Best Equestrian Camping near Las Cruces, NM

Great campsite right outside of las cruces. Very pretty drive in but easy to fly by if you’re going too fast on the main highway. Good spot to stay if you want to hike any of the trails in the Organ mountains

Beautiful campground near Las Cruces NM and White Sands National Park. Love that the camp site all have covered structures over the picnic tables. Definitely keeps the sun off. We stayed in site 25. Plenty of room. No large RVs because they can't get up the road. Lots of folks camping in vans. Could have done without the DJs blasting heavy metal music in the evening and again in the morning.

Drove in at 8pm in dark. First couple miles paved then ~3 miles to camping top. Many places to camp along way up. One other pop up VE camper near top, but I stayed far away. Saw a vehicle with 4-wheel ATV trailer on way out at 7am.

No traffic all night in camping area. Could hear the dull roar of freeway to the west. (White noise).

Good T-mobile reception. Watched end of Chiefs-Rams football game on iPhone. Go Chiefs! Won in overtime.

47 degrees dropped to 39 by morning.

Nice that this spot is not far off the I-10. Can work in Las Cruces Starbucks today and then move on to the Gila NF tonight.

I had originally planned to stay at the Sierra Vista trailhead, but by the time I got there, all of the dispersed sites appeared taken. (It was well past nightfall on a Saturday night.)

Luckily I saw this campground on the app and took the half hour drive over. Even though it was Saturday, there were plenty of sites available.

The thing to know about this campground is that there are two loops, the second loop does not even show up on google maps, but it’s there and you’ll see the sign for it once you exit the first loop. The road in and out of the campground is one way, so it’s a big loop itself, so you cannot NOT see the sign for the second loop.

That being said, because the road in and out is one way, if you see a site that might work for you, TAKE IT. Or else you will most likely have to go all the way down the mountain and back up to fully circle back around. The road up is only about five miles, but the switchbacks are short and tight, which can make for an annoying drive when you’ve been on the road all day and are exhausted already.

All of the sites seem to be situated a little differently. I stayed in site 47 in the second loop. There wasn’t a tent pad, but there was a nice worn down, level spot for a tent behind the picnic area, under a tree. The view of the valley below from this site was a beautiful sight in the mornings.

This site was also right across from the bathroom and trash cans. I thought that might make for a lot of noisy foot traffic, but it did not and I was happy to have the convenience. The toilets are vault toilets and they were clean and well maintained.

I did not personally spot any wildlife while here, but had a nice talk with a birder, so if that’s your thing, it’s apparently a great place for birds. There are also a few trails accessible from the campground. White Sands National Park is about a 45 minute drive away and Las Cruces is about 20 minutes away.

For $7 a night, this place is a steal! I would def stay here again!!

It really is beautiful here. Southeast New Mexico has mountains believe it or not. The camp is nestled up against one. It’s Memorial Day weekend and not too crowded. Highly recommend for the price (basically free). If you are tent camping and low maintenance this place rocks. If you have a huge rig I’m not even sure I would want to make the drive up the road to the camp site. Spots are small, so you would need to find the best spot if you have an RV or Trailer.

Stayed in #43. Most sites are uneven and short. BLM recommends nothing more than 23' long. Water available at host site near gate before driving about 4 or 5 mi to campsites. Road IS narrow and winding and steep in place but pave and ONE way (don't turn wrong direction). Toilets were clean and mens toilets all had soft-close lids. I am told womens do not. Campground was clean, great 4 mile loop hike, and other much more strenuous/technical options for mountain climbers. Mountain crags remind me of a mix of Tetons, Patagonia and Sawtooth in Idaho. Great views to Sacramento Mountains to the east (Ruidoso/Cloudcroft area--Sierra Blanca covered in snow early Nov.). White Sands nearby along with White Sands Missile Range Museum).  Met some BLM peeps who were very nice, helpful and provided great information re: geology of the area and other points of interest. We brought our own 5 gal of water and were fine for 3 nights.

ALSO: shout out to New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors who were doing trail rehab./maintenance work while we were in area, yay!

I've been on a nationwide roadtrip for a few months that now and I have tent camped alone in many sites from Florida to Arkansas to, now, New Mexico. I chose Aguirra because of its close proximity to White Sands National Park. It is a First Come First Serve site and you must pay in cash. I was lucky to find a site in the afternoon. There are many sites. Over 40. I lucked out with 43 because it is huge! It's a jilly Rocky site with no one around me and several stone fire pits, a BBQ grill, and animal proof garbage can. There are Porta John's in close proximity. I have not found any water yet. Not sure. No RV hookups. But what do you expect for 7 bucks a night. I was here over Easter weekend so it got noisy with Fiesta music and someone throwing up across from my site at midnight! Whole families come here, jam their music etc. It's Easter so whatever. There is a covered picnic table and lots of tree cover to deal with the intense NM sun. I love how this place is at the end of an ascending, remote, windy road though. It's large enough that no rangers come and bug you for trivialities.

If you do one thing in New Mexico--and it would be a shame if you only did one thing, but I digress--full moon camping at White Sands National Monument might be it. As the sun sets on the Sacramento Mountains, the valley is lit orange and red as the dunes fade from white through amazing hues of tan. The full moon then lights the sand bright white and the Organ Mountains to the west loom as black teeth in the west. Sunrise repeats the process.

Camping at White Sands takes a small amount of planning, but is well worth it. You must claim a spot the of your arrival and pay a small fee. This is done at the visitor's center which has a great museum. My advise is to get there early to get a spot then head up to Cloudcroft to the east for a cooler hike in the pines then return an hour or two before sunset.

Once at the trailhead, the camp sites are 1/4 to 1/2 mile of hiking away. This is sand hiking, so plan on a slower pace. The trail is a lollipop marked by posts every couple hundred yards with camp sites in the valleys between camp sites. No campfires are allowed, and you must camp by the post with your campsite number. You must bring all of your water (plan on at least one gallon per person per day) and pack out all of your waste. The trailhead has dumpsters and pit toilets.

Bring a camera and tripod for amazing moon shots and a decent bag because it can get cold at night.

Lots of dispersed sites but looks like a very popular area we passed over 20 campers before finding a spot. Spots are pretty well spaced out with lots of vegetation inbetween. Road is a little rough 4x4 definitely recommended.

Road and camp site were good

So the road in is at the 151 Mesquite Exit off IH 10. First 2 miles were blacktop, then 2 miles of 2.5 vehicle wide gravel road then 2 miles of single vehicle gravel road. Several turnouts for camp sites with many having rock fire rings.

Lots of dove and some quail. 

A few cows in the area.

Lots to see if you get out and walk the area. Several hiking trails into the Mountain range.

Light noise to the south from El Paso/IH 10 to the West but not much to the East looking into the canyon or North. Saw many stars and satellites.

Would stay again.

Light traffic during sunlight by hikers.

Quite otherwise.

Sites are not level so be prepared

Pretty good about 4 spots to pull off maybe more if you have a higher clearance vehicle and can make it back in farther my Camry couldn’t lol but still a nice place to stay a couple days good view of the mountains and the sunsets!

Lots of side by sides rip ridin around

Always stay here on my way back to Texas or heading farther west. A few solid campsites on mossman road; roads are a little rough closer to the campsite but nothing crazy, should be good for a 2wd. Never see anyone here, besides a ranger this time. Good spot under open sky.

There are many places along this road (road B059 per Google maps) to pull over and stay the night. Road in is rocky and rutted in places; we made it in our 26ft Class C but a higher clearance vehicle would have made for a much less stressful drive in.  It was extremely windy when we stayed here, and boom / explosion sounds all night made for an uneasy night, especially for our dogs.  We are assuming the sounds came from testing and / or training at the nearby Doña Ana range, but they sounded like chemical plant explosions.  Boom sounds started the evening we stayed there and are still going on as I write this review the next day.   Good verizon and ATT reception.   Spring time in this area should be beautiful with wildflowers.  I don't think we'll come back to see them though.

My bus was squeaking, twisting, driving at an angle, and it was a brutal drive... While I'll not come back because it's not well maintained, it does have very beautiful vistas, so that's why it got 3 stars.

Bring your own wood

Go to this campsite. $7 is a steal compared to all the BS in other campsites. Beautiful views and great atmosphere. Facilities are normal for a primitive camp site and there are no RVs which is nice if you’re tired of generators or slow driving. Can have FIRE, there is shade and there are trash cans. Would recommend.

There’s plenty of campsites for vehicles to pull up to. The hike has some good elevation gain so don’t expect a flat hike. Rewards you with great views half the time and shade the other half the time. The halfway point on the hike has hella shade for grillin n chillin.

THIS IS NOT A FREE BLM site. It's only a campground that's $7 for overnight or $5 day pass. If you can figure out the map to this place, figure out what site you want to head to, otherwise you'd be like us and ended up near the exit, we decided to head to another place that's free.

Sites are a bit small and tight. It seems more for cars than RVs. I like that there's bathrooms and covered picnic tables. Not many level gravel sites.

Also, on the way near the site there's a sign saying drinking water to a right side pull over where I didn't see any spigot, just a gate that says employee only.

We went here thinking there's a fee campground and a free BLM site nearby, it is not. It's only a campground that's $7 for overnight or $5 day pass. If you can figure out the map to this place, figure out what site you want to head to, otherwise you'd be like us and ended up near the exit, we decided to head to another place that's free.

Also, on the way near the site there's a sign saying drinking water to a right side pull over where I didn't see any spigot, just a gate that says employee only.

One of the best places I’ve stayed in a long time. Day and night the view is amazing

Simply stunning. Great single lane road to entrance. Breathtaking.