 or 6 sites. Close to the Rio Mario Trail trailhead. Campsite is at elevation over 8,000ft so it can get chilly at night. Worked great for tent camping."
"Campground is a little off the beaten path, about 30m from the High Drive highway. Dirt roads were nothing to worry about, should be fine for any SUV or sedan."
6. Las Vegas/New Mexico KOA Journey
"Cute cats and dogs all around. Pretty views and conveniently located within driving distance of a lot of attractions. Def recommend checking out the local hot springs."
"It is off the highway but nice and secluded. Pretty location and outside of Las Vegas, NM. It isn’t a five star because the sites are pretty close together"
from $45 - $75 / night
Check Availability7. Jacks Creek Group Area
"Beautiful drive out, creeks on both sides. Nestled deep in the Pecos Wilderness. Camping overlooks the mountains. Beatty’s trail head is nearby. Made a fire and had electric to charge my phone"
from $100 / night
Check Availability8. Villanueva State Park Campground
"A little off the beaten path but was worth it. Each campsite had a picnic area some even had shelters over them! The lower campground was right next to the river (very high when we were there)."
"The drive to this park takes us back in time through the tiny town of Villanueva. Once through the gates I was amazed at the fast flowing Pecos River right next to the tree shaded sites. A gem."
from $15 - $30 / night
Check Availability9. RV Park at HIPICO Santa Fe
"This is a very spacious private campground southwest of Santa Fe with access to public land. Located 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe. There are probably 50 sites with restrooms and showers."
from $55 / night
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Drive Time
- 1 hr 37 min from Santa Fe, NM
- 2 hrs 15 min from Albuquerque, NM
- 3 hrs 15 min from Pueblo, CO
- 4 hrs from Farmington, NM
Equestrian Camping Reviews near Cleveland, NM
93 Reviews of 9 Cleveland Campgrounds
Warren K.GuideLas Vegas/New Mexico KOA Journey
Campground close to a cool little town
We stopped here for an overnighter and it was not the most aesthetic choice, but the town of Las Vegas is quite charming. The town has a great plaza and historic hotel where we had a pretty good meal. The sunsets and landscape in this part of New Mexico really take your breath away.
- D
Dorrs T.
ScoutIron Gate Campground
Not as great as I thought it would be.
Based on the reviews I thought this place would be a cool oasis up in the trees. Alas, it's not. There's a loop with 14 total sites. Unfortunately, at least half the sites in the inner ring are unusable because of road runoff making it tough to get to them, and we have a Toyota Tacoma. As a result, they do not get used and are, therefore, overgrown with New Mexico ground cover, which is not comparable to soft grass. That immediately bumps it down to about 10 sites. When we arrived, there was one site available that we could access. It was behind the main trailhead parking area and completely shaded. All in all, not bad, just not our ideal choice since it's right there close to any and all foot traffic. Luckily, as we walked the rest of the loop to see if there was anything else, a couple was just finishing packing up so we were able to snag their spot (#13), which we felt was the best one. Score!
Now, let's talk the road to get there. Absolutely do not try to take a camper of any size to this campground unless it's a legit overland type tear or squaredrop, ideally with an articulating hitch. People are not kidding when they say that's not a good idea. We had our Tacoma in 4L and I'm honestly not sure how some 2WD vehicles make it. There are many spots where the incline is pretty good, a number of deep crevices as a result of water runoff, many sections that are absolutely one lane only, and at least 6 spots where there was a small pond of standing water to drive through. Were any of the ponds show stoppers, no, but the water in one dip came up past the bottom of our doors. All in all, the road is no joke. Yes, I get this is a forest road, but the road snakes through multiple pieces of residential property (albeit they are probably summer homes but we saw people at almost every house when we drove past), and there's a hiking trailhead at the campground, so I expected it to be not THAT bad. In my book, it's not officially 'offroading' but it's worse than other forest service roads we've been on. Oh, and the couple residents we passed driving in their vehicles (you can tell by looking at them they are not campers or hikers) made it abundantly clear they weren't happy with us being on their road. All in all, nice campground with great trailheads but there are too many other beautiful places to hike and camp in NM for us to want to go back.
- Jeff K.Guide
Borrego Mesa Campground
Great campsite!!
Good road all the way in. About a 15min drive from the highway. Only 5 or 6 sites. Close to the Rio Mario Trail trailhead. Campsite is at elevation over 8,000ft so it can get chilly at night. Worked great for tent camping. Sites have a small horse pen but you would need to make a gate on them. Not good for big LQ horse trailers.
Steve & Ashley G.
LegendAgua Piedra Campground
Great Northern New Mexico Camp
We stayed at this site on the way back to Texas from our Colorado trip this summer. This is a great National Forest Campground south of Taos in the Carson Forest. The campground is just off the highway and situated in a beautiful mountain pine forest and next to a great trout stream. You have great shade during the hotter summer months. It’s far enough away from the highway that you don’t hear the traffic. It has a huge meadow and group camp site which look fantastic. The individual sites have some privacy between the sites and come equipped with fire pits and picnic tables. We made a reservation but the camp had a number of open sites in the peak summer season. The highlight here is the proximity of great hiking to nearby lakes and fishing in the trout stream. They had great facilities including clean pit toilets and some historic log cabins. They have a camp host and the sites accommodate tents and smaller vans and campers. I would give this another visit on our next trip to NM.
marine J.
RangerRV Park at HIPICO Santa Fe
Great location close to Santa Fe
This is a very spacious private campground southwest of Santa Fe with access to public land. Located 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe. There are probably 50 sites with restrooms and showers. I saw a few tent but this is really geared toward RVs. They have discounts if you stay 4 to 6 days it is 10% off and 7 to 14 days it is 15% off. There is really nothing to it but it is so spacious and quiet, great vibe and the staff is super nice and helpful. They offer overnight stabling for horses too.
Tammy V.
TravelerAgua Piedra Campground
Excellent campground!
There is a trail head with 2 trails, one atv accessible and one hiking/horse that goes up to Indian Lake. Beautiful views and about 1200' elevation change.
Potable water available at camp host's location. It has sulfer but the smell cleared after half a day sitting in the sun. We brought our own to drink though.
Some campsites were more separated and others were close together if you were with a group. River runs along the camp for fishing, and they were catching fish.
James F.GuideSanta Barbara Campground
Beautiful Hiking
This is a great campground if you like to take some hikes through some beautiful national forest with a picturesque river. The Santa Barbara Campground is relatively small and most of the sites can't accommodate large rv's. A small travel trailer or tent works well in most sites. None of the sites have hook ups so you will be boon docking. There are vault toilets and water available. Sign on the water spigot said not to connect a hose though so filling your rv or trailer is not what they were intended for. I guess it was good that I filled before I left home. There are lots of trees for shade and beauty. The trails are absolutely wonderful and well worth taking a few hours to walk part of them. Hard core hikers will use the campground as a starting point for a lengthy hikes. There were a few cows that got into the camping area. There can also be horses on the trails so be vigilant.The temperatures were quite moderate as the campsite is at 8900 feet. You can hear the Santa Barbara River as it is very close.
Robin T.GuideSanta Barbara Campground
Great location but small noisy campground
This campground has a PERFECT location, right on the border of the Pecos wilderness with fabulous hiking. There is also fantastic fishing there, which many guests took advantage of all weekend. However, this campground only has 15 single sites, but most were occupied by double the amount allowable.. There were huge parties at many of the campsites all weekend, with cards zooming around all day. IT was NOISY and CROWDED.
If the camp host (who didn't seem to care) controlled this, we would have given this campground 5 stars.
The hiking was AMAZING. Views AMAZING....
This campground has a huge backpacker parking lot and when we arrived on Friday it was overflowing out onto the main road. The reason is that this campground is the entry point to the NORTHERN end of Pecos wilderness with access to amazing backpacking, high mountain peaks, and literally dozens of groups of backpackers daily going up the trail or coming back out from their adventures.
Guide to Cleveland
Camping options in northern New Mexico include established campgrounds and primitive sites nestled at elevations between 7,000-9,000 feet. The area around Cleveland offers pine forests, mountain meadows, and river access points for campers seeking horseback riding opportunities. Most equestrian-friendly campgrounds operate seasonally from May through October due to winter snowfall.
What to do
Hiking trails: Agua Piedra Campground connects to several mountain trails including paths to Indian Lake. "There is a trail head with 2 trails, one atv accessible and one hiking/horse that goes up to Indian Lake. Beautiful views and about 1200' elevation change," notes Tammy V. about Agua Piedra Campground.
Fishing opportunities: Several campgrounds provide river access for fishing. The Pecos River and smaller creeks offer trout fishing during summer months. Jacks Creek Horse Camp visitor Gretchen N. explains, "We explored Cave Creek Trail in one direction as well as rode up to Round Mountain in the other direction. Round Mountain offers superb views and a nice trail through the aspens."
Horseback riding: For equestrian camping near Cleveland, New Mexico, Jacks Creek Horse Camp provides specific facilities. "Multiple units of corrals and plenty of parking and turnaround space for large trailers. Would be a nice area for group trail exploration," writes Gretchen N. The camp offers trail access directly from the campground.
What campers like
Mountain solitude: Visitors appreciate the remote setting of campgrounds in the Pecos Wilderness area. At Iron Gate Campground, Dean K. notes: "We camp here as often as possible! Often we use it as a base camp to start over night backpacking trips in the Pecos. It's tucked away, so there are usually few other campers."
Scenic landscapes: Campsites often provide mountain views or riverside settings. At Santa Barbara Campground, Jacqueline D. observed: "Visited late September, about a quarter of the sites were occupied. All sites are close enough to the river to hear it from a tent."
Cool summer temperatures: The high elevation creates comfortable summer camping conditions. Borrego Mesa Campground sits above 8,000 feet elevation, creating moderate summer temperatures. Jeff K. explains: "Campsite is at elevation over 8,000ft so it can get chilly at night. Worked great for tent camping."
What you should know
Road conditions: Access roads to some campgrounds require high-clearance vehicles. Iron Gate Campground visitor Cory M. warns: "Site isn't easy to get to for low clearance vehicles. During rainy seasons, ruts form with deep mud on some spots driving up."
Water availability: Potable water access varies by season and campground. At Santa Barbara Campground, James F. observed: "Sign on the water spigot said not to connect a hose though so filling your rv or trailer is not what they were intended for. I guess it was good that I filled before I left home."
Weather patterns: Afternoon thunderstorms are common during summer. Many campgrounds experience rapid weather changes due to mountain location. Michael noted at Jack's Creek: "Rained every afternoon (real boomers!) while we were there, but no problem for us."
Frequently Asked Questions
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campsite near Cleveland, NM?
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Cleveland, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Cleveland, NM is Agua Piedra Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 10 reviews.
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equestrian camping near
Cleveland, NM?
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Cleveland, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 9 equestrian camping locations near Cleveland, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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