Best Tent Camping near Eagle Nest, NM

Cimarron Canton State Park is a wonderful place to stay, right on the Cimarron River. Bring your fishing gear and license for some relaxing fishing. Some of the sites are immediately adjacent to the river. My favorite campground is Tolby, the Westernmost. It has a Ranger/Information Station in the east end of the campground. It has flush toilets and sinks, but no shower. This is my favorite, because I love to hike and backpack. Just south across Highway 64 from the campground entrance is the Tolby Trailhead. The Tolby Trail takes you all the way back to Tolby Meadow on an excellent trail. A good spot for overnight tent camping. Tolby campground is also just minutes from Eagle Nest, NM and within easy range of Angel Fire, Red River, and a little less than an hour from Taos.

There are two other campgrounds for RVs, Maverick and Ponderosa, as well as one more for tent camping. Maverick sits right next to a pair of gravel pit lakes for added Fishing opportunities. Ponderosa is across the street from that, but is more like a parking lot with painted camping slots around its perimeter.

In the town of Cimarron I recommend dining at the Historic St. James hotel (very haunted) or lunch at the Creemee. Stop in at the headquarters of Philmont Scout Ranch for the National Scounting Museum and a Tour of the Villa Philimonte (Waite Phillips’ mansion). Also recommended is the Tooth of Time Traders at Philmont. It’s a camping/hiking store that is like an REI.

If you’re coming via Raton, the Colfax Tavern between Raton and Cimarron at Cold Beer New Mexico is a great place to stop for food and drinks.

This is one of the nicest state parks we have visited. Eagles Nest is about 19 miles west of Taos near the Carson National Forest. The campground is on the west side of a beautiful lake I the town of Eagles Nest. This is one of the most beautiful places in Northern New Mexico and well worth the visit. The campground caters to the RV and boating community. They have first class facilities including two boat launches, group meeting venues, and a huge visitors center. The facilities are well maintained and have been recently upgraded. The sites are spacious but exposed with no tree cover or privacy. The view more than makes up for these negatives. The altitude of the site provides for a nice summer climate and a frozen winter park near top class downhill skiing. You will need to make reservations well in advance to get a spot at this popular venue. They are typically full throughout the weak. They have fresh water taps throughout the site, a dump station, and nice site toilets and showers.

I liked the small roadside campground in the Carson National Forest. It’s located near some of the smaller ski slopes about 30 miles south of Taos NM on Highway 518 near Rock Wall New Mexico. The National Forest Service campground has 10 sites along a nice mountain stream. The campground is just off the highway with some privacy between the campsites. They have picnic tables and fire rings and clean Pit toilets. This site did not have a host and works from a self service. The hiking and fishing are the highlights here along with the scenery. I also appreciated this was mostly empty in the peak summer season. This is a nice option if you want to avoid the crowds a do some trout fishing in a relatively quite location. The only downside is the noise from the highway.

Perfectly located on a picturesque a beautiful lake with the Sangre de Cristo mountains as a backdrop. The drive into the park isn’t that impressive, but it just makes me more appreciative of the beauty of this place, which is set behind several RV/trailer parks. The campground is small with ample space between sites. Each site has a gravel pad, covered picnic table set on a concrete pad and with a view of the serene and pristine lake. There’s a pier and boat ramp, a day use area and an office/store. The campground gate closes at night, with an on site ranger. 

Awesome wildlife in the area. The deer would come by every evening and the prairie dogs were constantly entertaining. There’s a hiking trail worth checking out too.

This was the perfect place to spend the Fourth of July holiday. The parade in Eagle Nest was perfect small town America! Must see in the area is the Vietnam Veteran’s Museum, the Cumbres & Toltec railroad and nearby Chama and Angel Fire.

Hamlet went to visit his fun cousins for the weekend -- Diego, Thelma, Louise, Frida, Ralphie, Sunnie, and others– all vintage campers available for rent at this amazingly cool space just outside of Taos, NM. 

It was Thanksgiving weekend, and while many of the campers were fully booked, there was lots of space in the dry camping area just beyond the vintage trailers. There’s lots of room here for dozens of campers, vans and RV’s. There are no trees or shade structures in the dry camping area, just a few randomly placed fire rings. But camping here means you have access to the very clean bathrooms/showers, water, and other services at the "hotel." 

Surprise!  The weather went from day-time highs in the 60’s to blizzard conditions with overnight lows in the teens.  We busted out our Airskirts Insulation to help keep our floor warmer and our heated air inside. 

It’s a great place to base your Taos adventures, hiking near the Rio Grande Gorge, or going further up into the mountains. Nearby activities include fishing, rafting, cycling, mountain biking, and skiing in winter.  Across the road from the campground is the Taos Mesa Brewery where you can get amazing craft beers and some great food. 

It was the perfect place to hang out on a cold, wintery night.

Taos also has all the restaurants and services that you might need, and some of the best southwest eateries you’ll find anywhere. The campground is ideal for solar power, as is the New Mexico weather. We also had no problem connecting with Starlink and had LTE in the campground.  If you love the combination of vintages, views, and brews...check this fun place out!

Reservations are a must on summer weekends with some one night only walk-ups available. Large but sparse tree cover and fairly close sites limit privacy. Campground is on the banks of the Red River which was running high from extraordinary snow melt and had taken out a dam between the lakes. These circumstances limited fly fishing success but we still saw people bringing in a catch from time to time. The camp is close enough for day trips to Red River, Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, Taos, and the Enchanted Circle. The Scenic Canyons contract camp hosts from neighboring campgrounds went the extra mile to cover this campground when its host fell ill and did a marvelous job maintaining the grounds and vault toilets and keeping fire wood available. Campground accommodates anything from tents to large RVs in most sites with a truck or tent area only as well. Recreation.gov does need to refine its on-line info about extra vehicles. There is an extra vehicle charge of $5.00 per day even if the site info says 2 vehicles are allowed. Overall, it’s a very nice place to camp.