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Valley of Fires recreation area is located immediately adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States. The Bureau of Land Management maintains and manages the Valley of Fires Recreation area, which is located four miles west of Carrizozo, NM, on US Highway 380. Valley of Fires offers both camping and day use. 20 of the campsites have 30 and 50 amp electrical hookups and water hookups, all sites have picnic shelters, tables, trashcans and barbeque grills. Two of the RV sites are accessible, as are the restrooms. Showers are provided in the main restroom/shower house. An RV dump station is also available. Two group shelters are accessible and available for rental. The 3/4 mile Malpais Nature Trail offers a close-up look of the lava surface.
Valley of Fires Recreation area offers opportunities for RV Camping (both full-service and primitive camp sites), tent camping and day use. The Malpais Nature trail offers a unique experience of getting trail users out into the lava. The trail is paved and accessible. Each campsite and group shelter is equipped with picnic shelter and picnic table(s) for the public's enjoyment.
From a distance, Valley of Fires appears as barren rock but when you walk through the nature trail there are many varieties of flowers, cactus, trees and bushes typical of the Chihuahuan desert. Animals include bats, roadrunners, quail, cottontails, mule deer, barbary sheep, and lizards. It's also a virtual birdwatcher's paradise with great horned owls, burrowing owls, turkey vultures, hawks, gnat catchers, cactus wrens, sparrows and golden eagles.
Carrizozo Land Partnership **The Carrizozo Land Partnership vehicle pass page is temporarily unavailable and the Roswell Field Office is currently unable to issue vehicle passes to cross private lands while collection policies for personal identifiable information are updated. All other open BLM lands remain accessible during this time. For more information please contact the Roswell Field Office at 575-627-0272.** The Carrizozo Land Partnership provides access to recreators wishing to enter public lands managed by the BLM, between the Carrizozo Lava Flow and the White Sands Missile Range which can only be reached by crossing private land. The CLP, a partnership between the BLM, private land owners and ranchers of this area, has arranged for public access to BLM lands in this area by a vehicle pass process. Once on the BLM lands in the area, the public is allowed to hunt, camp, hike, observe wildlife and other appropriate recreational activities. This partnership provides access to many miles of roads and thousands of acres of public lands for recreational enjoyment. Terrain is from flat to rolling, with some bluffy/hilly country overlooking the lava flows. High desert plant species inhabit this area, ranging from desert shrubs, multiple varieties of cactus and cedar/juniper trees. Other nearby camping/recreation opportunities: Other nearby fee areas include campgrounds in the Lincoln National Forest, and the BLM Rob Jagger's Campground. There are numerous private RV Campgrounds in the area as well. Additonal nearby attractions include Capitan, Lincoln, and Ruidoso. Capitan, located 24 miles east of the Valley of Fires on U.S. Highway 380, is known as the birthplace of Smokey Bear, and features a popular visitor center. Lincoln, located 37 miles east on U.S. Highway 380, is famous as the site of the historic Lincoln County Wars as well as the exploits of Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett. Ruidoso is a popular resort town that features a horse racetrack, the Ski Apache skiing resort, and the Inn of the Mountain Gods casino. The BLM's Fort Stanton National Conservation Area, located approximately 27 miles east of the Valley of Fires on U.S. Highway 380, has 93 miles of sustainable horseback, mountain biking, and hiking trails that wind through open meadows and canyons. Trails are marked with flexible fiberglass markers with the trail name or an arrow attached to the marker. Cross-country horse and foot travel is allowed. Mountain bikes are strongly encouraged to stay on established trails to protect the rider as well as the landscape. The trails offer great views of the surrounding Sacramento and Capitan Mountains. The majority of the trails start at the Rob Jaggers Campground on NM 220 where you will find excellent camping opportunities, water for your animals, and vault toilets.
$7 - $25 / night
$30 / night
Small (5 sites) quiet and primitive camp in a Ponderosa forest at 7600 elevation. Located near an old mining district, the campground gets heavy use in fall hunting seasons, less at other times.
Manzano Mountains State Park is an excellent destination for hiking and camping. Nestled in the wooded foothills of the Manzanos, this park provides a quiet retreat and is a nice family get-away. Wildlife viewing, birding, and photography are great activities at this park.
$5 - $14 / night
Scout
Awesome little campground in the high desert just west of Carrizozo. I arrived around 830 pm on a Saturday night in the middle of August and had my pick of spots. Fellow campers were quiet. RV hook ups available and showers/toilets available for both RV and tent campers. You can hear infrequent cars on the nearby highway (US 380) but it didn’t bother me. There are little grill tops near picnic tables, but the wind kept me from getting a good fire started. There is a roof shelter over the picnic table as well. Amazing sunset and sunrise and incredible stargazing. Only complaint is the bugs. SO MANY BUGS. No mosquitos that I noticed but plenty of annoying lava gnats and bigger things. Bring your bug spray. $7 for tent sites, $18 for RVs. Lava field has some paved trails through it, but it would get awfully hot during the day with the black rock. Might not be great for kids. Cacti with big ole thorns and the campground bordering the lava field have a bit of drop off. This campground holds a place in my heart, I’ll be back again.
GuideCampsites are level full hook ups. Nice people they have Wi-Fi nice bathrooms there’s a really great grocery store downtown called the B St., Café. It was $36 if I paid cash and that was with a 10% discount
Ranger
Stayed at this Rv park in march of 2019. A clean park located in the middle of Capitan New Mexico. The location is very convenient about 20 miles from Reuidoso 25 or so miles from Carrizozo and Fort Stanton in the east the receptionist Sharon is very contentious and helpful.
Ranger
We love it here! We stayed for a weekend at campsite #6. Ours and A few other sites have RV hookups (electric only). No sewer hook up but dump station on site with water. There are multiple Drinking water spigots available; one next to our campsite 6, at the group shelter, by the dump station, and another spigot at the office / visitor center (closed right now) but that had a lock on it. Some sites have a nice brick and metal shelter and a charcoal grill, but all sites seem to have a picnic table, and fire ring. This is a pretty small electrical loop campground and some sites are pretty close, separated by trees, and vary in driveway length. There’s tent sites (some have good privacy) as well as day-use only sites that look very clean and with shelter. Our site had the picnic table and charcoal grill on one side of the driveway and the fire pit on the other side which is kind of weird but that just means we can drive in or back in depending on our awning side preference. I saw in some reviews that this was a problem for people.
Behind our site there’s a horseshoe area and group site not too far after. The group site has a small parking lot across the way for it and has a large shelter area with nice cement tables and large grills. Next to the office there’s a trail for the outer loop and nature trail. There are several trails within the park and all are pretty easy (kid-friendly) and not too long. This is a pet-friendly campground with dog stations to pick up after your pet. Make sure to bring your own firewood and kindling as gathering is not allowed in the area. There is phone signal for t-mobile and Verizon as well. Vault toilets were clean but no showers.
There is no lake or stream/river in the state park. The nearest lake is Manzano Lake it’s about 10 minutes from the campground in the small town of Manzano. Fishing and picnicking, not a very large lake - more like a pond really but still beautiful and something to see and do. Currently the lake just opened and there’s a sign at the entrance that the fish have not been stocked. Not much for some decent stores around but a grocery store in Mountainair (25 mins away) Also nearby is the Quarai Ruins (15 mins) to check out which has some trails and also pet friendly so long as they’re on a leash.
Also, getting here by GPS, just takes you to where the pavement ends on HWY-131 but you’ll need to go another mile on unpaved road to get the the campground. Just follow the signs for the state park. Also, make sure to check on weather because although the unpaved road is typically well-grated and maintained; when it rains hard - it tends to wash out which makes the last mile to the state park hard for some. Also, there’s not gas stations nearby to this camp.
Overall a great and beautiful place to stay. Definitely bring some bug spray and repellent, lots of flies and mosquitoes to be had! There’s not a whole lot to do besides relax, eat, and check out some trails so bring your own entertainment as we brought a remote control all-terrain car, frisbees, lawn darts, board games, card games, etc to entertain the kids. We would definitely recommend the place and we will certainly be back!
Legend
Pros: Full hookup (sewer, water, 50 AMP) Pull thru sites Nice Scenic View Rates are reasonable
Cons: No real amenities Limited shade
GuideThis campground has a very nice host that keeps the campground sparkling! There are sites with electric and water. And very nice primitive sites also. Great views of Valley from all sites. Showers were clean and free! Very clean dump station. Close proximity to many other areas of interest that made for great day trips. Lovely section for tent campers just past the RV camping. Quite a few big rigs.
LegendValley 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.
Guide
Gem of a USFS campground in the Cibola National Forest near Corona, NM. Can get crowded on weekends and most especially during Fall hunting season.
Note that directions from Maps/Dyrt tries to send you the wrong way off County Rd 22, so follow the brown signs to the campground and you can’t miss it.
Pros:
Cons:
RangerNice clean restrooms full amenities electric, water, tank dump, this area has a lot of history. The lava tubes, the town of Carrizozo White Oak and Capitan. These are all towns that Billy the kid frequented back in the day also the ghost town of White oak was the largest gold mining town in New Mexico.
GuideIt was hot in the valley so we retreated to the nearest mountains. What a quiet little camp. No huge RV’s or anything. Our 6ft wide, 20ft long trailer seemed too big. Our spot accommodated us well. The trails are fabulous. There’s a Track Trail that just opened and a motorized track wheelchair making this park very accessible. Not very many electric sites but that was ok as the temps were cooler (60’s at night)
TravelerRemote, wooded, serene. Sites are gravel, but not very level. Each site has a picnic table, grill & fire pit. Some sites have power, but none have sewer or water hookups. There is a dump station & drinking water. If you want to get away from it all, this is the place.
GuideValley of Fires is a great state park with both RV- and tent-friendly spots. It's developed with covered, powder-coated picnic tables and flat, raised tent pads, a bathroom, and if my memory serves me correct (because I can't quite remember) showers.
Valley of Fires wouldn't be the best place to spend a full day as the black, volcanic rock holds a lot of heat. However at sunrise and sunset, the views are not to be missed. Use Valley of Fires as a good stop-over for trips across New Mexico.
TravelerWe needed a place to pull over and eat our sandwiches. We were surprised that it was a full campground, bathrooms, showers, a book shop, fire rings, tables, spigots and in some spots, I suspect electric hook ups. There is a cash box by the entrance, so bring small bills. You can also pay at the book shop, but it was closed, as were the bathrooms. It may have been for COVID, so don’t rely on the bathroom there. We also noticed a very well maintained walking trail. This would be a great over night site or a place to stretch your legs on a long trip.
GuideWe got to the Valley of Fire State Park on a Wednesday at 1 p.m., knowing that it was a first come/first serve. We stopped first at the Visitor Center & the Ranger told us we should still be able to find a spot since it was mid-week. We got the LAST spot with electrical hookups, which we needed because highs were 89. I suggest getting there much earlier in the day, because there were many circling around looking for a spot. Very nice covered picnic tables with grill & fire pit, but these could not be used because of drought. We saw several big horn sheep in camp, where they came up to drink from a bowl at another campsite. BEAUTIFUL state park!!
ScoutThe site is secluded and remote set in a beautiful pine forest. Only 5 camp sites that are spread apart. The sites have a fire ring, grill, and picnic table. Although it is remote and I have to travel down gravel roads, I easily got our RV to the camp grounds. At night it is pitch black and the only sounds you can hear are nature. On a clear night the stars would be amazing. Unfortunately it was overcast when I went. No hookups or anything, but a restroom. Great spot to get away and soak in nature.
ScoutOur beagle is a 11 in April and wife and I are seniors and we walked the nature trails walked 3.5 miles. First walk this year. The lava flows were great to see up close! Camp ground is well kept and facility’s are great. Oh by the way dog got a drink and crashed on the couch when we got back to motor home. Stayed in site 10 right next to the showers and bathrooms suppose to have high winds Sunday. Might spend a day or two omore than planned.
RangerFriendly family owned park the receptionist Sharon is very thoughtful and helpful. Very clean lots of rv sights full amenities showers tank dump electric and water. Sharon even brought me homemade tomallies one evening.
GuideDue to New Mexico Governor’s decision to close state owned campgrounds, we scrambled to find a place to stay prior to visiting White Sands...thank you BLM!!
This area provided a peacefully quiet landscape with expansive views of the lava valley and a memorable sunset. The area was well maintained and offered a 1-mile informational loop hike through the lava field. First Come, First Serve with pay at entrance envelopes.
Flush toilets and showers were unfortunately locked due to the state’s covid ordinance and there was no management on site, but there were multiple potable water pumps and pit toilets available.
Terrific waypoint between Carlsbad Cavern and White Sands.
TravelerThis campground is run by the BLM and honors Senior Passes for National Parks. The campsites are well spaced and some back right up against the lava fields in Valley of Fires. There is water available and vault toilets. The sites have tables with a shelter, fire rings, grills, lots of space. There is electricity and showers in the RV sites.
ScoutBooking and finding the park was quite seamless. We do not need hook ups so the price was $10.00. There were no facilities, no water and ‘campsite’ was just an overgrown parking area. Great diner, (Penny’s) just down the street. So if you just need to pull in and get off the road for the night, this fits the bill
GuideWe just spent two nights here(in early May, 2021) and there are many great things, but we also had two big problems.
Problem one (probably only an issue in 2021). The sites, and in fact most the campground, have been re-blacktopped. It LOOKS great. So shiny and new. But the stuff is still quite tacky, and we ended up tracking tar into our RV and getting it everywhere. I accidentally knelt on the ground to look at something under my rig, and now I have a ruined pair of pants. When we put our leveling blocks down and leveled our rig, when we left, we found we had left giant lego-shaped impressions in the tar. And when it gets even hotter there in June/July...yikes, it's going to be a problem. Hopefully by next year, it will be better. But this is really something to watch for.
Problem 2: They did a great job re-surfacing everything(see above) but most of the sites, despite looking lovely, are very un-level. We had one heck of a time levelling our 30 ft class A. The sites slope front to back AND to the side. A recipe for a real leveling challenge. We walked around the campground and saw lots of very precariously propped-up rigs(our own included). It's a shame they didn't fix some of this before they resurfaced everything.
The campground, otherwise, is great. The spots are generously sized and spread pretty far apart. Each site has water, a metal picnic table with a substantial shade covering, a fire pit and a grill. Most have 50 amp electric, which worked very cleanly. Water pressure was acceptable.
Most of the sites also have great views of the lava field. The field itself has a 2/3rd mile loop trail with lots of interesting information. We actually walked it 3 different times, first in the evening(and we really enjoyed when the bats came shortly before sunset) and discovered new things each time. There are other, longer trails around, but when we were there the visitor center/gift shop were still closed for COVID and we had no one we could get good information from. We stumbled across a couple of trailheads, but were reluctant to go too far, not knowing what we were in for. The grounds also include some outstanding tent camping sites, if that's of interest. The dump station is easy to get to. There are also several new looking restrooms, but when we were there, all were closed(again, due to COVID). That was fine with us, but if you're needing restroom facilities available, maybe call ahead.
It's a lovely place and we look forward to returning.
GuideLocated on BLM land, Valley of Fire Rec Area is a great spot for one night or fourteen night stay! Located just off US Rt 380 west of Carrizozo, NM, Valley of Fires has clean bathrooms and showers, as well as clean sites. Each site has a trash can, fire pit, shelter, and picnic table. There are handicap sites as well. Some sites are level, some not so level. Large rv's can easily be accommodated in most sites. Verizon cell signal was excellent. One word of caution, it can get very windy at times! Spectacular sunrises and sunsets!!
LegendThis spot is hot! Literally. It is the perfect central point for exploring the state and is made up of lava rock. But even in the middle of a snowstorm, it is incredible!
There is minimal shade so ideally camping in an RV or in early spring or Fall would be best.
I was here when there was a freak blizzard and snowstorm that almost took my tent on a flying adventure so I was forced to sleep in my car.
The snow did make the igneous rock so beautiful though. There are lots of spots, for RV’s to pull through with power. There are also dumpsters, clean bathrooms, and a showerhouse.
This is a recreational area so I’m guessing that in the main season it is filled with off roaders and hikers.
There are also great trails that head out from the campground and with it being on the main road going across the state, it is a perfect spot to set up shop for exploring.
It is just a few hours from White Sands, Albuquerque, and Taos.
RangerA nice place to disperse camp vault toilets, the campground is at approximately 8000 ft. I observed elk crossing my campsite. A very nice place to camp in the summer to escape the heat. Near the town of Corona.
LegendThis 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!
ScoutNight one was decent, but the rest of the nights I had to hold the side of my tent up to keep it from collapsing despite multiple points staked to the ground. I’m happy I had strong stakes or the tent would’ve been gone. The wind comes in waves like hurricane bands. In one week we had the crazy wind every night, hail, and saw a dust twister at the base of the mountain. Lots of flies as well. At one point we had the back circle all to ourselves, but Friday large groups came out and were very loud until 1am. During the week everyone was quiet. The site layout was nice, private despite being close to the next site over. It’s pretty hot during the day and dips to the 40s at night. We liked the sound of the clicker bugs, they were pretty cool even though we never actually saw one. The trails are nice, vault toilet area is clean. The front office was closed our whole visit. I’d say it’s a cool place for a trailer or RV although the road is difficult in rain. Tents are fine, but be ready to move to the car for the wind or hail.
TravelerVery nice campground, all sites are reserve only. Pit toilets and no showers. Electric and non electric sites. Also a few trails in the area.
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