Best Campgrounds near Counselor, NM

Reading through earlier reviews a few concerns jumped out: the road in is a decent gravel road, but side roads often require 4x4 and may not be suitable for trailers.  

The rough drive is intentional, to keep out too much traffic for Navajo who live nearby.  Please do remember you're on another people's homeland, and treat all interactions with respect, like a polite guest should. 

Most park staff are local hires from the Navajo Reservation, which surrounds the park.  They'll be some bilagaana (white) rangers too, most likely LEOs and any archeology staff.  The astro-archeology park staff talks by the telescope are well worth it, and show how the ruins line up with canyon walls and celestial phenomenon.  

Chaco is a dark skies park, so night sky gazing is fantastic on clear nights when the moon isn't shining. 

There are ruins right in the campground and you can hike to other ruins directly from camp as well.  I've found a bicycle the perfect way to get around as the whole park loop is too far to easily walk and traffic slow, with parking sometimes limited at peak times. 

Chaco is one of the few archeological parks where one can easily access amazing monumental architecture: in nearby Mesa Verde most sites are off limits or require ranger guided tours.  

For those who are interested in learning about Ancestral Puebloan cultures, this is literally a sacred site.  Indigenous people, the descendants of Chaco's creators, still live nearby and make use of Chaco today for ceremonies.  The place deserves respect from all who visit. 

Fall is the best time to visit, combining the golden cottonwoods and bright yellow Aspen foliage with cool nights for easier sleep and no bugs.  Spring works too, but can be windy, with winters being sometimes frigid and summers often broiling. 

Off season makes scoring a spot easier as well, and even winter will have reasonable camping temperatures some weeks.

We stayed here just after Memorial Day weekend in late May, and again in mid-June. Such a great campsite! Although at 8,000 feet of elevation, prepare for cold nights and intermittent rain, hail, and high winds, even during the "summer" season. We experienced day time temps of 70s - 80s and nighttime drops to the low 40s on both trips. There was a burn notice in effect in May, which was lifted for our June trip - probably because the significant afternoon hail storms on the first two days of our trip nicely saturated everything!  ;) Day time weather was usually clear until noon, and then intermittent afternoon storms would set in, usually clearing by 6 pm. Basically, typical New Mexican mountain weather! 

The sites are very well maintained, and the Camp Host was incredibly friendly and made regular rounds. FYI - there is NO cell signal at any of the tent sites, although we were able to get a signal (Verizon) within 50 feet of the ranger station if you need to check your phone.

A note about the various campsites. There are four main loops past the RV/electric hookup section. Loop 1 (sites 1 - 9), loop 2 (sites 10- 14), loop 3 (sites 16 -18), and loop 4 (sites 19 -30). Each of the four main areas have their pros/cons and would be ideal depending on personal preference. 

Loop 1 - this is where we stayed in both May and June. It's the easiest walk to the lake, but also has the oldest vault toilet. This toilet locked itself a couple times after people left, and we had to ask the camp host to open it back up. Ultimately, he taped the lock in the unlocked position which worked fine. Several of the toilets have been upgraded throughout the site, but this one is still on the list.  

Loop 2 - there's a playground next to site 14 and this is a GREAT loop for folks with kids. If you're not a kid person, you'd probably prefer a different loop.  

Loop 3 - this is a beautiful loop with a brand-new vault toilet. With only sites 16, 17, and 18 sharing this loop, it seemed a little quieter.  

Loop 4 - the final loop. Furthest away from the lake, you'll get less traffic from folks going up and down the road to their site. 

Honestly, all of the sites are beautiful and your favorite site will depend a lot on personal preference. The river runs along the south side of the campsite road and we saw folks fishing - and catching fish! - at those campsites that backed  up to the river.  

This is a beautiful campground and we will definitely be back!