Best Equestrian Camping near Jemez Pueblo, NM

Top of New Mexico" near Albuquerque is a fantastic camping spot if you love open spaces and beautiful desert views. The sunsets here are breathtaking, and you might even spot wild horses roaming around. There's plenty of space for tents or RVs, and it's quiet and well-maintained, making it a perfect place to relax and enjoy nature. It can get a little windy, but that just adds to the experience. The road to get there winds through some houses, but once you arrive, you're surrounded by pure nature. also the food is so good, there are many food brands like subway menu who offers quality fast food services.

Don’t arrive when it’s dark. Not much going on, no fire rings, no wild horses to wake up to. Maybe it was too cold for the horses. No fire rings I saw nonetheless.

Stayed here overnight for a quick stop. Wide open range with amazing views and a herd of wild horses.

We had the perfect 5 night stay. It was easy to get around to the sites we had planned on visiting. The hosts were super nice and accomodating when we had a wifi issues, they got us up and running again quickly. We used the grill area and even hosted friends visiting one night with their horse trailer and 2 horses. We stayed one night in the TeePee which was just magical and cozy, a mini vacay inside of our otherwise rustic van camping trip! The bathroom is located inside an enclosed out building with the shower located in an outdoor but private/roofed adjacent area. All and all, thumbs up for communication, comfort, basic amenities and ambience!

Pulled in right before sunset and only saw 2 other cars in the area. Watched a rainbow form over the Sandia Mtns and a herd of wild horses ran right through our campsite! Best night of my life!!

This is a gem of a spot. You drive through a residential area of really nice hi purses and horses. It’s opens up with a spectacular view and some wide open spots to watch the sun go down. It is windy though but worth it.

There are no neighbors, and other vehicles are parked here, but they had to be a quarter of a mile away. Wild horses visit in the morning. We enjoyed the sunrise to sunset. There are easy hikes, and you can do some mountain biking.

This campground offered amazing views of the Sandia mountains and the surrounding area. We found a fire ring and plenty of level areas to set up camp in addition to large bushes to take shelter behind. Also plenty of wild horses roaming around, though we didn't ever see any at near our campsite.

Curvy tight roads coming in there’s also wild horses in the area so look out for them. I didn’t go to far down the road because of the rocks I’m in a Camry I started dragging the bottom but there’s a couple spots with good views of the mountains and sunset views there’s lots of hiking and MTBiking trails around too if ya into that

Didn't camp here but came to enjoy the beautiful sunset. Drove a short distance from Albuquerque through Placitas, saw so many horses! This is an open space that overlooks the tail of Albuquerque, and the vistas beyond. I came for the sunset but would definitely stay if I was car camping. Wouldn't necessarily set up a tent for me, but some are braver than others!

This is my second time camping here and it is a perfect hidden gem for campervanning. Road gets a little sketchy at the end but you don’t have to go all the way to the coordinates. Beautiful sunrise and sunset. Wild horses in the area. And, you can clearly see the Milky Way. No light pollution except the beautiful view of the city far away.

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.

Really easy to get to, up this lil windy residential road, go slow, that opens up into a huge public land past an open gate. Lots of paths from cars, just follow anyone you'd like and then pull over beside any ol bush. Don't run over any cactus.

Stayed for two nights and the sunsets were awesome. During the day it was very very windy but not too hot. Saw some wild horses the first morning but when I got too close one of them starting running toward me and I said hell no. Classic dispersed desert camping but with good service and close to Albuquerque.

Keep in mind that you will be cutting through neighborhoods once the pavement ends you will see signs stating "public land". Some of the roads are gravel and rocky, so if you have a low car be cautious. Horses roam freely out here. Open space. You can literally camp anywhere out here. I personally don't like camping off the main road. Several "signs" of camp fires, some trash (please pick up your trash people) not a lot. Not enough to make the place dirty etc. The place is literally 40 mins away from me so this is a great get away place. I spent the day there and plan on camping there.

Used Google Maps and had no problem finding the place. Lots of open area to choose from for parking. The road up to the location is paved but once you enter it is gravel. I have a pro master van and had absolutely no problems. Just drive slow and you should be fine. Might be worse if it was raining heavy or something but overall not a bad path. Saw wild horses which was awesome. The vegetation has a lot of thorns and spikes so for a casual hiker it’s best to stay on the gravel roads. The cell signal was pretty good but not perfect. Enough to have phone calls easy but internet connection was a bit slow.

Everything about this place is gorgeous. The 360 views from the top are incredible. I didn’t go down into the valley to see what was available but a man came through and mentioned there were options there too.

On the top of the ridge you’re a little limited for spots but it wasn’t busy enough to cause me an issue. My closest neighbor was a few hundred yards away just like I like it.

I car camp in a small SUV and the road is definitely not as well worn in as others. You’re also pretty close to the sides of the mountain on a winding rock path so larger or trailered vehicles are probably not ideal.

The wild horses are active. I saw them in the neighborhood coming through and they came through camp a few times in the evening/night. Dog didn’t love it but they gave us about 30ft of space and didn’t bother much.

Love this spot but definitely keep size and safety in mind.

Love coming here with the family. Some campgrounds are reservation only but there are still plenty that are first come first serve. But this is a holiday weekend hotspot so you need to come early or avoid a holiday weekend all together, but still worth a drive out here.

...to spend a day with the family. Fenton lake is a popular local spot for picnicking and fishing. The scenery here is absolutely stunning, you’d almost think you’re in a postcard. Plenty of sites with tables and grills. This definitely isn’t a campsite as they close at sundown so no camping. The fishing is okay here. Better if you have a small boat or kayak and can get further from the shore.

Very clean open space camping

I’ve been coming to Fenton Lake for camping with family since I was little and we’ve always loved it. It’s beautiful and well taken care of. Park rangers are always making their rounds and always friendly and helpful. Plenty of tent sites; only a few have some good privacy. Not many electrical hookups though. Trash bins and vault toilets are usually close by. Love the trail that runs along the side of the camp and the stream that runs adjacent to the campsites. Fishing is fun but get there early because spots fill up quickly. Only downfall I’ve seen is that theres only one water spigot and it’s right at the lake.

Fenton Lake is usually busy and reserving months ahead of time is a good idea. We like spots number 1 and 17 for tent camping. Rangers patrol the campgrounds and in general people are usually well behaved. Nice hikes along the creek. Getting a fishing spot may be hard to find sometimes as the small lake is usually circled with people fishing. Fishing is usually good though as it is well stocked. Temperatures at night can get down in the low forties after being in the eighties during the day.

The lake is gorgeous but despite what the board says on entry don't pay the camping fee! The ranger will kick you out for not reserving online... part of the new process that they've not informed anyone of. The board says camping is $10/night. Online, only option was $18...$4 extra included for "admin costs". You also don't get your money back if you did pay at the park... Rangers were super unhelpful and rude. Just a note, there's no cell service for 25mins drive..

This campsite was great! We were able to beat the cold weather by utilizing heats in our campsites. The landscape was beautiful, with beaver dams and song birds giving us amazing views. No service so make sure to plan in advance!

I know the park rangers are spread thin, but the check-in system is pretty disorganized.  If you aren't familiar with the park and campground, it could be easy to take a wrong turn if you're trying to find your own way.  And that would be no fun in an RV.  We arrived at 4pm in our Class A, and there was a park ranger checking folks in.  He found our reservation, but NOT the extra payment we had made for our kids to be able to drive to meet us and park on our site (extra $10 per day per vehicle).  Later, I found the paperwork proving we had paid, but not  until my kids had already paid for a day when they arrived.  And getting a refund was going to be too much hassle.  And they don't always have any staff at the entry.  So some folks are left to fend for themselves when trying to find their campsites.  

That's the bad news.  Good news is that this tiny little lake and the surrounding area is lovely.  It's great if you fish. We don't, but we took several easy but longish hikes and it's just beautiful.  Lots of birds, wildflowers and we even saw a beaver on the lake!  The campsites are nice too...many are right along the Rio Cerros river (stream really) that makes up the lake.  The one loop with electric sites (where we stayed) is a bit back from the water, but there is still LOTS of shade.  We sat our for hours and enjoyed the quiet.

30 amp service only.  Decent water pressure.  No dump station on site (another drawback).  No cell service of any kind.  There are a couple of satellite wi-fi hot spots around, but after 30 minutes, you have to pay, and it is incredibly slow.  I had to use it once for work; not great.  So just plan to be 100% disconnected.  I liked the 2pm check out time, by the way.  We slept in quite late for us on our last day, and still had plenty of time to get packed and out of there!

We are already talking about next year's visit!

We typically come up to Fenton Lake once a year and last year was fantastic however this year the park rangers aren’t that friendly (or that helpful). For instance, my father-in-law came up for a day but the power went out all over and didn’t have access to an ATM to pay the $5 day pass. They wouldn’t allow him to come up to our site to tell us (no cell service to call us) so he parked outside and had to hike in. He’s 73.

Also during our stay, a couple of ladies across our campsite got locked out and my husband and other male friend helped break into it as the park ranger watched claiming he couldn’t help for liability reasons so he just watched us like a hawk, completely unhelpful.

We were stopped several times when driving around and park rangers stop and walk up to your car to check we’re all paid up. I can understand this but it was rather excessive being stopped 2-3 times and then park rangers stopping at the camp to check the vehicles 4-5 times a day when we stayed for 3 nights feels like overkill. Expect to run into a park ranger often and see their trucks driving pass your site like clockwork.

Aside from that, our stay was very nice. We stayed at campsite 8 which was very nice for a big family. There’s no one behind you or to either side of you. The site easily accommodated our 32ft RV and the camp site could host 3+ tents. It’s close to the playground which was finally open! It rained heavily one night and flooded the back road behind the playground but they had the tractor out fixing this quickly.

If you’re coming for fishing, get there and grab a spot before 7am for your best chance of catching something. My husband caught two the day we left. It’s very packed and usually stays that way until about 5-6pm. One of the park rangers did mention that we had a better chance fishing the stream beside the campsites and did find a family that caught several fish that way so that’s much more private and easier, especially for little kids or if you don’t like crowds.

We enjoy our visits to Fenton Lake although it gets busy in the Summer. Thankfully the camping is isolated from day use and is not as busy. Camp towards the back and enjoy the hike along the creek to the lake.

Favorite place to camp, mountains and hot springs near by fishing at Fenton or the near by streams.