Best Tent Camping near Corona, NM

Close to White Sands. Note: winter hours gate is closed 6pm-8am. Wouldn’t want to navigate the entrance road after dark anyways. Road is paved and in good condition however. This campground is on the side of a mountain. Views of Organ Mountains driving in is breathtaking and windy - limit on vehicle length. No water except at camp host when you drive in - several miles before campground. Site was $7. Pay at self service kiosk. My parking pad was not level would definitely be more careful to choose a site that was more level bc I slept in car but many are not because of the hilly terrain. Chilly and rained hard at night while I was there. Great shelters and concrete pad at each site and fire ring. Gorgeous alligator juniper trees. Vault toilets - no other amenities. Mountain View and view of valley is amazing.

This was my introduction to a BLM campground and what a great introduction. Situated on an old lava flow, Valley of Fires campsites offer an introduction to a desert landscape. There's a small nature hike and a slight rise in the middle of the campground that offers a nice view.

Site have a grill, trash, water, and a shelter; with no natural shade, you'll appreciate the sun shelter in the heat! There are vault toilets throughout the campground, but there is a central bathroom that offers flush toilets and showers. A couple of the sites are accessible with a concrete pad extending from the parking area to the shelter/picnic table/grill. The tent sites have a raised gravel pad.

If I were choosing a campsite, I'd see if the RV site on the back side of the hill is available. It is separate and therefore quieter than the others and offers a broad view of the monument and the tent loop below.

If you're here in the winter, I'd recommend a trip to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (1hr away) to see the sandhill cranes. 90 minutes south you'll reach White Sands National Park. Both are worth your time, though for White Sands, check before you go; it is sometimes closed in the morning for missile testing.

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!

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!