Searching for the best camping near La Joya, NM? La Joya is an adventure-filled destination for those who love the outdoorsy camper lifestyle. But it's also great for those who prefer to spend time near the city, exploring and sightseeing. Find the best campgrounds near La Joya, NM. Read helpful reviews and tips to find the perfect camping option for you and your crew.
$18 / night
San Lorenzo Canyon is jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management as a primitive recreation area. This scenic east-west canyon offers ample outdoor opportunities for hiking and primitive camping. Not only a destination for hikers, the Canyon offers outstanding opportunities for photographers. Millions of years of Earth’s history unfold in San Lorenzo Canyon, a picturesque area of sandstone cliffs, arches, and hoodoos. The cottonwoods indicate there may have been a reliable water source at one time in the area. The area has remnants of old ranches and homesteads; springs and tiny creeks are hidden in the canyon bottoms and washes. High clearance and/or 4-wheel drive vehicles are recommended. There are no restrooms or drinking water.
The 640-acre Box Recreation Area is a highly scenic, rugged area which is very popular for technical rock climbing and bouldering. The five cliffs on either side of this box canyon provide popular rock climbing for even highly skilled technical climbers. Challenging climbing opportunities include the Waterfall Wall, Corner Block and the Fillet a Papillon Wall. There is a developed parking area with a trailhead, kiosks, and restroom. Drinking water is not available. Special Rules: Camping in designated sites only. No shooting of weapons. Remember, that climbing is a high-risk activity. For safety, climbers should not attempt climbs beyond their abilities.
This campground is located at an elevation of 6,800 feet in the Magdalena Mountains.
$5 - $14 / night
$45 - $60 / night
$10 - $20 / night
$18 / night
San Lorenzo Canyon is jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management as a primitive recreation area. This scenic east-west canyon offers ample outdoor opportunities for hiking and primitive camping. Not only a destination for hikers, the Canyon offers outstanding opportunities for photographers. Millions of years of Earth’s history unfold in San Lorenzo Canyon, a picturesque area of sandstone cliffs, arches, and hoodoos. The cottonwoods indicate there may have been a reliable water source at one time in the area. The area has remnants of old ranches and homesteads; springs and tiny creeks are hidden in the canyon bottoms and washes. High clearance and/or 4-wheel drive vehicles are recommended. There are no restrooms or drinking water.
The 640-acre Box Recreation Area is a highly scenic, rugged area which is very popular for technical rock climbing and bouldering. The five cliffs on either side of this box canyon provide popular rock climbing for even highly skilled technical climbers. Challenging climbing opportunities include the Waterfall Wall, Corner Block and the Fillet a Papillon Wall. There is a developed parking area with a trailhead, kiosks, and restroom. Drinking water is not available. Special Rules: Camping in designated sites only. No shooting of weapons. Remember, that climbing is a high-risk activity. For safety, climbers should not attempt climbs beyond their abilities.
$5 - $14 / night
Ranger
Well appointed RV park for trailer/RV. Little close to I-40 but sound is not that bad. Picnic table, shade trees, pool, hot tub. Even accept mailing ahead(like Amazon)
Very friendly staff. Great for the balloon fiesta
GuideCool retro park. Hoist are really nice. Lots of things in the store Lp, full Hook ups available, pool, laundry and really neat old campers on display
Guide
It was hot in the valley so we retreated to the nearest mountains. What a quiet little camp. No huge RV’s or anything. Our 6ft wide, 20ft long trailer seemed too big. Our spot accommodated us well. The trails are fabulous. There’s a Track Trail that just opened and a motorized track wheelchair making this park very accessible. Not very many electric sites but that was ok as the temps were cooler (60’s at night)
Scout
Overall a nice place to camp. Most beautiful drive into the campsite. Some of the campsites had concrete picnic tables and bear containers. They were up a walkway and some stairs though. The vault toilets were clean. We were approached by a guy letting us know there was a boar and a bear coming down the canyon. He said they were about 700 yards away.
Legend
Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is a bird nerd’s paradise during the winter. Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and thousands of others congregate in this wetland wonderland. Here, the Rio Grande pauses on its long winding path to the Gulf of Mexico and allows these waterfowl and other migratory birds a place of rest and safety during their bi-annual migration. It’s an amazing place, but it does not allow camping within the park.
Just a few miles to the north of the visitor’s center, in the quaint hamlet of San Antonio, lies Riverine Park. Slightly difficult to find in the dark and with a steep entrance, the few campsite spots offer visitors a great place close to the National Wildlife Refuge for the night within striking distance of the dawn patrol show (when the flocks take off for the day). Dawn and dusk are something to behold, so get your cameras ready!
The campsites themselves are loosely defined, but a few actually have developed campfire pits and picnic tables. There are no toilets here, but there are lovely facilities in the park itself. There’s not much room for a trailer longer than 20 feet, but feel free to give it a looksee before committing to the downhill entry point– which is short and steep. With big cottonwood trees scattered throughout the area, we got some solar charging with our rooftop panels, but needed to move our portable solar panel around to collect a bit more. Starlink worked well though!
In addition to birdwatching there are numerous, unlabeled trails and access roads all along the river bank and the canal for walking, or biking. The opportunities can also be found within the wildlife refuge as well. Nearby services can be found in San Antonio, Socorro, or Truth or Consequences, NM, with the latter being the biggest town within an hour’s drive.
LegendWe stayed here a few years ago and it was the same sad, uncared for park then as it is now. The grass is overgrown and the fire pits are broken, but it’s free, and right off the main road so it makes for a great place to stop for the night. Would definitely not recommend this place as a destination for a camping trip.
There are maybe 7 or 8 sites here, and a skoolie and a car camper were here when we arrived late afternoon, and a truck camper pulled in after us. The road down into the campground is steep and raggedy, but we did ok (i.e. didn’t scrape) in our 26ft class c.
Good cell service. You can hear road noise but it’s not too bad, it’s not too busy of a road. There are walking paths where you can walk to the river. Mosquitoes / other bugs not bad when we were there in early December. No trash bins and no bathrooms. Please pack out your waste! Park is pretty clean and free from trash, which is so nice to see.
Scout
First night (Friday) was great. Quiet. Saturday was quiet as well. Not much to catch at the lake. 3pm someone rolls up next to us. Definitely in the wrong spot and he would have known that if he was aware of the “back in” policy. Gave the lake caretaker a call, no answer. No big deal they were quiet. Until 10pm. Loud music. Karaoke with children screaming into the mic with the already loud sound system. Tried calling the caretaker, no answer mailbox full. Didn’t want to bother the police department so decided to wait and see if one of the kids woke up and then I’d call, figuring then I’d be super late. The music stopped suddenly my guess is around 12-2am. I guessing someone called the police or got a hold of the caretaker. Will stay again, however the campsite needs to be checked on by the county imo. If this were to happen again, I’d call non-emergency PD to deal with it.
TravelerOk for an overnight stop. Just the basics but clean. Terrible internet. Only one restroom.
TravelerRemote, wooded, serene. Sites are gravel, but not very level. Each site has a picnic table, grill & fire pit. Some sites have power, but none have sewer or water hookups. There is a dump station & drinking water. If you want to get away from it all, this is the place.
Legend
We arrived after hours. Had a bit of trouble finding our campsite because the number was missing from ours. I do like the coded entry to the bathrooms and common use areas. Nice laundry room, game room and kitchen that can be used by guests. There was a good bit of road noise but that was to be expected being so close to the interstate. There did appear to be a lot of long term residents staying here. It was fine for a one night stay passing through.
GuideWe used it as a home base to explore greater ABQ, so it was all we needed. Staff very friendly, and a nice little shop. Sites are level hardscrabble, typical of NM lowlands. They were having trouble with the WiFi for our particular loop, but have enough options to overcome such problems.
GuideVery nice campground, and only $18/night for water and electric. Beautiful mountain setting with lots of pine trees and cool mornings. Had hoped to do some road biking but the steep gravel proved intimidating for the less experienced in the group.
TravelerReally a pretty cool spot that can be warmer than Albuquerque, and especially warmer than Santa Fe. 100% no fire, even smoking banned they claim. May help keep numbers low. Only person I saw appeared to be road construction exploring where the road went (think they were working on Rio grande bridge maybe). Lots and lots of space in the big trees by the river, but if you look in there at night with a flash light you may notice a lot of spider eyes shining back at you. I actually parked right by river, probably not exactly correct spot probably (would be very tight fit with trailer). No spider eyes. Plenty of room for car/truck to turn around. Probably stayed 3 nights total. The turn offs from the braised berm down to camp areas can be steep looking, just choose your angle wisely. The roads seem to loop back up to berm after winding through trees, some tighter areas to maneuver around for sure. I doubt anyone would give you trouble sleeping on the unpaved road itself opposite side of trees either. Very little traffic. Weekends may have some local traffic non overnight traffic too, fishing, skeet shooting, etc. Based on debris around river, and the most traffic I saw was on Sunday (2 -3 trucks at once rather than 1/48hours.
I’d crash here again for the price.
Ranger
Pat and Wanda are very nice and I hope folks support their dream! That being said, know that this place is very much still under construction. We had the bad luck of coming after a snowmelt and being there during some subsequent bad weather, which meant it was extremely muddy, the trash was full, and the porta poddy was getting full (plus it ran out of tp and we used our own. I think that’s probably different in better weather. Also it’s listed as having laundry but it doesn’t!
Unfortunately while we were there I got a bad cut on my hand and needed to leave a day early go to urgent care. We got stuck in the mud then tried unsuccessfully to get ahold of Pat for 2 hours, although he was very helpful when he finally came. But be careful parking in any sites, especially lower ones, if there’s been much precipitation.
Otherwise our stay was cold and wet but quiet. Lights at the sites are a nice touch. No Verizon service, there’s wifi but it’s not very good in some sites.
Traveler
I enjoy camping here very quiet and peaceful. No bathroom and water
TravelerI liked it a lot. It’s $30/night, has full hookups, nice spaces with trees. They have fire pits and provided firewood. There’s water and a port-a-potty but no showers and no dump site. There are bear proof trash cans. The owners are on site and are a very nice older couple.
Apple Maps correctly labels the road as 4th of July Canyon Rd. Google maps calls it A013. There’s a little dirt road immediately after the cemetery on the right. It’s about a half mile down that dirt road on the right. There is a sign that says “RV park”, but it’s small so keep a close eye out for it.
There is also a small C Store in town with some supplies. It’s best to fill up your tank before leaving Albuquerque. Gas stations are few and far between and very pricy. It’s about an hour from Albuquerque. I have T-Mobile and had 3 solid bars with good speed.
Legend
Needed a place with hookups before the ABQ Balloon Fiesta dry camping. This served that purpose. Clean sites and laundry facilities. Freeway noise and sites right next to each other were the negatives.
However for a night it worked out just fine.
Guide
Extremely clean. Quiet. Good internet
Legend
Jake from the Dyrt here! The Manzano Mountain Retreat is a large venue with tons to check out and nearby mountains to enjoy. Check them out and leave a review about your stay on the Dyrt!
Ranger
The map icon shows this as being near the Gran Quivara unit of Salinas Pueblo missions National Monument. It is not. As at least one other review indicates it is near White sands National Monument. I used the link from the campground description to try to get to this in about 2 and 1/2 mi short of it is a locked gate. Whoever dropped the pin and gave this location data gave a bogus location.
Traveler
Stopped here since I was tired and couldn’t make it to the Box area. The sites are nice enough etc. Woke up to the sound of birdshot raining in around me. I confronted the hunters saying they ought to mind their aim because there’s a campground. They responded with “it’s duck season”.
After returning to my site it rained in yet again and it seemed intentional. I am a hunter and can say that is entirely unacceptable. I should’ve called the police on them in hindsight but instead I decided to leave immediately so I could get on with my day.
It’s idiots like that which give hunters a bad rap.
Scout
I feel this is a great place to camp, it's quite wild, when camping you can also kill time by playing duck life.
GuideWe stopped just for the night but this campground gave us so much to do in one night. The pool is resort style with hot tub. They even have a dog washing facilty with tubs. The spaces are set apart for lots of privacy between spots and the grounds are impeccable. Excellent place to stay.
ScoutThanks for share many in4 about The Sherwood Escape. I think this place will be able to do a lot of outdoor activities. I will also bring getaway shootout here to enjoy. Thanks
Traveler
Got site number 6, which has the best view to the SE. The site has a tent shelter which was much needed for the high winds experienced at night. The pit toilet was clean. The deer were abundant. A hiking trail was close. And the views were fantastic.
Scout
Th e area has been burned in the 2022 fires. The road was closed for a long time, and if it is open now, there will be floods in the burn scar. Check with the Forest Service for more info before you go. Mimbres Ranger District of the Gila National Forest.
TravelerOnly did about 10 minutes of driving around. Several small spots a couple feet off the main road. Nothing that would support 30'+ trailers. It's open desert with low shrub. Seems to be a popular ATV road so expect lots of dust and noise. I would only camp here if I had an ATV with me.
Camping near La Joya, New Mexico, offers a mix of beautiful landscapes and unique experiences. Whether you're looking for a quiet retreat or a family-friendly adventure, there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near La Joya, New Mexico, offers a variety of experiences, from serene nature to family-friendly activities. Whether you're in an RV or tent, there's something for everyone in this beautiful area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What camping is available near La Joya, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, La Joya, NM offers a wide range of camping options, with 43 campgrounds and RV parks near La Joya, NM and 8 free dispersed camping spots.
Which is the most popular campground near La Joya, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near La Joya, NM is Escondida Lake Park & Campground with a 3.8-star rating from 12 reviews.
Where can I find free dispersed camping near La Joya, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 8 free dispersed camping spots near La Joya, NM.
What parks are near La Joya, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 8 parks near La Joya, NM that allow camping, notably Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands and Cibola National Forest and Grasslands.
