Best Equestrian Camping near Gallup, NM

My first visit to New Mexico and the southwest. Red Rock Park is in Gallup, NM right on the Arizona state line in between Albuquerque and Flagstaff. Church Rock Trial and Pyramid Rock Trail are both about 3 to 3 and a half miles round trip from the campground. Your surrounded by desert on one side and dark red stone on the other, very cool place and trails.

I have stayed at this campground several time it was a New Mexico Stae Park, it has since been turned over to the city of Gallup as a city park. There are several hiking and horseback riding trails around this campground. One of the best is to castle rock a really good hike. Make sure you call to check for availability, there is a rodeo arena near by and will fill up if there is a rodeo.

This was the only lake we saw on our trip to the cattle ranch in New Mexico ;) The park is lovely and we truly enjoyed our time here. There is a nice beach as well as boating and fishing. The campground is broken up into a couple areas. Our site was somewhat shaded, which was nice in the heat of the summer. Very cool sites overlooking the lake. I wouldn’t say the sites are secluded, but it’s still a neat place. I haven’t been to many state parks in New Mexico so it was a unique experience!

It is after Labor Day, the Canyonside Campground is deserted except for myself. I can hear the breeze moving through the pinions. Beautiful New Mexico sunset.

The camp sites are well laid out with picnic table. The bath room was primitive and I didn’t check out the showers. The lake and the area is enchanting!! It was my first visit to New Mexico and for sure I will be back! The lake is large and has fishing.

A small campground located a few miles outside Gallup and two miles from a casino. The reservation website can be a little confusing, so be careful. There is a nice hike that starts at the campground.

So we were very lucky that we decided to check out this campground, it is absolutely gorgeous! There was not a single other camper here so we got a nice level spot with power. It was a bit cold, got down to 15, there was some leftover snow in some spots but nothing that was a problem. Last night something was bugging the dogs so I looked outside to see a herd of wild horses grazing next to our camper! There are lots of good hiking trails. The water is still on here and the dump stations are open if needed.

Lake was muddy brown, not blue. First come, first served and we arrived before noon, but no electric sites were available. Views of lake and surrounding juniper covered mesas was good. Early in morning horses grazed right through our campsite.

Bluewater Lake SP is a unique campground in regards to the layout. You can pull up to all of the sites, and you can overlook the lake, be on the lake, be a little further away, private, have neighbors, really what ever you want. Checking in was very easy and the folks were quite nice. Also there were random horses and donkey’s walking around??? So that was a fun surprise.