Best Dispersed Camping near Gallina, NM

My friends and I were climbing at the Cattle Wall all day, and decided we wanted to disperse camp. While we pulled up to Jemez camping nearby, the park rangers told us it was closed because of Covid, but we could go down the road to this unmarked, unnamed, dispersed camp site. 

when we did we drove to the left, followed the path until we saw an opened gate, and turned up to a site on the right. It was well-used and had a fire pit, but you're not allowed to have fires right now. 

We wandered down to a cliff, and the most BEAUTIFUL view awaited us. If it was known, it would be a better view than the jemez falls and people would FLOCK to it. Instead, it was our campsite, free, and people-less. This is just a new mexico thing, I guess. finding best kept secrets everywhere. 

PS: weather was perfect, no sounds from anywhere in the campsite, completely amazing! Definitely go here.

We stayed here 3 nights over Memorial Day weekend. Got in Thursday night and there were plenty of sites to choose from. As other reviews have said, the sites are spaced out well and there were always sites available throughout the weekend. We camped on the road that immediately turns to the right. Along the entire length of this road dispersed camping is allowed. If you go to the left (high clearance is good to have but could make it with 2wd) dispersed camping isn't allowed till you're about a mile in (see map picture). There are some fun single track trails (Water Canyon and Perimeter Trail) accessible from the campsite if you plan on mt biking or running/hiking. Bandelier National Monument is about 15 min drive away and is a fun place to checkout and climb in some cliff dwellings.
Just as a side note we saw 3 coyotes our first night in and heard them howling in the AM and PM, so keep pets leashed if you bring them and keep small kiddos close!

FSR 181 B is a dispersed corridor, and on the little stretch of road there are like 6 sites. They aren't super close, but closer than I expected from dispersed camping. Travel further down 181 across the little canyon and there are more spread out sites, but they are also more exposed.

This is a nice secluded dispersed campsite on the eastern flanks of the Valles Caldera.  It's the closest CG to Sante Fe along the 4 before it enters the caldera proper.  While most of the trees in this area were burnt by fires less than 10 years ago, it still provides great views of the valley below and the highest mountains in all of New Mexico!  The campground has no amenities so bring everything you'll need and bring along a high clearance vehicle if you plan on heading up the road beyond the campsites that are right off the pavement to the right.

Besides exploring the caldera there are plenty of amazing things to do in nearby Sante Fe!  Our favorite attraction was the MeowWolf permanent art exhibit.  It's an absolutely amazing surreal piece of art that you walk through and interact.  I cannot stress enough how much you should visit because in addition to being an art pillar in New Mexico they also contribute to local and soon regional art and philanthropic endeavors.

This is also known as American Springs Dispersed Camping.  We stayed in site fairly close to the entrance and off to the right on the East spur for 6 days in a 36’ motorhome and Cherokee Trailhawk. All of the sites are very well spaced, most being a hundred to several hundred yards apart. Ours was fairly close to the highway, but it was really only noticeable during"rush hour". Only a few other campers while we were here, and most only stayed a day or two. The interior roads are dirt and get pretty rough the further in you go, with some fairly large rocks and deep ruts, some 1’ to 1.5’ deep(see photos). Parts of the ENE spur gets pretty narrow in spots, but we did a small trailer or two back that far. American Springs road, heading off to the NNE, is in a little better shape, with only 2 or 3 bad sections, similar to those on the East and ENE spurs, until about 1.25 miles in, then it gets very rough and I wouldn’t recommend proceeding with anything other than a true 4x4 or OHV, but there are a number of secluded campsites back in there. There are a number of trails/dirt roads in the immediate area to hike, some with nice views of the valley and surrounding mountains. AT&T coverage was fair, with 2 Bars of LTE service and speeds up to 2 MB/s. There are quite a few trees, but we did manage to get DISH coverage to all three western satellites at our site through a gap between a couple of trees. We were also able to get about 50 OTA channels with our fixed omni antenna.

Regarding access to the area from the East of Los Alamos, be aware GPS will route you through Los Alamos onto NM 501, which goes through part of LANL and you have to go through security check points and your vehicle(s) are subject to search. If you have any firearms, you will not be allowed to go through the lab. So, if you have weapons or don’t want to be searched, the alternative is to take West Jemez Road/NM 4 through White Rock instead and save yourself a trip all the way up to Los Alamos, all the way back down, and then back up to the dispersed area.

When I pulled into the dispersed camping I was shocked to see 2 fire rings right there! There were two different ways to go and I choose to go right. All along the dirt road were pull offs and if you choose to go to the right side campsites you will end up at one of the fire rings with an incredible view of the canyon below. I did this because I love a good view! The main downside to this was how windy it was so I did not enjoy campfires until the third night and it was no longer windy. I highly recommend 4WD and high clearance vehicle to get to some of the best spots. Not impossible in my Honda Pilot but there were parts that I knew I wouldn’t make it. I was the only one there initially and only saw 2 others the 3 days I stayed. This is pack in pack out no restrooms just good old fashioned camping 🙌 I was not expecting to have service but I did where I camped! (T-Mobile) in Jemez springs and in the canyon I did not have service. It was a bit cold until my third day which was a very nice warm and sunny day.
I also went on a hike at Los Conchas Trail maybe 10 minutes up the road (away from Jemez Springs) and was shocked by the beauty!! What a wonderful hike! 10/10 recommend! Pictures are posted as well. My last day there I hiked to the hot springs at Spence Hot Springs Trail, there is a pull off but not clearly marked. It’s a 15 minute walk to lukewarm pools you can bathe in and the upper pool even has a cool cave you can sit in. There seems to be even more springs all about you can hike to I just did not have the time. I also think Soda Dam looks incredible from pictures so maybe check that out as well! I definitely hope to visit again!

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.

The campsites are big and plentiful but I think they are used by locals as there is a bunch of trash. Not that is had to be locals but I don't think the dispersed community would do that.

We are car camping/tent, RV's couldn't make it is the spot we have at least.

I would rate it better but we have been at so many other campsites in AZ and CO that are definitely better.

Hopefully someday we will have a different experience in NM but hey, it smells good and is pretty. Stop by for a night and see how you feel.

What we think is the best site is to the left and then up to a little hill (any AWD or 4WD could make it, its the only one we saw with a view besides trees (not that they aren't great!) but for free I would take it for sure 😊

There are a lot of spots to disperse in this campground but there are a few certain spots that blow the rest of them out of the water. We arrived on a Friday with only a few people there. Saturday/Sunday was maybe at half capacity. Pretty sure that were we the only ones there when we left on Monday.

We stayed on the edge of the cliff at the far back right side of the campsite and it was easily one of the top 5 locations that we have camped at. Even in July, it was a perfect 60-65 degrees at night and in the upper 70's low 80's during the day. We have T-mobile and there was relatively no reception here. We had just enough to send out and receive a text message every once in a while but not strong enough for a phone call. The reception comes and goes the more that you walk through the campsite. We stayed here for 3 nights and were never bothered by the cars driving on the road close by. The later it gets the fewer the cars. We locked our food and trash up every night and never ran into any problems with any other animals during the day or at night. We all slept well include our Dog who always shuffles around if she hears something scurrying around our site at night.

Directions to our cliff edge campsite:

*Note we took on this adventure in a long bed Chevy 2500.

• As you enter go to the right.

• The road will split but stay right and continue the slight uphill climb.

• As the road starts to descend, you will see a small white sign nailed to a tree on the left with a sharp turn off the road. 

• Take that trail to the left unless you have a high clearance vehicle. (We took the more adventurous route straight down and almost didn't make it)

• At the bottom of that trail go right and start to weave your way through the trees all the way to the back right side of the campsite.

• The trees will begin to open up and you'll get a very clear picture of the cliff and mountains.

In the 3 days that we were there, we didn't see anyone else try to take on the same route. Although, we saw plenty of other smaller SUVs and cars get down there via the turn-off.  

Still can't believe that this place was free with no reservations needed. It's a must stay if you are in the area.

A bit of a rough drive to the dispersed sites further in, but worth it! Nice, quiet, and saw lots of elk during our stay.

This dispersed area is close to Hopewell Lake and Campground where there is fishing and vaulted toilets. The Continental Divide Trail goes right through this location.

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

We spent a few nights in the dispersed area near Hopewell .  We rolled in at 5 and had plenty of sites to choose from.  We chose one of the lower areas, with one large open space surrounded by smaller sites.  There were many more up the road, and there was constant traffic headed uphill until about 9PM.   Once the traffic stopped it was very quiet, only the cattle calling through the trees.  It rained for several hours and our spot stayed solid.  Some offshoot roads were rutted out. The main road had minimal rocks and holes, didn't get very muddy.  TMobile\Google mobile service worked well enough.  Verizon did not work.