Best Dispersed Camping near Costilla, NM

Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is BLM land so it is all dispersed camping. You will need to make sure you aren't on someone's property or nearby any roads. There are plenty of turn offs. 

This isn't a "get away" more like a stopover spot. I stopped here on my way back North to Colorado to see the bridge over the Rio Grande and so I wasn't so high up in elevation that I would freeze. 

But if you can find a quiet place it is a beautiful dispersed spot where there is civilization nearby and toilets at local businesses  and picnic areas that you can use. See map on review. 

Be careful roaming at night. The drop into the river is quite deep so offroading isn't just ill advised for keeping the flora and fauna safe…but you as well. 

There are picnic ares around the monument too, just not established camping spots.

There are three dispersed sites listed along this road with the first being flat and open, the second being slightly uphill and fairly open, and the third being higher uphill and far more private. We kept driving until we found a spot that was both uphill and private, which definitely requires a vehicle with some height to it like an SUV rather than a sedan. The road to the third and farthest site became too rocky for some cars and horses to continue on, but my AWD SUV did great.

The camping spots in this site all have fire pits, edible prickly pear cactuses, and some shrubbery and trees for privacy. Verizon and T-Mobile service worked well. When the wind was forecasted to be 7mph with 15mph gusts, it was enough to cancel the noise from a group of campers a few spots down. It’s a generally quiet area, so with the except of that group, you could only notice other campers if they walked, biked, or drove past the spot.

The views were phenomenal, and it was a 30 minute drive to the sand dunes. You could also check out Zapata Falls for the day with a short drive from this campsite.

There are no amenities other than fire pits in designated spots here. There is open BLM land on either side where many RVers chose to park down the hill. You can also split away from the designated spots in the upper rocky area for extra seclusion and privacy, but considering the amount of cactus and tall grass, that may only be good for car camping.

The temperature almost went down to freezing at night in early June, so be prepared with layers for both hot and cold desert conditions.

In our camp spot we saw mountain blue birds, tiger beetles, circus beetles, hover flies, common flies, plateau fence lizards, snake holes, pocket mice, deer droppings, prickly pear cactus (we prepared grilled nopales), and pinyon pine trees.

The location on Dyrt maps is wrong, forest service is NW of 285 & 64. Beautiful dispersed camping spots plentiful. Park ranger Melissa was the top notch. Couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly. Definitely stay there again.

The best part about this area, aside from the views & the sunsets, is the access to the sand dunes natl park. We completely stumbled upon this area and it turned out to be one of the coolest day trips we’ve ever had. Highly highly recommend checking out the sand dunes. If you go early enough they tend to waive the entrance fee. I recommend driving up into the bushes at the camping site for more privacy, but the road is very rocky. Try and do any bathroom stuff prior to staying because digging cat holes out here is tough. It even hailed on us briefly so watch out for crazy weather! Very cool BLM land!!

All camping spots here are right off the roads where you can find one or two spots that are less close. Arroyo Seco is the town close to the camping, but you keep going straight from the coordinates to get to Cuchillo de Medio and Cuchillo. It’s not truly “dispersed” camping because there aren’t many sites and your pretty close to your neighbors. Cuchillo Del Medio does have some fire pits, picnic tables, and a bathroom. You do get to camp right on a clear river that is beautiful!

There are a bunch of different roads you can turn off to camp on if you’re driving from Taos to Durango. We mapped Forest Road 578 and it took us to a dirt road with a lot of flat spots you can camp on. We spent the night there and it was very quiet and peaceful. If you keep going to Durango you’ll get to Carson National Forest, which is not too far from the coordinates on The Dyrt. That’s where more people are camping, you can pull off right before the 64H road marker. You’ll keep passing camping spots as you drive to Durango so you can really go almost anywhere!

A lot of area for dispersed camping on the side of the mountain. Roads get progressively more technical as you ascend. Some roads marked on the map have washed out making them impassible. The sites at the bottom are pretty flat, but the ones farther up the mountain become pretty steep, 8% grades if the inclinometer in my truck is right. There is fresh water fill and a dump station at the NP - free with entry fee (or real free if you have a pass), a small store with gas priced competitively and restaurant. The nearest cell tower is in Blanca a few miles away. Verizon signal is pretty good.

This dispersed camping is top notch. Nice sites with amazing views. A little windy but that’s to be expected near the dunes.

No amenities except some great river side places.

Dispersed camping along the road (though it’s not a busy one, especially not at night so not noisy) right on the river.

First coms first served with mostly tenting spaces.

We stayed one night in Rio, bravo, Campground. This campground is not dispersed camping, because there is water and electric in some sites. There are a few sites where a 30 foot or larger rig will fit.

This is our first time dispersed camping and we like this! We were pretty nervous that we won’t find any spot, we got here at 5:30pm on 8/18 and there’s still plenty of spots left! Highly recommend.

We found this place randomly. Seen all the road exits of the Carson National Forest on our way to Taos we said “let’s give it a try!” And we found apparently a fairly popular place. It may be due to available internet connection (which we greatly enjoyed it after weeks!) or just a lower altitude spot that may help with physical activity and weather temps. At any rate, easy and short access to the camp sites via gravel sandy road, some with fire rings and camp tables, leveled grounds for trailers and lots of pine trees for privacy. There are signs for trailheads and pretty rock formations that will need to be explored next time. We stayed a night and enjoyed it to the fullest. Highly recommended, especially as nights get nice and chill (vs. hot day temps) for good sleep.

I tent-camped off of Carson NF Forest Service Road 578 in mid April 2022. FS 578 is south of Tres Piedras about 5 miles on the west side of Hwy 285. There are several dirt road turn offs but FS 578 is clearly marked with a brown NFS sign (see photo) and has no gate but there is a cattle guard/grate. Here is a NFS road use map that shows dispersed camping along FS 578 and many other NFS roads: https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/gis/mvum/Carson/CarsonTresPiedrasCanjilonElRito.pdf (see also screenshot). My Tacoma had no problem on the dirt road, which has ruts and might be tough for an RV. There were few clearings suitable for dispersed camping but I found a nice spot with a small fire circle in a small clearing on the south side of the road just past a fork in the road. I carried two black boulders over to serve as a table and chair. I didn’t see anyone else camping or driving by. The forest is a nice mix of sage, juniper, and pine trees. I saw two elk across a swath of sage. I could see the snow capped peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range on the eastern horizon when I walked farther up the road. It got cold at night, like 27 F. It was a nice waypoint on my trip between Gunnison CO and El Paso TX but it didn’t look like many people camped there. I had intended to drive to Taos the next day on Hwy 64, but didn’t.

Such a great spot! Several small camp loops along the river. Each offers different amenities. We were in the arroyo hondo loop and it was primitive camping...no water acces, no power, pit toilet. There are showers and potable water at the second camp loop on the road( less than a mile away.). The leaves were turning, we could walk down to the river right from our campsite, we could see a million stars at night, and we loved our time there.

No cell service for several miles near this canyon so plan accordingly.

FYI in the spring summer is way more fun to sleep inside the sand dunes with a parking permit you buy at that lot. The hike up into the dunes is epic but yes this is free and last minute high capacity. Sand dunes camping has a 10 or 15 person per day

The Dyrt has a weird seemingly inaccurate map however the road leading out to the dunes did in fact had a dirt road that branches right off towards the mountain.

The Dyrt map says Mt Blanco road but Apple Maps says lake Como road. They both branch off highway 150. There is obvious signs of dispersed camping used ie firepit and a randomly left behind camping item

The weather I was very skeptical about. thought i would have to book a hotel. Last time I went camping per review off of Idaho springs down Fall River road it was snowed in even tho the main road was fine. After I got through the very snowy and icy mountain pass from Walsenburg to for garland it became very dry and there was no more snow.

This region in Colorado is fair weather all year long. With the exceptions of severe winds sometimes rarely

It's basically a rocky road up the side of Mt. Blanco with lots of places to pull off and camp. Suitable for anything from the most rock-fearing to rock-ready. AT&T had a solid two+ bars. The sunset and lightning storms in the distance were breathtaking. Definitely a great choice for a night's boondocking if that's what you need.

A nice secluded little forest road. RVs will not make it, so it's nice and quiet.

AWD/4WD needed on the rutted rocky road.

Stayed one night and saw no one else.

Multiple pulloffs for unmarked campsites, but the one I picked was right off the road.

Cell service drops completely pretty soon after leaving the highway. I sporadically received some messages at my camp site but not reliably.