Best Dispersed Camping near Counselor, NM

This is a free dispersed camping site located right along the Chama River and the colorful scenery. Super starry sky at night as you're in a remote area.

Be sure to drive the 13 miles to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert at the end of the road. It's built to reflect the location and the scenery is stunning in this off grid location. (This isn't a religious post. The monks welcome anyone to visit this unique site.)

Here's a video of a drive through the Whirlpool dispersed camping area: https://youtu.be/cvV_IwcH2l8

This is a free campground with bathrooms near by. There is also some more dispersed camping in the BLM areas, but 4x4 is recommended to reach them. There is no visitors office and the landmarks/features are not marked on the trail map. 

This is a great place to stay.

We had the goal of exploring New Mexico back country and Bisti, which we did! The Dyrt directions to the trailhead here are perfect. There were a few folks camping at the parking lot and there is a relatively clean pit toilet there though bring TP. We drove past the lot and got over a ditch no problem with our Tacoma. Past the second lot there is dispersed camping. We picked a great spot on the left. Nearby our spot 100 yards were very cool rock formations. We hiked in the badlands and found some neat formations and petrified wood though nothing like the beautiful photos published online. It was still worth it for the unique experience. We did a 6 mile out/back hike with 2 dogs. Flat but hot and windy at times. Some of the wind got intense at our camp spot. All in all this is a worthwhile experience if you like getting off the beaten path and exploring something different. We drove from here to Alien Throne. GPS was spotty but got us there and we had on/off service in Bisti.

Traveling to Colorado from Albuquerque NM and this was a perfect place to camp. Arrived early Friday afternoon and got the only spot left our 26' toy hauler would fit in. 

If you get there later in the afternoon on a weekend you will have a hard time finding a place in the official camping spots but you can disperse camp if the camp ground area is full. 

We had good cell service with Verizon. It was cold for us but we had a nice fire to keep us warm.

This free campground positioned us well to beat the heat and hike through the badlands first thing in the morning! Pit toilets available next to the parking lot as well as a pavilion area with tables.

A handful of dispersed sites were available once in the BLM boundaries as well as plenty of space in the trailhead parking lot to spend the night.

The hike to the various features of the badlands are not marked, however good GPS signal allowed us to plug in coordinates to follow during the hike. Land forms looked like they should be from a different planet!

This camping spot is awesome but can be busy at times. One down side being close to the river is the bugs, literally thousands of them can make it unpleasant. Outside of that the spot on the river is fantastic for viewing pleasure. You can certainly find valuable relaxation here.

I was pretty confused getting here, google and Apple Maps seemed to struggle with me coming from Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah trailhead. It kept trying to take me down a road covered in cattle that led to de-na-zin parking lot. Finally found my way here by using online instructions from the blm website instead of using the pin. Once there it was really nice though. Plenty of stars and a bathroom to use, which is always appreciated at a free spot.

Bisti was magical and I’m so glad I got to experience before we move out of New Mexico. We got to do a bunch of exploring and then headed straight off the “trail” to make dinner in our camper.

We stayed here on a Thursday night and shared the parking lot with a handful of other campers. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked with TP.

We were not able to have a campfire but did witness a magical sunset. This area is such a gem!

there is no trash collection out here. Please pack it out!

Just arrived at Angel Peak dispersed campground near Bloomfield NM. It's Monday July 9th 2024. We stayed one night. The gravel road from HWY 550 is in good shape. Only one other camper in the entire area. This is completely dry camping. No potable water nor electricity. However, each site has a fire ring, picnic table and shade shelter. Everything is very tidy. Only a small bit of litter in the fire ring. Clean vault toilet nearby. Strong 5G TMobile cell signal.

Campsite got very muddy river was no clear what so ever. Otherwise quite nice

Stayed here for about a week while we visited Chaco Canyon and Valley of Dreams. This is a good camp site and does fill up quickly. We got there at 10:30 pm on a Thursday and we were lucky enough to grab the last spot.

We didn't stay at this campsite, but it was one we were considering for this adventure and I'm really glad we decided on a different one because we did drive down the road that this is on and it was rough. Our 30ft tow behind would have been completely rearranged. However there were a couple brave vans parked there.

This campsite is beautiful and right next to the lake. Perfect for some chill camping. There are multiple clearing along this road. Each one is big enough for several cars and even a couple groups. The clearings are far enough apart that you can make some noise without bothering the other campers. You need a bit of clearance to be able to drive the road but not much as my Crosstrek did it great. Even on July 4th this site wasn’t busy. We only saw one other camper since most people choose to pay for a campground right on the lake

We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were here for a few days in mid April. The roads in can be pretty rough in places, but not too awful bad in others for dirt and gravel road anyway. I wouldn’t attempt it in anything other than a 4WD if the area were to get any significant rain, as the ruts in the road were pretty significant. There are basically two ways to get here, one is at Nageezi on CR 7800 to NM 57(aka ISR 451 on some maps) from US 550, which is the way we came in. The 1st 4 of the 15 miles are paved, the rest is gravel and/or dirt. I was able to go between 20 and 30 mph most of the way, except in some really rough sections and at a couple of the cow guards. The other way, that BLM suggests on their website https://www.blm.gov/visit/ah-shi-sle-pah-wilderness, is to just take NM 57 off of US 550 several miles north of Nageezi, which we tried on the way out. Parts were better, but most of it was just as bad and a longer drive than CR 7800. The last 5 miles were“paved” or used to be and is some of the worst parts. The entrance to the trailhead is a fairly tight turn from the east, narrow, somewhat U-shaped and sporty(see photo looking NE, which really doesn’t do it justice), but after dropping our tow, we managed to get our 36’ MH up and in on the second attempt. Arriving from the east, I would suggest trying to turn around as we did and entering the trailhead from the west. To get to the wash and hoodoos it’s about a 0.6 mile walk from the trailhead. The trailhead area is nothing special, but the Wilderness Area, wash and hoodoos are really cool.

AT&T coverage was actually quite good, with 1-2 Bars of 5G service and speeds of up to 9 MB/s without a booster. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and Starlink had up to 10 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.

Nice quiet FREE place to stay the night even though there were quite a few campers. Camping is in the parking lot area and basically any pull off you can find a space. If you’re in a tent just hike off anywhere and pitch it for the night. There are no trail markers so just be aware while exploring the very cool formations. Off hwy 371, at the T in the road turn left (Google maps said to turn right just FYI) continue down to parking lot or along the road.

There are pit toilets, no water or garbage. I was able to get AT&T and Verizon cell reception.

I came here at the height of summer and had no problems finding a site, but I feel like I got lucky! This area is popular with kayakers and the roads leading to this area are busy with trailers. Seems a given, since it’s close to the river!

I found a site right next to the Rio and even though it was muddy, I still appreciated being able to get in to cool down a bit. My site had plenty of room for my truck and hub tent. Only real complaint is the trash the previous campers left behind.

Days were hot as they are in NM but the nights were pleasant. People were having a good time but were chill at night, something I always appreciate at free sites.

Roads were good and any vehicle can make it. Just go slow as usual! I had a sparse cell signal but didn’t want it anyway.

Clean bathrooms and plenty of sites- maybe 12 or so?- lots of space to spread out. A great option for camping along the Rio.

It was getting late after a full day of driving and I happened to find this site. No amenities, but we were the only people in the area. We were just thankful for a place to stop. Lots of sage brush and we had a full moon that night and the area was lit up l, bright as a cloudy day!

We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were here for a few days in mid April. The road in is rough to start and is a little washboardy in places, but not too bad most of the way for dirt and gravel road anyway. Angel CG has a few sites, but most were taken, particularly the one amply big enough for us and with a great view. We found an irregular camping area on the NW side of the road 0.6 miles from the formal CG. After dropping our tow, we managed to get our 36’ MH up and into it on the second attempt and then did a bit of jockeying around to find a spot reasonable level. The ground is rather soft in some places. I would not recommend this spot unless you are very confident negotiating tight spaces with your rig. The view of the area is pretty awesome though. There are 3 other picnic/overlook area, but I’m not sure if overnight stays are allowed there.

AT&T coverage was just ok, with 1-2 Bars of 5G service and speeds of up to 2 MB/s without a booster. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and Starlink had up to 9 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.

I saw this area on a couple apps and didn’t get out here until 7:30 on a Friday so I just went with the first area I got to- a picnic area about halfway between 550 and the campground. A couple other people already set up here but plenty of space for someone just sleeping in her truck. There’s a handful of picnic tables but only one you can park right next to. They have shelters over each table if you’re a hammocker but given that it’s on the edge of a canyon it’s very windy. I also read some reviews about how washboarded the road is- it’s hardly bumpy. Not sure about when it’s wet but anyone should be able to get back here when it’s dry. Absolutely stunning, though.

Went for the eclipse arrived here late. Sleeping in the prius so was easy to find a spot. Washboard road but managed without issue. Service is available though not the best coverage I was able to stream.

Sights were incredible from site, easy to find. Woke up to amazing views.

Campground is a bit more than 5 miles down the smoothest dirt road we’ve ever traveled. Clean vault toilets and covered picnic tables at some sites. Fantastic views.

This place is haunting and beautiful. Very dry, very much a sun-baked desert. The soil at the top of the bluffs was oddly soft and puffy, and I’m honestly not sure how they haven’t been destroyed by foot traffic and erosion. That aside, there isn’t a good path to all the various landmarks and monuments so I highly recommend getting a hiking map or downloading one before you get to the site. Other reviewers said they had service but once we left the paved highway we didn’t have any, and since I hadn’t downloaded the map, I wasn’t able to find the big hoodoo that I wanted to see.

There is a large flat area that is great for tents, and many of the campers who parked there went further into the actual badlands to camp on the hills.

The covered picnic area has three tables and a grill.

An interesting feature is a tiny stream of clear water that meanders around the picnic area, but leaves all the plants it touches covered in a crusty white stuff.