Best Tent Camping near Nageezi, NM

We came for a mid-week getaway to test a new tent. Camp hosts were friendly and we almost had the whole loop to ourself with some great amenities running water in the bathrooms and showers included for only $10. We had views of the lake, but not so close as to hear any of the boats. good tent sites and some shade from juniper trees.

The quieter side of Navajo Lake State Park, this is a nice, clean campground with pull through and tent sites (elec and non) close to Sims marina. Nothing spectacular and a bit remote, so not a place I would seek out necessarily. Keep in mind that this requires a little more driving to get to, so if you’re just passing through, be mindful that it’s ~17 miles from highway 64.

Pros:

• Quieter, seems less crowded than reg marina side of park
• A good mix of pull through and tent sites with plenty of room to drive in. Tent sites are multi level in a few cases (tables and pits are a short level below parking spot)
• Lake views for some spots (seem to be partial as trees do block some parts of view)
• Reasonably spaced, not super private but that is pretty much any paid campground
• Cleanish bathrooms and pit toilets, a little smelly on our visit and had no soap to wash hands (not in peak season, so think campgrounds are a little understaffed with no camp host until mid may)

Cons:

• A bit of a haul/remote if you’re just stopping through on way west through NM

It’s about 6 miles from the hwy with the first 1/4 mile being beyond washboard. After that little stretch it’s on and off washboard. I can imagine if it rained it looks like it could be quite slick. Didn’t count, but I think about 9 sites half with a covered picnic table and campfire ring. A couple sites seemed to be geared towards tent camping while some of the others were only big enough for the smallest rv campers and a couple that might squeeze in a 30’. Their is one group site that even the big rigs could get into, but that’s only one and these sites can fill up fast. So it’s a gamble expecting a site that your rig will fit especially if you have something bigger than 20’. I felt quite lucky to find 3 sites available with my 22’ tt after beating myself and the contents in the trailer to get here. Near the entrance theirs parking at a overlook and day use picnic area halfway to the camping sites with vaulted toilets. Not much for hiking trails at the camp sites. Only one I found on the west side of the campground that follows the rim, but it’s short.

Face it, you don't go to Chaco Canyon, or Chaco Culture National Historical Park, for the camping experience. You go for the history, archaeology, ruins, mystery, astronomy and appreciation for the peoples who built these great houses 1200 years ago. But the facilities for tent camping are adequate-to-better, with very good restroom facilities and drinking water. No showers - carefully read the descriptions. No T-Mobile coverage to speak of, although if you make the climb up to Pueblo Alto to overlook Pueblo Bonito, I did get a weak signal that was good enough to download emails, but that was it.

Some of the campsites are closer to each other than others. The camp is arranged in a loop, generally I'd prefer to be toward the far end end of the loop for vehicle privacy. 

CAUTION: Pay attention to the weather and especially rain in the preceding days. I drove up to Chaco from Grants (from the south) and got stuck in about what turned out to be about a foot of mud under a few inches of standing water in a wash 4.4 miles from the Chaco Visitor's Center. Don't risk it! I drove out to the north on the road that connects to NM 550. That's the much preferred road IMO, and apparently the one also usually recommended by the NPS staff.

Access to the Angel Peak Scenic Area is off US Highway 550, 15 miles south of Bloomfield on County Road 7175. Follow the gravel road along the canyon rim for approximately six miles to reach the campground. It is important to note the gravel road may become dangerous in bad weather. 

First of picnic areas is a mile down a gravel road. Many RV's seem to be using this for boondocking. I don't blame them, but try and keep them open for day trippers if possible. The Picnic areas are on the rim of the canyon. The campground is 6 miles down the same road.

 Three picnic areas and a campground are located along the canyon rim overlooking Angel Peak and the Kutz Canyon badlands. Three picnic areas(Sage, Castle Rock, and Cliffs). In total there are seven developed sites located along the rim road. Each site has a shelter, tables on a concrete slab, a gravel pathway, and a fire grate. Trash cans are located in all three picnic areas. There are vault toilets available at both Sage and Cliffs picnic areas. These are BLM sites and are incredibly well maintained in the Winter. No electrical hookups or water is available.

Angel Peak Campground has nine sites available for tent camping. They each have picnic tables on a concrete underfoot, gravel pathways, and fire grates. Picnic shelters are located at three campsites; two with single shelters and one with a double shelter that seems to be a great spot for larger groups. Two accessible vault toilets and trash receptacles are in the campground. 

There is a nature trail that heads though light brush and along the rim to a beautiful bench that overlooks the incredible canyon.

We drove up Hwy 491 from I40 and were surprised there were no sites all the way up to Farmington or Shiprock. We chose this site but got there when it was already dark. Apple Maps to ok us directly to the site. It’s about 3 miles on a long dirt road. The road was dry when we visited so we had no problems. We drove into the tents sites on a Tuesday night and found several vacant.

The site itself was layered with gravel. There’s a covered picnic table and large fire ring in each site. We are tent campers and appreciated not setting the tent in the mid or dirt. The other sites are close but not so close you are forced to make conversation. That’s a choice here!

We didn’t hike while here but you could easily have some fun out there!

It looks like a miniature Grand Canyon. Striations in the rock show its sedimentary origin, and the erosion reveals voids under the layers. We camped on the rim where the bottom drops out precipitously. Hikes along the sheer cliffs test the meddle and nerve of brave hikers.

About New Mexico sunrises and sunsets, there are two shows daily, no reservations required!

Navajo Lake State park is situated on a relatively big lake for New Mexico standards. The campsites are relatively small and close together. Also bring plenty of leveling materials because several of the sites are uneven. The views from some of the sites are beautiful. Getting to the lake is a steep and rocky walk or a short drive to the marina. Most of the sites don’t have water or electricity. Pine campground is the only one from my recollection. Probably a mad house during regular season and relatively quiet off season. The marina has services and we didn’t use any of them.

We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were here for a few days in mid April. The roads in can be pretty rough in places, but not too awful bad in others for dirt and gravel road anyway. I wouldn’t attempt it in anything other than a 4WD if the area were to get any significant rain, as the ruts in the road were pretty significant. There are basically two ways to get here, one is at Nageezi on CR 7800 to NM 57(aka ISR 451 on some maps) from US 550, which is the way we came in. The 1st 4 of the 15 miles are paved, the rest is gravel and/or dirt. I was able to go between 20 and 30 mph most of the way, except in some really rough sections and at a couple of the cow guards. The other way, that BLM suggests on their website https://www.blm.gov/visit/ah-shi-sle-pah-wilderness, is to just take NM 57 off of US 550 several miles north of Nageezi, which we tried on the way out. Parts were better, but most of it was just as bad and a longer drive than CR 7800. The last 5 miles were“paved” or used to be and is some of the worst parts. The entrance to the trailhead is a fairly tight turn from the east, narrow, somewhat U-shaped and sporty(see photo looking NE, which really doesn’t do it justice), but after dropping our tow, we managed to get our 36’ MH up and in on the second attempt. Arriving from the east, I would suggest trying to turn around as we did and entering the trailhead from the west. To get to the wash and hoodoos it’s about a 0.6 mile walk from the trailhead. The trailhead area is nothing special, but the Wilderness Area, wash and hoodoos are really cool.

AT&T coverage was actually quite good, with 1-2 Bars of 5G service and speeds of up to 9 MB/s without a booster. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and Starlink had up to 10 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.

We had the goal of exploring New Mexico back country and Bisti, which we did! The Dyrt directions to the trailhead here are perfect. There were a few folks camping at the parking lot and there is a relatively clean pit toilet there though bring TP. We drove past the lot and got over a ditch no problem with our Tacoma. Past the second lot there is dispersed camping. We picked a great spot on the left. Nearby our spot 100 yards were very cool rock formations. We hiked in the badlands and found some neat formations and petrified wood though nothing like the beautiful photos published online. It was still worth it for the unique experience. We did a 6 mile out/back hike with 2 dogs. Flat but hot and windy at times. Some of the wind got intense at our camp spot. All in all this is a worthwhile experience if you like getting off the beaten path and exploring something different. We drove from here to Alien Throne. GPS was spotty but got us there and we had on/off service in Bisti.

This campground is not easy to get to, so get your head around that. The last 5 miles of the unpaved road getting to the park boundary will be a challenge, so take it slllooow. It is worth it, and you’ll have fewer crowds at this amazing place. 

The campground is similar to many national parks, with nicely spaced out, no hook up campsites. The toilets are clean and well maintained, flush toilets, and sinks, but no showers.  Water is available throughout the campground, and there’s a big sink for dumping your dish water. 

The campground is ideal for solar power, as is the New Mexico weather.  We also had no problem connecting with Starlink, but there was no LTE or phone service to speak of. 

Hiking in the park is simply stunning. With the ruins of the Chaco Culture all around, you can pick your adventure or simply drive the park loop road, stopping to wander through the remains of this vibrant place that was once the heart of a vast cultural empire. 

Cycling is also a great option -- bike/ hike your way around the park from the campground. The visitor’s center is good, and worth spending some time in.  The closest town with services is a long long way away, in any direction, so come prepared with your supplies, food, etc. 

There is a convenience store/ gas station about 20 miles out, but the drive back along the rough road will take an hour in an RV.  

This park is so worth a visit and the campground makes it easy to stay for as long as you can to soak up the solitude of this simply amazing place!

Jake from the Dyrt here!  Navajo Lake Group Camp offers the perfect setup for groups with 4 separate sites so each tent has their own space.  They provide the tents so don't worry about packing them!  Check them out and make sure to leave a review on the Dyrt!

I didn’t realize some sites are for RVs and some are for tents. I sleep in the back of my pick up truck and was stuck in the middle of RVs running their generators. Still loved the area. Great hiking right off the campground. Nice restrooms. 

We stayed here for one night in the summer of 2017. The sites are fairly basic: a spot for your tent, a fire pit/grill, a picnic table, and a communal bathroom and water. 

There's basically no natural shelter here, and it can get very hot and windy! If you're car camping (as opposed to RV-ing), this is definitely something to keep in mind. We didn't have any kind of awning or shade other than our tent, and having some shade would have made a huge difference! There are grill/fire pits at each site, but no wood was for sale when we visited. 

The bathrooms were clean enough, and the site was well maintained. 

Overall, the campsite is decent, not great, but ultimately you're here for the Chaco Culture park, which is amazing! Highly recommend going to one of the star parties when they have them and doing a ranger-led tour.

The campsites here are incredible! They are peaceful and tucked under an amazing starry sky. The ruins are unlike any other; visitors walk through the rooms sculpted by the puebloans a whole millienium earlier.

Gallo is a great car campground that still feels remote and tucked away from the world. Park is accessed from 17 miles of passable dirt road. Driver beware: wet conditions may make muddy roads temporarily impassible by cars not up to the task—call ahead if concerned. Flush toilets are available in campground, but there are no showers or other amenities. There is drinking water by the visitor center, which is only another short drive down the road. Bring all food and supplies because there are no supplies available within 40 minutes of the park and that is at a gas station.

Note about the few secluded tent only sites (sites 41-49): these sites do not allow you to park directly beside the site. You must walk your gear a short+ distance to a defined tent pad (mind the sizes when you reserve). Also, the way the wind blows through the canyon, sites 46-49 have no wind break, and fires may become too dangerous to light up. We camped in one of these and loved our experience. They have more space, are more private, and quieter. But setting up camp was more of a workout too!

There are 10 back-in campsites, 1 is handicap accessible, and all of them are large enough for most sizes of RVs. 

The 2.5 mile dirt road to the campground is a little wild since there are a lot of washes that have gone across the road but it was doable for our 2 wheel drive class c RV. 

Each campsite has a shade structure, fire pit, picnic table, and a grill. 

There are no trash services and the vault toilet didn't have any toilet paper but it's there to use for tent and van campers. 

There's a lot of OHV trails in the area and even some pretty sweet mountain bike trails.

The Gallo Campground is the only campground in Chaco Canyon National Park so reserving ahead of time or getting there earlier in the day depending on the season are very important. The park is very remote so it's a long drive on a potentially very rough road to get in but once you're there the route is well worth the visit.

I visited on a Wednesday night in mid October. The campground had filled up by about 2pm Wednesday and but was full by about 11am on Thursday.

There is currently no potable water at the campground but water is available at the Visitors Center a short drive down the road. There are however flushing toilets and running water in the bathrooms. The campsites each have a picnic table and fire pit. I thought the set up of the tent only area was interesting. There is a parking lot area with sites surrounding it on three sides. The set up allows for privacy between the sites which are nestled in among the rocks and plants.

I wish I had spent more time in Chaco Canyon exploring the sites, hiking, and going on tours. The daily tours and ranger talks provide more insight into the canyon's history than you can get with the self guided booklets.

Gallo Campground is the only campground in Chaco Canyon National Park so reserving ahead of time or getting there earlier in the day depending on the season are very important. The park is very remote so it's a long drive on a potentially very rough road to get in but once you're there the route is well worth the visit.

I visited on a Wednesday night in mid October. The campground had filled up by about 2pm Wednesday and but was full by about 11am on Thursday.

There is currently no potable water at the campground but water is available at the Visitors Center a short drive down the road. There are however flushing toilets and running water in the bathrooms. The campsites each have a picnic table and fire pit. I thought the set up of the tent only area was interesting. There is a parking lot area with sites surrounding it on three sides. The set up allows for privacy between the sites which are nestled in among the rocks and plants as well as ruins!

I wish I had spent more time in Chaco Canyon exploring the sites, hiking, and going on tours. The daily tours and ranger talks provide more insight into the canyon's history than you can get with the self guided booklets.

This was the first stop of 3 - 2 night stays on this search to find great camping with easy access to water and preferably within a days drive of my house. I recreational kayak so access to water is at the top of my list of must haves if paddling is on the list of must do’s. This was a survey trip to see what’s out there for folks like me.

I booked two nights going to quite a bit of trouble of obtain them. I booked all three stays on the same day in March. Two weeks before my trip I receive an email from the Parks department cancelling my reservation, issuing a refund but offering no explanation or offer to assist in finding another spot. Getting to speak to an actual person… could not be done. I left voice mails at the dam, at the. State office and even the Governor’s office but apparently no one was at work. Two weeks later a really helpful gal called to say she had just started two days prior and discovered a full voice mail box. She was absolutely amazing at facilitating a solution within two days. Clarissa, you are a Goddess! Reserve America is a pain to navigate and I will leave it at that.

Now about the campground. It is exactly what one should expect in a desert landscape. Very few trees and very dusty and rocky. It was 100 degrees when I left for my trip deciding to wait until late afternoon to avoid setting up in the blazing heat. I arrived at 10:00pm or so. It was 73 degrees. I came in from the east side 64 to 527 and there were deer and elk EVERYWHERE!!!! Which is why I arrived so late, you just have to slow down. Mostly cedar and pine and natural gas oil wells EVERYWHERE!!!! I got to my appointed site and I simply could not navigate from where one parks to where the actual site was and which, by the way, while lakeside it was convenient to water it was not. If you have a few people to help haul everything down to where the actual water is great, but alone in 100 degrees. Also, I travel with two small dogs and shade is paramount. Well shade they do have such as it is. The showers were not available due to, you guessed, a water shortage! I just put up the tent and went to sleep which wasn’t too uncomfortable. Next morning at 5:30 the sun was out and the heat was building. I packed up and moved on up to Colorado where it would surely be much cooler.

I might like to visit Sims Mesa Marina at Navajo Lake again, if it ever fills again and perhaps in the spring or fall but NOT in summer. So many of our fine bodies of water boaters and anglers have come to rely on for recreation are in serious jeopardy due to a 10 year what is termed “Exceptional” drought conditions. It’s really such a shame.

Side note: be sure to take the Navajo Dam shortcut when leaving Sims. It’s a well maintained, but very dusty road. The views are spectacular and driving across the dam is a bit nerve racking. The drive down from the dam all along the San Juan drainage below the dam is well worth checking out for day use only but there are several “holes” they call them where the fishing is said to be amazing and the parking lot reflected it’s popularity.

So it’s on to Vallecito Lake outside Bayfield, Colorado. Specifically Pine Point USFS Campground. The search for paddling opportunities continues.

Owners Wayne & Yolanda have created a space for camping with desert all around.  It was a great place to see the annular eclipse and , most importantly, a safe place to leave our trailer so we didn't have to take it on the rough road into Chaco Culture Heritage Site.  

There are no amenities and during the eclipse we were charged 40.00/nt.  However, the space was fairly level and the owners were lovely folks, very hospitable.  I'd definitely recommend utilizing their evolving campground while visiting Chaco.

Chaco Canyon is my favorite camping spot. The campground is hard to reach down a pot holed dirt road, good for small RV’s and car camping and once you arrive, it’s hard to leave. There is no water or electric at the camp sites, as is true with most western national parks, but the bathroom close by is heated for the cold desert nights of October and the thousands of rooms of ruin are still a mystery to archeologists who continue to study the Oueblo people who lived here.

this campground is situated in a small canyon southeasterly of the Chaco Canyon Historical Park. The campground is really clean and quiet. Bathrooms have flush toilets and running water. A friendly ranger comes by every so often to check on things. There are small ruins in the campsite as well. I had a wonderful evening here.