Looking for the best Lincoln National Forest tent camping? Find the best tent camping sites near Lincoln National Forest. Whether you're looking for a quiet, dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
Due to rehabilitation of camping sites, backcountry camping is closed.
Lower Karr Canyon Campground has undeveloped campsites scattered above and below the Karr Canyon Picnic Area. Forest Road 63 is gravel and can be rough. Fire rings are available. Tent camping is allowed here and there are a number of lovely spots for you to choose from, all of which are accessible by walking in to the site from the parking area.
James Canyon Campground offer 5 sites along US82 just west of Mayhill, NM. The lower elevation of 6,800' means this small site is usable longer than most Sacramento Mountain area campgrounds when the snows begin. Picnic tables, grills, and one group ramada among scattered pine trees. 16' RV limit. James Canyon Campground - General Area
The Skyline Campground is located just south of the famous Monjeau Lookout tower along Forest Road 117 at a little over 9,000' elevation. Access to it is via a well kept but steep gravel road but with inclement weather, this road can become rough and difficult to use. There are 17 sites here for tents only. Breathtaking mountain views abound and access to the White Mountain Wilderness can be found at the site via the Crest (T25) Trailhead. No trash service at this site. Please pack out what you pack in.
Monjeau Lookout is a famous landmark on the Smokey Bear Ranger District built originally in 1936 and then reconstructed in 1940 as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps project. This site is a wonderful and adventurous place to visit. Roads leading up to the site are dirt and can be steep in places. Visit during the summer months as the road leading to it closes during the winter with the advent of snow. Monjeau Lookout is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).Click Here for a recent article from the "Lookout Network" detailing the entire history of this place.
Several shelters, tables and fire rings are located here as well as a vault toilet. All sites are dry and on a first come/first served basis. The access road off of US 380 is graveled. There are no fees for camping in this area.
The Upper Bonito Dispersed Recreation Area is located at the end of Forest Road 107 in Bonito Canyon. It is a popular dispersed camping site with access to the adjacent White Mountain Wilderness Area and its trails.
Guide
Car camped in a tent site for just a night after visiting WSNP. Non-flush toilets without sinks near tent sites and the full bathhouse is a bit of a walk away. Worth it, though, with spacious shower stalls and well-kept buildings. Sweet views of the valley and mountains and far off the highway.
Ranger
We tent camped at Eagle Lake aka Eagle Creek campground on the Mescalero Apache Reservation over Memorial Day weekend 2022. The surrounding Lincoln National Forest was closed because of extreme fire risk, so there were very few places to camp in the Sacramento Mountains and escape the heat of El Paso. We used camp stoves because of a fire ban. We camped among the pine trees in the first tent area. There were clean porta-johns in that area. The showers and permanent bathroom were located up in the RV park about a 3-mile round trip walk on the road from the first tent area, so it’s more practical to drive to the showers. The permanent bathrooms and showers were clean.
Very pretty scenery, surrounded by mountain ridges and peaks and pine forest. There were two small lakes and a small creek flowing through the campground.
The campground format is kind of laissez faire because there aren’t assigned sites and it’s first come, first serve. The first tent area seemed about half full and we found a good site. We didn’t scout the second tent area because the host said there weren’t as many trees there. The first tent site was developed on a forested slope albeit they built flat rectangular-like terraces into the slope where you can pitch a tent(s) and park your vehicle(s).
Eagle Creek, near Ruidoso, had a similar feel to the Mescalero Nation’s Silver Lake campground near Cloudcroft, but Eagle Creek had a more quiet vibe. The main drawback was the 10:00 am checkout time, but we were still able to cook up some breakfast burritos as we broke camp. Good times.
Update 6/22/2022: At some point after my review, the Dyrt deleted the actual campground, which is where the road forks and moved my review to the nearby and similarly named RV resort, which is totally different. I love the Dyrt and I’m a pro ranger but sometimes c’mon man.
Ranger
We tent camped at Silver Lake Campground on the Mescalero Reservation over Labor Day weekend 2020. It was packed. Kind of a free-for-all without clear tent sites, just like find your own fire ring. But we found a good spot. The campground cleared out on Labor Day and we had the place to ourselves, just grilling steaks and playing Scrabble on the picnic table. Labor Day was the last day of the open season.
Ranger
Bluff Springs is nestled in a pretty forested valley with a creek and falls in Lincoln National Forest about 10 miles south of Cloudcroft off Sunspot highway on Upper Peñasco Road. There’s a gravel parking lot with bathrooms but no campground. We tent camped Sat, Aug. 1, 2020, arriving about 2pm. There were many people camping and it was difficult to find a spot along the road with dispersed camping sites. We had to camp in thicker grass among cow dung because the mowed sites were taken. Still, life outside is better, right? It stormed much of the day and night but Sunday morning dawned clear and we took a short 1-mile hike from the Bluff Springs trailhead to the Willie White trailhead. There are longer hikes too. There were some camping trailers but no big RVs. Upper Peñasco Road is narrow in parts. A decent place.
Guide
04/14/22 James Canyon, Lincoln National Forest, NM
Thursday night/Friday morning.
I arrived a little after 5 am and found a couple campsites that had parking pads. One pad was already occupied by a single vehicle so I took the last open spot. A car full of young adults pulled up about five minutes later and they just set up their tent right in the overflow parking area. They were packing up when I woke up a few hours later and the car camper was long gone.
There was an additional tent site with an open cabin shelter next to the first two spots and five additional spots across a footbridge that goes over a creek bed. All of the spots have nice level areas for tents, and picnic tables and fire rings. None of the area had cell coverage, however an occasional text would get through. There are bear proof trash cans at the entrance, along with an outhouse at the far edge of the parking lot. With easy access right off the main road. It’s a “dispersed” camp so there’s no fee.
A scenic bluff behind the sites provides a great backdrop, with rolling hills across the street. While the view is great, the camp is right next to a fairly busy road so there was a lot of noise from traffic during the day. It was calm and quiet when I arrived, but that quickly changed once the sun came up. It also became very windy the day I camped so I ended up using the open cabin as a wind shelter, as I was the only camper left in the morning.
Traveler
Awesome tent site, Beautiful ponderosa pines , very clean bathrooms an showers !!!! Awesome Owners they live on camp site!!!
Traveler
Lovely campsites, good tent sites and a few pull thru and back in sites for small Rv’s. Saw several teardrops. No showers but clean pit toilets.
TravelerPros - gorgeous 360 views, quiet spot, clean pit toilets, water available throughout grounds
Cons - zero shade so it is HOT especially if you're tent camping, nothing to "do" at the campground but plenty activities in a reasonable drive
Guide
Like most KOAs this one is well maintained. Right in town so not scenic but close to shops and restaurants. They have gravel tent sites for $30 which is high for tents but typical for KOA.
LegendKOAs tend to be a go to chain for me. They usually offer similar amenities between locations and good prices. I should probably consider becoming a member. This KOA was great. They had spotlights at each tent pad that you could turn on and adjust where they point. This made my nighttime arrival set up experience so much smoother. I'm pretty skilled at night time set up at this point, but having light always makes things move faster when you're solo. Each tent site also had a water spicket and 1 or 3 tables. The tent sites are huge and can fit any tent I've ever seen. Close to white sands national park. They also offer sleds you can borrow for free and wax for a $1 deposit. I highly recommend going there and sledding. Be aware of the weather/season because the sand will be hot during the day in the summer months
Guide
Not a lot to say a small parking lot at the end of the road. Two trails lead from the lot there are a few good tent sites right by the lot. The lot is mostly flat and has a three night limit.
Guide
This RV resort is hidden away near Ruidoso and adjacent to Lincoln National Forest. Small and quiet away from the traffic but close enough to all the sights and attractions in the area. This resort makes a perfect home base.
Traveler
Beautiful area for tent camping. I hiked into the trees a bit so there weren’t super close neighbors. Plenty of downed trees for gathering firewood. There’s an old logging road that makes for an easy hike. It leads into a meadow with a very small pond which I’m sure would be good for wildlife viewing if you sat there long enough.
RangerWe tent-camped at Oliver Lee State Park on 8/14/2021. Overall good experience. We took a 2 mile hike down and around the riparian trail where there was water in the canyon that disappeared in the creek bed beyond the canyon. We didn’t attempt the steep trail to the ridge. Although we visited in August, it wasn’t too hot because of recent rains.
Scout
We have rented Slide Campground several times for group RV & tent camping. It features vault toilets if you Ed them, a tent area, a very large covered pavilion for those rainy days, large firepit area, cooking grills & a large parking lot for RVs & kids to play. Also has bear proof garbage and food storage. It easily held 3 RVs and 20 people. They provide 300 gallons of water in a tank. Behind the campground is a hiking trail. Loved it.
ScoutWell managed KOA and short driving distance from White Sands National Park and Lincoln National Forest. This KOA is in the city so there is some traffic noise and there is a train that passes through at night. They have sleds to borrow for White Sands which saves you the hassle and cost of getting a sled at the White Sands park. Wifi was unreliable, but cellular internet worked fine on our phones.
Ranger
My family and dog tent-camped at Three Rivers campground on Labor Day weekend 2014. There were shaded spots. The water in the river was running and fresh. There were a couple nice bathing holes. We tried to hike up to the peak but we ascended halfway and turned back. In Aug. 2018, I climbed the trail to the peak but camped 2/3 up the mountain; so it took me 2 days to ascend and descend, which was harder. Pretty place with many conifer trees.
GuideThis is a quiet area tucked away in Lincoln National Forest. It's not too far from Cloudcroft, NM so it's easy to resupply on water, snack, etc. You can camp right next to a creek and the valley makes for some great views. This area is basically everything you can ask for when dispersed camping. It's quiet and other than the occasional hiker, nobody else is around. There's plenty of hiking and just good times to be had. A quintessential camping experience.
Legend
I have seen mostly upper New Mexico and well when I found this area in comparison that or anything else near El Paso, I was more than a bit confused as to where I was. Yes, it is a forest, but still I wasn't ready for how forest-like and amazing it was.
Driving out you have no cell signal at all. The roads are winding and you see a lot of livestock, then out of no where deer, big deer and elk! It is like a different planet from everything else and the deeper into Cloudcroft you get the more and more it starts looking more like Colorado than anything you would assume would be New Mexico.
The campground is no different! Large shade trees standing tall above the site, the ground below looking like it was cut from a different cloth than anything from all the miles you travel in any direction from this location. The temperatures itself even is different, cooler by about 15 to 20 degrees.
The camp is small and while they have a posting for RVs I don't see how they could easily fit in the spaces I saw. There are minimal amenities such as drinking water and vault toilets but no dump stations or hook ups.
It was very quiet when we were there although there were other campers, the sounds of everything around seemed to muffle any noise they could be making.
TIPS:
Don't plan on contacting anyone, staying here is a truly unplug and unwind experience.
Explore some of the hiking in the area. Lincoln National Forest has nearly 50 trails so there is something for everyone from short day hikes to long treks for backcountry camping and hiking.
GuideGood, clean state park campground central to Alamogordo and White Sands.
Pros:
Cons:
GuideWe tent camped here on a Friday night, it was kind of crowded for dispersed camping but a really beautiful place and still easy to find a spot despite arriving at like 8:30pm. We camped right on the creek, kids loved playing in it and seeing the waterfall. We saw deer, tons of elk, a hummingbird came right up to us and chirped and tried to land on us, and we woke up the first morning to a herd of cows mooing and walking past our tents with their calves. Would definitely stay here again. No cell signal (Verizon). Road to get there is not paved and in some places can only fit one vehicle so we did see some minor issues with that with people traveling the road.
ScoutThis was a lovely campground near Cloudcroft, NM. It is located in the Lincoln National Forest. We really enjoyed our couple of days at this location. It is near several hiking trails and convenient located close to town in case you needed anything. This campground also has a special trail that was created for blind and deaf children, so it has signs with sensory additions. It was a really sweet spot. The sites themselves were spacious and very reasonably priced. If you want to be further away from people, pick one of the first sites you see, otherwise the sites are clustered in groups. We would definitely go there again.
Ranger
Has one handicap accessible & next to bathroom). There is a group site that has three picnic tables under a shelter and two grills. 2 RV sites have covered picnic tables and grills and water and electric hookups. Five tent sites. One of the tent locations is at the handicap accessible site. CLEAN restrooms with flush toilets and drinking water are available. Pets are allowed in the campground(on leash), but are not allowed on the trails. Petroglyph trails are rocky, but not difficult (keep your eyes peeled, there are petroglyphs everywhere). Hosts were very nice. Campground has well-functioning electronic/pay check-in. Great BLM campground. Other places in area include Malpais lava flows. Sierra Blanca hovers to the east. Sunset was early in Nov. so if hiking trails in late afternoon take a flashlight. Nearby Carrizozo reportedly has a photo gallery or three that we were told were well worth checking out but we did not get chance to do so.
ScoutReservation camp ground about 15-20 min from Alamogordo. Great views, although a little windy at night since you're right up against the mountains. Bathrooms were clean and the pull in spots are nicely spaced out, so it's nice and chill. They also have quiet hours from 10p-7a daily. Office was closed when I was there (Monday) so I can't speak to the staff, but the campground looked pretty well maintained.
There are two trails if you want to hike. One is flat and goes through the canyon for about a mile and a half. The other is basically straight up for 5 miles - I didn't try that one :) - but I imagine the views are great if you can swing it.
The only complaint about this campground (which can't be fixed) is the flies. So. Many. Flies. They're everywhere and they are impossible to deter no matter how many times you swat them. It's insane. Maybe it was the time of year (late June) but it made tent camping pretty tough at times. If you're in an RV/camper I imagine it wouldn't be quite as bad for you.
RangerI messed up thinking I had booked this campground - I hadn’t. It was five minutes to seven pm and the staff called me back and got me a site for less than $50 for the night. It was a nice, level pull through site with water/sewer/cable/electric. I was pretty relieved that we would have somewhere to camp - no one else picked up their phones.
We didn’t arrive until nearly nine and the same staff person was still working - helping someone back into their site. She was very kind and welcoming.
The next morning I checked out the campground. The area was pretty industrial, but less than two minutes to the science museum and zoo. Individual spaces were generous (especially the tent sites - they would fit any tent size) and I liked the little patio we had. The playground was newish, the pool looked like it would be nice when filled, the laundry room looked great (but cash only - I prefer the card ones) and there was a lovely store and rec room. There were also showers and a small dog run.
This KOA had everything you could need - including excellent customer service.
20-25 minutes to White Sands National Monument.
LegendThis place has changed a lot over the past couple of years! Last time I was here there was only the bathroom and two picnic areas. Now there are upwards of 10 campsites situated for RV’s or tents. Tent camping can be done along the outside of the area because the parking lot is mostly gravel so it would be hard to set up a spot there. Ideal for RV’s though.
Lots of turnaround space and cheap camping.
They have a visitor’s center (which wasn’t open due to covid) and they are remodeling their bathrooms. Bathrooms are flush toilets and heated but need updating.
It is a quiet campground, pretty out of the way so most people just come for the day to hike around the petroglyphs.
The trail is incredible and filled with over 20,000 carvings. It is windy so be prepared for all sorts of weather. I hiked in a tank top and woke up the next morning to 7 inches of snow.
The camp hosts are incredibly sweet and helpful. They have firewood for sale when it is permitted but with winds, I wouldn’t trust fires too much.
There is a tourist style store on the main road turning into this place with an incredible art gallery from a local artist named Cameron Blagg. His Indigenous-inspired art fuels the love and natural history of the area.
Scout
The drive up is full of narrow switchbacks that you just hope and pray nobody else happens to be coming around at the same time as you are. There are some quite steep grades as well. Whoever set the speed limit at 30 miles per hour must have been a daredevil before they found employment as a civil engineer. However the road is decent enough that most any vehicle can navigate it. I had zero issues in my truck with a camper in the bed. A class B could get in there as well, but there's no room for anything bigger and good luck getting level. There is absolutely no room for trailers at all. There are only about 5 walk in tent sites that I saw with fire rings. The only amenity is a vault toilet. Be aware that you are on a mountain peak so it gets pretty windy. Your $40 Wally World tent will probably beat you to death in the night. Make sure you have a sturdy setup. If you can deal with all that though, the view is unsurpassed. Its just a small hike up to the tower where you can see in every direction forever it seems. The forest in the area is just starting to recover from wildfires a couple of years ago, but the contrast between the burnt old and the growing new is beautiful.
Note: a previous review stated the tower was closed, but it was back open by my visit in Sept 2017.
Tent camping near Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in nature, with a variety of campgrounds that cater to different preferences and needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Lincoln National Forest is Backcountry Primitive Sites — White Sands National Park with a 4.7-star rating from 23 reviews.
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