Best Equestrian Camping near El Rito, NM

Equestrian Camping Reviews near El Rito, NM

92 Reviews of 14 El Rito Campgrounds

• 

  marycatmathis ..

  Ranger

  May. 29, 2020

  Oak Point Campground

  Lovely, Beachy, Scenic

  These coordinates are a rough estimate, but this entire forrest road is filled with amazing campsites you can simply pull off and camp in. currently there’s a fire ban, so it makes it hard to stay warm at night, but the stars are amazing. it’s quiet. it’s lovely. there’s canyon walls for miles. it’s really amazing. some of these pics are from the nearby canyon that’s a bit of a walk up the road, but most are from our campground. loved our first experience camping in New Mexico!

• 

  Karen N.

  Guide

  Aug. 21, 2023

  Santa Barbara Campground

  Beautiful weekend

  Stay at Santa Barbara Campground in Northern New Mexico. Was a beautiful spot. Road to Campground was well taken care of Beautiful trails throughout area

• 

  Beth B.

  Guide

  Aug. 16, 2018

  Rio Chama Campground

  Great place to watch the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Train

  Rio Chama RV park in Chama, New Mexico, is at the intersection of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the upper Rio Chama. A nice place to stay May 1 thru mid October. The train passing by twice a day is an exciting event and it's a short walk to the train yard.

  Pull through sites have great shade and full hookups with 30 or 50 amp electrical service. Spacious tent sites with full service restrooms nearby. Pet friendly with dog park and free wifi. A great place for fishing, train watching and relaxing.

• 

  Tyler G.

  Guide

  Jun. 22, 2016

  Hopewell Lake Campground

  Wonderful Campground in the scenic Tusas Mountains

  My wife and I have stayed at Hopewell Lake twice now. The first time we stayed here, we stumbled upon this little gem of a site while driving from Durango, CO to Taos, NM. It was enchanting enough that we made sure to make it back for an opportunity to take in the scenery and relax during a long weekend. The only issue we ran into was an abundance of mosquitos, but this should be expected during the late Spring/early Summer in northern New Mexico and can be easily addressed with a citronella candle and a bit of bug spray. Our most recent stay was on one of those rare nights where you can pull off the rain fly and not worry about a midnight downpour, which left us with a wonderful view of the stars, and the sites are private enough that, as long as you don't set up next to the table, it's comfortable with an open tent and away from prying eyes.

  The campground is nice, very well maintained, and the site host is friendly and helpful. The grounds are a

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• 

  marycatmathis ..

  Ranger

  Jun. 17, 2020

  Oak Point Campground

  yet another amazing site at Oak Point

  I've stayed here twice now since being in New Mexico. This site is right on the water, overlooks the canyon, and is close to a hike to the right side of the canyon through a dried up riverbed. I *love* staying here. It's so peaceful, quiet, enough trees to keep you shaded from the harsh sun here. The road is runner friendly, so you can go on a jog if you like. Its definitely a campsite for people looking to strictly hang out. 

  views and sunsets are EPIC. Stay here instead of the packed Rio Chama campground if you're a casual camper who doesn't need amenities. And pick up your toilet paper so this place stays nice!

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• D

  Dorrs T.

  Scout

  Jul. 28, 2025

  Iron Gate Campground

  Not as great as I thought it would be.

  Based on the reviews I thought this place would be a cool oasis up in the trees. Alas, it's not. There's a loop with 14 total sites. Unfortunately, at least half the sites in the inner ring are unusable because of road runoff making it tough to get to them, and we have a Toyota Tacoma. As a result, they do not get used and are, therefore, overgrown with New Mexico ground cover, which is not comparable to soft grass. That immediately bumps it down to about 10 sites. When we arrived, there was one site available that we could access. It was behind the main trailhead parking area and completely shaded. All in all, not bad, just not our ideal choice since it's right there close to any and all foot traffic. Luckily, as we walked the rest of the loop to see if there was anything else, a couple was just finishing packing up so we were able to snag their spot (#13), which we felt was the best one. Score! 

  Now, let's talk the road to get there. Absolutely do not try to take a camper of any size to this campground unless it's a legit overland type tear or squaredrop, ideally with an articulating hitch. People are not kidding when they say that's not a good idea. We had our Tacoma in 4L and I'm honestly not sure how some 2WD vehicles make it. There are many spots where the incline is pretty good, a number of deep crevices as a result of water runoff, many sections that are absolutely one lane only, and at least 6 spots where there was a small pond of standing water to drive through. Were any of the ponds show stoppers, no, but the water in one dip came up past the bottom of our doors. All in all, the road is no joke. Yes, I get this is a forest road, but the road snakes through multiple pieces of residential property (albeit they are probably summer homes but we saw people at almost every house when we drove past), and there's a hiking trailhead at the campground, so I expected it to be not THAT bad. In my book, it's not officially 'offroading' but it's worse than other forest service roads we've been on. Oh, and the couple residents we passed driving in their vehicles (you can tell by looking at them they are not campers or hikers) made it abundantly clear they weren't happy with us being on their road. All in all, nice campground with great trailheads but there are too many other beautiful places to hike and camp in NM for us to want to go back.

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• 

  Jeff K.

  Guide

  Apr. 28, 2020

  Borrego Mesa Campground

  Great campsite!!

  Good road all the way in. About a 15min drive from the highway. Only 5 or 6 sites. Close to the Rio Mario Trail trailhead. Campsite is at elevation over 8,000ft so it can get chilly at night. Worked great for tent camping. Sites have a small horse pen but you would need to make a gate on them. Not good for big LQ horse trailers.

• 

  Steve & Ashley G.

  Legend

  Aug. 16, 2019

  Agua Piedra Campground

  Great Northern New Mexico Camp

  We stayed at this site on the way back to Texas from our Colorado trip this summer. This is a great National Forest Campground south of Taos in the Carson Forest. The campground is just off the highway and situated in a beautiful mountain pine forest and next to a great trout stream. You have great shade during the hotter summer months. It’s far enough away from the highway that you don’t hear the traffic. It has a huge meadow and group camp site which look fantastic. The individual sites have some privacy between the sites and come equipped with fire pits and picnic tables. We made a reservation but the camp had a number of open sites in the peak summer season. The highlight here is the proximity of great hiking to nearby lakes and fishing in the trout stream. They had great facilities including clean pit toilets and some historic log cabins. They have a camp host and the sites accommodate tents and smaller vans and campers. I would give this another visit on our next trip to NM.

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• 

  marine J.

  Guide

  Jun. 14, 2024

  RV Park at HIPICO Santa Fe

  Great location close to Santa Fe

  This is a very spacious private campground southwest of Santa Fe with access to public land. Located 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe. There are probably 50 sites with restrooms and showers. I saw a few tent but this is really geared toward RVs. They have discounts if you stay 4 to 6 days it is 10% off and 7 to 14 days it is 15% off. There is really nothing to it but it is so spacious and quiet, great vibe and the staff is super nice and helpful. They offer overnight stabling for horses too.