For those who want to experience Dexter, but still want the creature comforts of home, consider glamping for your trip. Glamping is not only a fun alternative to traditional tent camping, but also allows you to pack more or less gear as you see fit. The Dyrt's camping photos, reviews, and tips are an easy way to find the right New Mexico glamping spot for you.
Located just 14 miles southeast of Roswell, Bottomless Lakes State Park is your place for bottomless fun! Enjoy non-motorized boating in your kayak or canoe, camp, fish, picnic, swim, hike, go birding or even scuba dive! The unique lakes at this park are sinkholes, ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. The greenish-blue color created by aquatic plants is what gives the lakes the illusion of great depth.
$18 / night
$9 - $15 / night
From the KOA website: Kick back with family and friends at this beautiful desert oasis built in 2000. This award-winning KOA is big rig friendly: All sites are huge 30/50-amp pull thrus with free Wi-Fi and free cable TV. The staff will spoil you as you enjoy the 2,000-square-foot community room, meals delivered to your site, a beautiful commercial laundry, outstanding restrooms, a fenced dog park and a heated pool. From this KOA in the heart of SE New Mexico, visit Carlsbad Caverns, Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park, Sitting Bull Falls Recreation Area, Roswell's International UFO Museum and White Sands National Monument. Check out the Robert H. Goddard rocket collection at the Roswell Museum and Art Center and the "Billy the Kid" history at the campground. A horse hotel also is available. See how this KOA is going green with the help of a wind turbine. Pool: March 15 - October 15. Max pull thru: 75 feet. Your hosts: Scott, Susan and Brian Bacher.
Guide
Although a bit rough around the edges, if you are traveling in SE New Mexico, this location is great for an overnighter. When we arrived, all of the full hook-up sites were taken (looked like long term locals). I called the number at the un-manned office and the gentleman who answered was very friendly and let us know that we could camp anywhere around the lake for $9. The location is close to a nice residential area, so it’s relatively quiet with the exception of the occasional train passing by. There is a scent of cow manure depending on which way the wind is blowing; but it’s not unbearable. Overall, it was a nice place to stop over for the night as we were heading towards the Carlsbad Caverns the following day.
Ranger
Reservations only, but we were able to reserve online while surveying campground to see what was open: https://newmexicostateparks.reserveamerica.com/ (on way north so stopped for a night, getting there late afternoon).
Pretty basic. Most sites have no shade except for over picnic table. Lots of flying things: flies, mosquitos. Many stickers (so walk dog carefully).
--->At 02:30 in morning a drone very noisily buzzed us and sounded like it circled us for what seemed like 5 min. Not sure what that was about.... Racoon walked up to door screen and pawed at it while we were making dinner.
Guide
Nice gravel sites. Wide roads to get into sites. Pool, playground. Restrooms OK. Only issue not great Wifi.
GuideReservations are needed and can be made online through the NM State Park website. The drive into the camp area was a little bumpy. Watch the curves! At the time we arrived the water was a beautiful aqua color with a clear sunny sky. The rest of our time there was overcast which gave us a nice break from the heat. The beach area was not crowded at all during our time here. Bring your kayak/canoe/SUP. They rent pedal boats. The mosquitos were out around dusk, so be sure to have bug spray! We would definitely stay again.
TravelerOverall a good campsite, some minor drawbacks. Site is close to highway, so lots of road noise throughout the day and night. Contained tent hexagon shelter structure was nice, allowed for contained and divided campsites. Marginal shade and pretty dusty.
GuideLong ways from the caverns. Wifi is weak/slow/intermittent.
LegendRoom between sites. Most sites are gravel with shaded picnic tables. Peaceful nights.
ScoutThe intake person was respectful which is my reason for 2 stars and not 1 star. I left my belongings to run to the store. I came back to everything gone. Even my daughter's bible! I am surprised by this. I had just dropped the payment in the payment box for the stay so I lost the $27 too. I didn't stick around for the police because I immediately felt unsafe. I'm disappointed. We had planned to enjoy the views and relax.
RangerHasn't changed much in the 7 years between visits. Very little shade but neat to see the lakes. Water is clear and I bet feels really great in the summer heat. Still pretty full considering the time of year. Local sites are just down the road at the Bitter Lake Rec area. There is also a 3 mile bike ride.
Scout$14+$4 ReserveAmerica Fee This is a local park for us. We were in Site 19 which is a Handicap site with a concrete pad (RA did not specify that this was a handicap site). Other sites are packed gravel. Site was a "short" site and close to the bathhouse which we did not use. Sites are 50/30/20 with a water hookup. Only a few sites have sewer. Dump station is at the entrance of the campground. The deer flies were not a problem during our visit (they are worse around the salt cedar trees). We were only bit twice and we did not use insect repellant. Since we could not check in until after 4PM, we parked over in the picnic area by the lake. We knew this and had planned it. Dogs are not allowed on the "sand beach" but there are plenty of access points around the campground& picnic area edges of the lake that pets can use. Goat's Head stickers are a problem here, as they are in most of the desert. Our dog wears "shoes" to protect her feet from the stickers and from hot pavement. Wifi was available in the park but we could not connect. We stayed in a Truck Camper 7/4 - 7/5/2023.
TravelerThe red rocks and contrasting blue lake make it a beautiful place to camp. The sites are roomy enough that even when full it doesn’t feel crowded.
GuideFine campground. Geared mostly for RVs. Not very big so books up quickly. Reservations online. $14 + tax and fees = $18ish for the night. Nice lake area. Outdoor beach showers.
ScoutGood shower. WiFi not very Stanley.
LegendWe are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were in site 5 for 4 nights in late March. The campground is nice, well maintained and quiet CG. It was quite windy the day we arrived with wind speeds of 25 mph and gust up to 45 mph, which kicked up a little dust from time to time, but the weather was beautiful otherwise. Lea Lake is deep blue and crystal clear.
AT&T coverage was excellent, with 1-3 Bars of 5G service and speeds up to 12 MB/s. 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 20 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.
GuideFor just a spot for the night it costs $9 which is basically nothing, but it really should be free. The place smells SO strong of all the poop from the birds and wow it’s windy. I’m from Idaho and have dealt with that kind of thing a lot on the little lakes up there but omg it’s awful here. On the bright side it is very quiet and pretty with easy access to stores around. I would not pay to stay here unless you’re desperate and don’t mind not going outside
RangerVery nice little state park. We used it as a stop over. Lots of scenery, quite the change from most of Eastern NM. Would be a nice place to spend a weekend in the summer when it's warm enough to use the lake.
GuideIt’s twisty roads getting to the park and no where is made for anyone with a trailer. Tight spaces, gravel, covered picnic tables. Water and power, surprised booking fee. Makes it not on the cheap side anymore. Haven’t found the dump station, but it’s got to be close,
TravelerArrived in the Dark during December and it was one of the darkest ingresses at a KOA I’ve experienced. The office was about to close due to me arriving later than expected. Staff was very kind and got me situated.
Got to the site and seems the neighbor parked in my designated but all good, I’m just wanting my boots up for the night[lucky I didn’t have a larger displacement haha, all good).
Facilities were immaculate and warm during this arctic blast.
A great place to help bridge west to east travels in my opinion.
RangerNo complaints here. The roads and gravel sites were level. Some of the sites were out of commission due to maintenance as was the campground bathhouse. Facilities in the adjoining day use area were up and working. Well spaced sites, would stay here again.
GuideWe stayed in the D section. I have included a video. Very quiet, no one else was back here. Beautiful sunsets and night sky.
TravelerBeautiful location! A bit of a drive off the main road, but well worth it. A bit buggy when we visited (July) but there are hiking trails and beautiful views and Lea Lake is open for swimming. Our site had trash in it from the previous campers. We went ahead and cleaned up after them. We only stayed for a night, but it was quiet and beautiful.
LegendFine site, but the flies were outrageous. More on that later. Cheap at only $14 per night and a $4 booking fee.
Site had WiFi which worked well enough so that was awesome! Cell service for ATT& Verizon worked fine.
Not all sites had water hookup— make sure to check when booking.
There is lake access for swimming and paddle boating, and other activities where you’d need to bring your own gear.
Bathhouses we’re fine. No soap while I visited—and push button showers without warm water. But, showers and toilets worked well enough!
Site was not level, but with the help of levelers we got there.
Covered picnic table at sites. Enough space to not feel squished. Not particularly scenic, but not a crummy gravel lot on the side of the road either.
I saw this in other reviews but did not really understand the extent of flies and horseflies at this site. If I stood outside for more than 1 minute I was bitten multiple times by horseflies. Opened the door the get in and out do the trailer and literally had seven flies inside within the seconds it took to get inside.
GuideThis KOA will start texting you in advance of your arrival, which I found a bit tedious, but it came in handy during our stay.
Check in was simple and informative. The pool is open and was clean. It definitely came in handy during this heat!
The campground is based about an hour away from Carlsbad Caverns, which worked for us so we could drop our rig and make the drive the next morning. Only about 20 minutes from the town of Carlsbad.
On our second night, there was a wicked storm and we started heading loud booms. The park was thoughtful enough to text everyone after hours to reassure us that the pecan fields up the road use air cannons to prevent hail. Not sure about the effectiveness but was so glad to know what was happening.
We would certainly return if we ever need full hook ups in the area.
TravelerEasy to find and get to. The park is quiet, and has a few nice trails.
ScoutI bought a year pass during covid for New Mexico State park in 2019. I only used it 2 times and parks shut down. Now due to fires many parks have had to close. I do not recommend buying a year pass . I received no notification of any compensation for not being able to use the parks.
ScoutExpensive but you knew that, it's a KOA and you don't mind if it's full of amenities and clean right? Well it was not.
The three bathrooms, that's right three, in the campground need renovating but the one in the clubhouse was clean.
The Campground is a dirt and gravel parking lot with a few small trees. Around the office was well manicured with a koi pond benches and some grass so 1st impression was ok. butt..
The dog park was tiny which is confusing because the property is so large no way was my dog going to run in the dog run.
The camp store had astronomical prices. I'm used to high camp store prices but it had ridiculous markups.
The pool was closed it was record heat May.
No trash barrels except for your poop bags along the dog walk which was a dirt road not on but beside the campground which BTW when someone drove down it everyone near was dust bathed.
My wife signed us in and latter told me we were charged $10 early fee because we were an hour early...Really? She didn't want to let me know. They wouldn't have charged us if I went in. BTW we left 3 hours before check out so ....?
I'm bumping it up to three stars because there were so many birds and bunnies.
ScoutWe have stayed here in November as well as summer. November was the best, ducks and geese flocks fill the skies in late afternoon. Summer, so hot and most sites only have 30a, only 5 sites have sewer but we carry a rhino tank so if no sewer, we still do not have to move to dump. The lake is nice, really crowded in summer. Most of the rangers are really nice. We have watched a power player but only one time, rude.
We use this place while traveling west to East and 12 miles from Roswell, fun place. The host are always great, very nice and helpful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Dexter, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Dexter, NM is Bottomless Lakes State Park Campground with a 4.2-star rating from 65 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Dexter, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 3 glamping camping locations near Dexter, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
