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This recreation area is part of Conchas Lake
Traveler
Very clean campground with many spots to camp overlooking the lake. Good bathrooms too.
Traveler
Great location about half way between Albuquerque and Colorado Springs. I snuck in late one night and napped 2 hours near the pit toilets and left before daylight, so as not to disturb the campers with my brief stay. Pit toilets a plus of course. Can be frosty.
Ranger

ScoutJust northwest of the town of Springer, the lake is also stocked regularly with rainbows, and bullheads are also taken.
Play elastic man game while enjoy its beauty.
Ranger
Capulin RV Park is a pretty nice private RV park across the highway from the Capulin Volcano National Monument entrance road. We stayed one night. Some of the sites are shady. The park streets and sites are crushed limestone. The park was clean and quiet. The sites are very close together; fortunately, it was not full and we had room. Restrooms and showers were clean (did not use shower). Amenities include: common fire ring with seating and view of volcano, swing with view of volcano.
Stayed in pull-thru campsite #25 which had evening shade and level. It was a crushed limestone site. There was barely enough parking for my 34 ft TT. Neighbors are VERY close. Utilities: 20/30/50A electric in middle of site. Water in middle of site, good pressure. Sewer in middle of site with 4-in screw-on fitting.
AT&T had two bars of LTE service. AT&T Speedtest: 36.6 Mbps down, 7.5 Mbps up. Free WiFi is available, but did not use it.
The town of Capulin, NM is very small. The closest restaurant is The Sierra Grande Restaurant in Des Moines, NM, which is open year round for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other restaurants and fast food are available in Raton and Clayton.
Would stay here again.
GuideThis is a good spot for a quick, free overnight
Legend
We needed hook up for a night stop in April. We were alone in the campground which is on the side of the hikers in. We had everything we need for a reasonable price. Friendly owner.
TravelerNice views, level, has a pit toilet, trash and recycling. It was a nice spot to spend a night heading home. There are several picnic tables too. We pulled in around 5pm on a Friday and there were 3 other vans in the camping area with plenty of room.
TravelerThe couple running the park are very nice. Bathrooms are clean. The water is off for the winter season but they do have water to fill your tanks if you wish. It was $50 for our site for the night.
GuideNothing fancy but great views of the lake and always some amazing waterfowl. Just drive in and pick one of 4 spots. We’re always the only ones there.
Ranger
Nice views of the lake and rocks from Bell Point campground. We stayed in site B19 and it was easy to back in to with our 20' camper. Electric was appreciated, but water was unavailable due to repairs, the dump station and showers were closed - making our stay shorter than expected. There were porta-potties available at the restrooms. The only place around to get water is in the town of Tecumcari, atleast a 30 min drive. If we're in the area and the water gets turned back on, we'd visit again. ATT signal is good and Starlink worked great here, no interruptions in school, work, streaming or gaming. Loved the views, did a bit of hiking around the lake area, saw a boat or two on the lake every now and then. We saw a roadrunner near our site which was really neat
ScoutOnly the sounds of nature, other than the flies around 3pm it was perfect. In winter or loads of rain the dirt road could become very difficult to pass.
Traveler
Rugged beautiful area. Trail to drive down not bad. Can camp by the river. We didn’t end up staying here due to the fact that we had kids and a dog. The area even at campsites have the grass and bushes right up to it. We were concerned about snakes.
ScoutA friend told us about this place, being from California we decided to give it a try. Complete disaster, the road down was so rough we lost our muffler on a new truck, campsite was primitive but ok. What our, now former, friend declined to tell us is that this is a re-location area for bears that wander into the towns of Taos, Red River, Angel Fire etc. First night so many bears came into our camp I thought we were in a bath house in San Francisco, tore up our “ bear proof” cooler and shit everywhere from eating the jalapeños we had among other things in the cooler. Next morning hike went great till we returned to a destroyed truck from another bear, so destroyed we could’nt start it and had to hike out of the canyon for phone service. Six hours later and an $900 towing bill we finally arrived in Cimmaron, NM. Tow truck driver says he hauls about three cars a year out of the Canyon due to bears and meth heads trying to hot wire vehicles and screwing up the ignition. STAY CLEAR OF THIS PLACE.
ScoutQuiet , just you and the wildlife
Guide
Contrary to what's on The Dyrt. There are 3 camping areas on the lake. The south end and the central campgrounds are Army Corp of Engineers. The north area/campground is State Park. I was there over the July 4th weekend on the south end USACE site and it was empty. Lots of boaters, but only a few campers. It is hot and open. Nice rocky plateaus to hike. The lake is down 40 ft. Hasn't been up full for 17 years. About a third of the site have a adobe shelter/lean-to. Which provides some needed shade. You can see how open it is by my pictures.
Guide20 sites. Approximately half have adobe shelters. Very open and windy. All have water none have electricity. Today is July 1st, Monday is the 4th. Plenty of boats out on the lake for the holiday weekend, but the campsite still has 17 site open.
TravelerWe needed a spot to stay and found a happy location at Hikers Cimarron Inn & RV Park. Their reservation system on their website was easy to use and navigate. The RV spots are level gravel, sites are close together with minimal privacy but convenient to grocery store and restaurants - within a short walk. Owners were friendly and helpful. Bathrooms had showers and were clean but spartan and totally functional.
RangerStayed: 5/20/2022
Cost: FREE
Site: N/A
Vehicle: Buick Verano
Equipment: Tent
AT&T and T-Mobile: Good service
We had an extremely windy night that almost had us take the tent down and car it. If it wasn’t for that, this place was great. It’s a wide open area with trash cans and pit toilets. Nice little spot to setup for a night!
#DareToEverywhere
GuideFantastic sites. We got one by itself near and old boat ramp. Level and a pull through. Easy access. Just go straight northbound on the main road till you see the sign for Lake 13. Sites are on the west shore.
TravelerCame across this camp site by using this app ( The Dirt ) it’s helpful and especially when people like ourselves leave reviews like the other people left. First it’s clean and sorta small but great to you off the hwy and take small break. Just like the other’s reviews. I’ll be back when it’s not cold.
TravelerEasy access. Wide open and super peaceful, quiet. No one else out here. Easy access and camping adjacent to a dam overlooking a lake.
RangerWe stopped for just one night but could easily have stayed longer. Easy to find by just following signs. There were four of us total the night we stayed but it felt spacious nonetheless. Gorgeous setting. Very peaceful. Pit toilets. No water so come prepared.
We had good TMobile cell connection.
LegendCame here on a Friday night and shared the place with only 2 other campers. The camping area isn’t huge but a few others could have been there and still had plenty of space. There’s a new picnic tables and several trash bins located in the camping area. There’s also 2 vault toilets that were clean. Not much of a lake left but plenty of birds & beautiful sunsets to watch. Super easy to get to off the interstate and was very peaceful. Free & felt safe! Also had great AT&T service.
GuideCamping area has maybe 6 sites, each with a picnic table, but the view looks out onto the lake where hundreds of waterfowl floated. Sandhill cranes were just arriving with many other species. The primitive sites filled up the night we were there, even with a long Class A motorhome. Never saw any official personnel but the sites were mowed and clean. Only reason I don't give this a 5 is the lack of facilities.
GuideA bit of the way off the paved road. Do NOT follow GPS, follow the signs for the Maxwell wildlife refuge.
Camping is right next to the lake in an open field with picnic tables and trash.
We arrived and there was a schoolie and a van. Later that evening a class A pulled in next to us but there was plenty of room. There were some flies but not enough to bother with.
We have a 43’ fifth wheel and made it there with no problem so definitely big rig friendly
ScoutOn 10/04/2021 the road gate was closed. I do not know why.
Camping near Mills, New Mexico, offers a mix of stunning landscapes and unique experiences. Whether you're looking for a quiet spot to unwind or an adventure-filled getaway, there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Mills, New Mexico, has its quirks, but with the right preparation, it can be a memorable experience!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Mills, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Mills, NM is Chicosa Lake State Park with a 0-star rating from 0 reviews.
