Are you looking for a place to stay in Costilla with your horse? It's easy to find Costilla campgrounds for horse camping with The Dyrt. You're sure to find the perfect site for your New Mexico horse camping excursion.
Rio Costilla ~ Pristine Wilderness is located in Northern Taos County, New Mexico. Lush forests offer Spring & Summer Recreation through Labor Day Weekend and are a Hunter’s Paradise throughout the year.
Camping, Fishing, Hiking, Bike Riding, Rock Hounding, and just plain Relaxing are among many activities to be enjoyed during warmer months of the year in Rio Costilla Park.
$30 / night
Cimarron Campground is located in the scenic Valle Vidal within Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico, at an elevation of 9,300 feet. The sites are tucked among spruce, aspen and fir trees, and the camp offers an open range feel. Visitors have opportunities to enjoy a variety of recreational activities in a picturesque setting. Viewing wildlife and simply relaxing in the mountain air are popular activities.
Anglers can fish for Rio Grande cutthroat trout in Comanche Creek and the Rio Pueblo. Nearby Shuree Ponds offers excellent fishing. The smaller pond is a fishing hole for kids 12 and under. The main pond is stocked with rainbow trout and is also popular for float tubing. The area around the campground is open to horseback riding, and there are few maintained trails. Elk and deer hunting is excellent.
Some of the finest mountain scenery in the Southwest is found in the 1.5 million acres within the Carson National Forest. Elevations range from 6,000 feet to 13,161 feet at Wheeler Peak, the highest in New Mexico. Big game animals roam the Carson, including mule deer, elk, antelope, black bear, mountain lion and bighorn sheep. Many species of smaller animals and songbirds can also been found in the forest. Cimarron Campground is located within the beautiful Valle Vidal, a Spanish term meaning "Valley of Life," of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Shuree Ponds, Comanche Creek and the Rio Pueblo are all near the campground, offering excellent fishing.
For facility specific information, please call (928) 537-8888.
$22 / night
Purgatoire Campground is nestled near the headwaters of the Purgatoire River in the beautiful Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The primitive campground is laid out on two loops. One is a large grassy meadow with sites that accommodate equestrian campers and one that is wooded with aspen and spruce.Constructed by the Youth Conservation Corp in 1976, Purgatoire was originally named Potato Patch Campground. The river provides nice fishing and a trailhead attracts hikers and horseback riders.
The North Fork Trail # 1309 is located on the north end of the campground and offers non-motorized access to hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders. The 5-mile trail delights with mountain vistas and shade from forested terrain. The river, which is creek-sized at these upper reaches, provides opportunities for anglers to cast for trout.
The campground is in an aspen and conifer forest near the North Fork River at an elevation of 9,800 feet. The river, also known as the Purgatoire River, flows 196 miles to the confluence of the Arkansas River. Pike-San Isabel National Forest includes over a million acres of wilderness and over half of Colorado's mountain peaks that reach above 14,000 feet.
The nearby towns of Stonewall and Cuchara offer shopping and restaurants.
Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
$23 / night
$20 - $65 / night
Hopewell Lake Campground sits next to its scenic namesake lake between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla in northern New Mexico. Visitors enjoy horseback riding, hiking, fishing and canoeing.
The 14-acre lake is perfect for canoeing and is regularly stocked with rainbow and brook trout. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail goes through the campgound, and is popular with horseback riders and hikers.
Hopewell Lake is a small, man-made lake, set high in the Carson National Forest at an elevation of 9,500 feet. A forest of conifer and aspen trees covers the area and offers partial shade in the campground.
For facility specific information, please call (928) 537-8888.
$24 / night
These 55 sites in Valle Vidal elk/bear country are a great hunting, hiking, fishing destination.From the town of Cimarron, drive 5 miles northeast on Highway 64 to Cerrososo Canyon.__Follow this canyon approximately 21 miles to the Valle Vidal Unit Boundary. The route is__marked by signs. From the boundary, travel 7 miles on Forest Service Road 1950. These__graveled roads are not maintained during the rainy season and may be passable only with a__four wheel drive vehicle.
Ponderosa Campground is located at the northwest end of the Soap Creek Arm of Blue Mesa Reservoir. 28 tent and medium sized RV sites can be accommodated at Ponderosa. All sites are first-come first-served.
Note: During dry conditions, the first 7 miles of Soap Creek Road are passable to trailers and RVs. Rain can make the Soap Creek Road hazardous or impassable.
$10 - $11 / night
Guide
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!
Scout
Stayed two nights and loved every minute. Took inner tubes and rode them down the stream!
Guide
Stunning spot, lots of tent sites, room for maybe 12 campers of modest length, mine is 26' spot #9 is prime for a camper with a driver side slide/kitchen table. unknown if it's seasonal but the biting flies, primarily deer flies are beyond bearable, I survived 4 days, most other campers left after one night. The camp host is very friendly, and knows the best fishing holes.
Traveler
My husband and I stayed here for a night just passing through. This is only about 12 miles from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and also on the way the Crater Lake. There are several dispersed campsites. We had a UHaul trailer we were pulling and it was easy to get to a campsite. All campsites seems you would be able to get to with a RV or a 2 wheel car. We did not do any exploring but I'm sure hiking is great.
ScoutThe 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.
Traveler
Took my boys camping and had a great time. We went June 2 and the water was not on yet. The facilities were very clean and the staff agent was present and available. We had no issues. It is a long way down a dirt road but well worth the drive to be remote. No cell service at the camp site but a short 5 min drive back to the first cattle guard allowed for service to multiple cell providers. A short beautiful hike to the ponds allowed for some fishing for the kids. All artificial lures and barbless hooks. It’s not glamping but is some great camping!
TravelerA 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.
Traveler
A remote location and popular with horse campers and hunters. The campground has sites with horse corrals installed. The campground was quiet and mostly clean. There are pit toilets on site and well maintained. Level spots with good separation. Nice hiking accross some flat lands and a smal creek runs near by. Early one morning we saw a herd of elk down in a valley near a turn out off the road. Bears frequent the area trying to raid the garbage bins during the night. Makes tent camping a bit unnerving. If you want to explore the area, this is good place to camp. It takes an hour to get to the campsite on a graveled road off the highway out of Cimerron. 25mph was best speed to go to handle the washboard road to the campsite.
TravelerMy wife and I spent 3 days and 2 nights at Rio Costillo and really enjoyed our time. We are typically dispersed campers, so paying to camp is a bit of a departure. The fee to camp has increased to $30 per night, but we decided to give it try. It was probably more about what we didn't experience that we enjoyed the most. There is NO FIREWORKS permitted and NO ATV's permitted. Thus, a pleasant and quiet camp trip. There have been no recent fires in the area, so the views were beautiful!. Not sure how many head of cattle roam the park, but they could care less about you and do not pose any threat. The sites are spread apart so much that it feels like dispersed camping. Portable toilets are close to all sites, but no running water. The lakes were closed at the time of our visit (clearing the road of fallen trees we were told). Most of the sites were close to running streams of water, though we only fished in the Rio Costilla outside the park entrance. The fees are $30 per vehicle/night and $10 to fish per person per day. No fee to fish in the river outside of the park, only a NM license or out of state permit.
TravelerWe stayed July 1st-5th, 2021. Beautiful location in a place I wasn’t expecting it to be sooo green! Very relaxing and remote as there is zero service. It was perfect & exactly what we were looking for. Vault toilets are well kept and within good proximity to most sites. The grass was about knee high, so yard games/ activities weren’t possible. The hiking trail to the lake was reasonable and not too inclined/strenuous. It rained only in the afternoons but everyday.
Guide
This was a beautiful peaceful camp ground. Very quiet. It has a pit toilet which was decent - better than having to use or portable. No cell phone service.
RangerI can understand rating this campground low if you were hoping to find a Ritz Carlton at the end of the 4-mile rough road, but if you're looking for a beautiful high altitude forested campground that offers solitude and great hiking, you've come to the right place! The worst we can say about it was that we visited in the height of mud season and it made leveling our rig a little tricky as the levelling blocks kept sinking in the soft Dyrt under the weight of our wheels, but we eventually figured it out. There was snow on the ground and snow flurries during our visit. We basically had the whole campground to ourselves on a mid-week evening, maybe two others in the entire campground. Our rig is 28' long, and if the place had been more crowded we may have had trouble finding a spot long enough for us, but given how empty it was we had our pick of multiple sites that worked. Overall a very cool spot off the Highway of Legends. If you're in the vicinity of the Spanish Peaks and looking for some great mountain camping, this is your place!
Traveler
They were super responsive to all our questions! It was a beautiful property along the river. Definitely recommend camping here!
ScoutMany open areas to camp right off the highway. The views of the mountains across the valley are best after the fork in the road. Please pick up extra trash if you use
RangerI 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.
GuideViews are amazing! Very quiet and the star gazing is some of the best. Stayed right on the water. Host was knowledgeable of area and things to do. Red Lake hike was awesome and easy.
Traveler
This is our favorite spot for our annual big family camping trip. It is gorgeous! The views are spectacular. It's nice and cool even in summer. The trout fishing is fun and always a success at the lake. We've only stayed at the developed camp ground once, and it was nice especially with the toilets. We prefer to stay in one of the dispersed areas now, though, because we have such a large group.
ScoutLiked the camp spots (ours was 14). Mark (the camp host) kept everything clean. Beautiful star viewing. 4 mile dirt road was a bit rough bringing my camper. Verizon coverage had 1 bar at the south end.
RangerTent and RV sites are large and spread out. Some sites have livestock pens, but I’m not sure on the campground policies. Hopewell Lake has tables for day picnics and is a popular fishing location. Be prepared for summer monsoon rains.
GuideI actually deleted my other review because I thought I had the wrong campsite but I checked and it’s all good. The only amenity we had was a vault toilet with a nearby water pump, a fire pit, picnic table and bear boxes. The vault toilets were probably the nicest I’ve been too. They were clean and didn’t smell at all.
The view was beautiful and it’s a short hike down to wade in the cool water. I really enjoyed the quiet here. There were only a few other campers and it mostly felt like we had the place to ourselves.
GuideWe stayed here over July 4, 2021. The campground was mostly full until Sunday (July, 4) and then cleared out. It stayed quiet even when full, though. I wondered how rough the roads were, but driving from Castillo to the campground and then on to Hwy 64 east of Cimarron on 1950 was all very doable in a Subaru Ascent towing a trailer despite some heavy rains.
There were pit toilets which were clean, but flies at them got thick as the day warmed up. Flies and mosquitoes were rare at the campsite, though. The campsites were large and surrounded by trees. A few of the outer loop had nice, partial views of the meadow.
There's a nice easy/moderate half mile hike down to the Shuree Ponds which were stocked with trout. it seemed a fair amount of people would drive to the larger of those two ponds for day use fishing. The smaller was reserved for kids's fishing. Both are classied as "Green Chile" waters so only flies or artificial lures with a single, barbless hook are allowed. 2 fish limit.
The area looked like a mecca for wildlife, but we only saw 3 deer in our hikes to and from the ponds and then a muskrat at the pond.
GuideVery nice campground. Camp host, Dawn, was very pleasant. No luck fishing but several people around us were catching very nice sized trout.
Vault toilets were well stocked and clean. Trails near b for hiking and biking
Extra dispersed campsites up dirt road from campground entrance
TravelerVery secluded! Even when full I imagine the spots are far enough apart. If the spots are full keep going down the road! Plenty of dispersed camping! We’ll be back! Beautiful scenery!
GuideCamped here the last 2 nights and it was fantastic. For $25/night it’s a good deal. There’s not clearly marked camping areas, which is both kinda cool and a little disorienting. Some of the camping areas have small, perfectly sized covered picnic table areas which are absolutely wonderful. The campsites are nearly all along a babbling brook, stream, or river. The roads to the entrance, to the campsites, and definitely up to the lakes are best suited if not exclusively suited for trucks and 4WD vehicles. Currently there’s no restroom facilities unless you personally rent a porta-potty to be brought to your campsite. We’ll be coming back. A word for tent campers, at least during my stay the volume of RV’s virtually dominated the park.
TravelerThis is 1 of 2 options for campgrounds in the Valle Vidal area. It is on the West side of the preserve and is equine friendly. This is a large campground, with 36 camping sites. We stayed at #24 which had a nice partial overlook to the opposing valley, mountainside.
This campground is well loved, but clean and my only gripe is the pit toilets are old and in need of replacement. The host did keep them as clean as possible with odor control devices in the stalls.
Our campsite had a very worn and splintering wooden picnic table that really needed replacing. We brought a table and sat at that with our 2 small children.
Overall it is quiet and peaceful with amazing stargazing at night.
There is a walking trail at the back of the campground to get to Surree Ponds. I would say it is of medium difficulty as there is a precarious creek crossing, and it is uphill the whole way back to camp. The view you can get from the meadows and the ponds are gorgeous at sunset.
Word of warning, the road to get here from Amalia becomes very wash boarded. It is a long road to get here and is wash boarded the whole way. The drive through Rio Costilla Canyon is gorgeous and if you only can go that far it is well worth it.
TravelerThis is the first campground I’ve found in New Mexico where I felt like I was camping in Colorado, it was so green and beautiful! The camp sites were nicely spaced, so we felt like we were primitive camping, but it was nice to have a picnic table, especially because we have a small child. Family friendly. We wish we would have brought our 4x4 vehicle because we had initially planned to camp at little blue lake, but my Subaru Impreza was not powerful enough/didn’t have high enough clearance to make it up the road that lead to the lake! We are definitely planning on camping back to check out the lakes. The only negative thing was that we found some trash at our site from the previous campers. Also, some cows woke us up early in the morning, which was cool, but also scared the shit out of us!
ScoutVery small campground but sites are not right on top of each other. Being that you are at 9500 ft voice's do carry so that is one drawback. I will continue to come here as it is so very pretty!!
Horse camping in New Mexico offers a unique opportunity to explore the stunning landscapes while enjoying the company of your equine friends. With a variety of campgrounds catering to horse campers, you'll find the perfect spot to set up camp and ride the trails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Costilla, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Costilla, NM is Rio Costilla Park with a 4.8-star rating from 8 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Costilla, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 11 equestrian camping locations near Costilla, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
