Best Tent Camping near Pinos Altos, NM

We decided to take a late fall trip to CA and drag a 34' 5er up to Hyde memorial state park.  Bad idea on many levels.  First, you have to navigate through old Santa Fe to get to the entrance to the park.  Narrow streets+a big 5th wheel+a huge F250= unfun drive which took well over an hour to get through just a few miles of roads due to the heavy traffic and numerous lights, plus the navigation required to get around very tight corners.  We got to the RV part of the park and it was not crowded, but the spaces require some skill to back into and are NOT the slightest bit level, or wide.  We managed. 

The hiking around the park and campgrounds is amazing, but a bit challenging.  We live at 8000 feet, so the altitude was not a problem for us, but if you are from sea level, be prepared to take your time and handle the altitude. 

It snowed on Oct 31 and we had to dig out from 8+ inches of snow to get on the road on November 1.  The dump station was filled with 6+ inches of mud/slush/water and we regrettably had to use it.  It was a disgusting mess to say the least.  To add insult to injury, we had to drive BACK through Old Santa Fe, in the snow. 

My advice is to go IF you have a smaller trailer or 5th wheel, or are tent camping.  The tent campground closed well before we arrived, so I can't add anything to the review on that. 

It's a beautiful campground, but the RV area is small, close together spaces, difficult to get into and the dump station is the stuff RV nightmares are made of.

The primitive campsites are the only good spot for tent camping. There two big campsites are more for Rv’s

Bummed when we pulled up and were told we couldn’t tent camp. Found a better place up the road near the lake.

Very nice place. Well maintained & clean! But only RV - was going to tent camp out of the car but host denied. (with a cravat, he offered to 'put me in the back' for a small fee IF I agreed to not abuse the facilities) -apparently he had problems with campers in the past, so, yea, no camping

Campsite is situated at the Cave Creek trailhead, a cool hike to some local caves. It's 5 bucks for the night, 2 dollars day use, all backpacking tent sites. Some shelters. Gorgeous views, camp guide says its booked fill every weekend. Good luck

Campgrounds were fairly clean here. Keep in mind that if you are tent camping A LOT of the spots are extremely rocky and just full of gravel! Campground has clean showers and bathrooms as well. Sites are fairly close to the lake too. The campground is also only about 12 minutes away from the town of Santa Rosa if you’re in need of supplies!

If you have an RV, Hyde Park Sate Park is where you want to be. If you're tent camping, Big Tesuque is AMAZING!! It's small, but absolutely beautiful. Each site has a picknick table and a tent pad. There are basic toilets. No showers, no sinks. But there are 2 streams bordering the campground and trails leading into the mountains.

When I was there, it was 5 to 10 degrees warmer than Hyde Park! (end of May.)

Beautiful spot for fall camping since the leaves are changing colors and temperatures are cooler. In winter, this area receives snow and can be difficult to get to without a reliable, 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Tent sites have covered awnings and fire pits when open flame is allowed. There are two large yurts tucked away from the main road. Great hiking trails in and around the park.

Stopped by this KOA to see what it offered for possible future stays. It's a compact campground that provides pull through sites as well as back-in and tent sites. They offer everything from 50 amp electric to cable TV. Sites are clean and neat. There's a dog park for your pets. Bathrooms are clean with hot showers. They have cabins available as well.

Great location for exploring Sandra Fe, Bandelier, and other national monuments.

We were very excited on our first night to settle into our campsite after a long day of adventuring. Just a short drive to the outskirts of Santa Fe in mountain country we found our campground, Rancheros de Santa Fe.

Upon entry the staff was very friendly and welcoming and we felt like this would be a great place to call home away from home.

The campsites were laid out well with room between campers and because it was the end of a weekend, they were not entirely at capacity which made for a pleasant sense of space in the great outdoors.

Our campsite was positioned in the "high road" tent site area which is a primitive campsite without additional amenities. Each campsite has a fire ring and also a picnic table for campers to utilize and a pad site for tents slightly raises from ground level.

It made for a beautiful night sleep under the chilly New Mexico skies.

By morning we ventured up to the public showers and restrooms which were clean and had amazon water pressure and hot water to set the morning in motion perfectly.

The facility also offers a pool and theater room during summer months so while we didn't get to take advantage we were excited to know upon return we would have these features available.

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Overall we give this campground a 4 of 5 Bunniea! The only things we noticed which kept it from a 5 were the lack of wifi reach in the back sections of the campground, wouldn't have been a big deal but cell service in the off grid location was also patchy so the wifi would have been handy. And the pad site was not designed for a tent quite our size. Our tent is a 12x8 and had a little side hang on on the 12 foot end.

A family trip with the RV and although we did enjoy our stay for the most part, there was a lot left to be desired. The larger RV spots we had to get were right next to the road and right next to other campers. The drive up is steep and our RV had a hard time; would not even think of staying up here in the winter. The dump station was closed for some reason when we were leaving. The kids enjoyed the steep hikes and the stream the runs along the other side of the camp sites where there are smaller campgrounds for tent camping. There was a fun playground my kids enjoyed and a nice area at the group shelter. Lots of fun painted rocks my kids round my the stream. Would visit again but not in an RV and not during winter when it would be snowing.

First of all- DON’T TRAVEL RT 3 FROM I40! Travel on 84, it looks longer, but it’s not really and the road is way better! We enjoyed staying here, even though we didn’t have an actual camp site. The dirt is red but that’s normal for this area. Good hiking (some slight rock climbing) The sites are mostly 2 per site, back to back, but it’s not real close together. And the tables seem to be on the wrong side in several places. When we called they said there were no sites available, but they’d make room for us. That was by the group shelter, and it wasn’t bad, but no where really private to set out chairs and no table, which we didn’t need anyway. It was a very quiet place and you can hear the river running. On through the camp, there are tent sites that are very nice. The ranger were very kind and helpful. Make time to visit in the city. One of the stores sells the best ever frito pie…with a cold Pepsi…wow! We were here in April and it was pretty warm, so I’d think it might be fairly hot in summer. I’d like to come back some

Book on Reserve America for New Mexico “Santa Rosa Lake” very pretty and peaceful. Not all streets were labeled but the directions worked to get us there just fine. Park for kids, gorgeous sunsets and the stars show off at night. Clean bathrooms. Had hookups.

We stopped here for an overnighter and it was not the most aesthetic choice, but the town of Las Vegas is quite charming. The town has a great plaza and historic hotel where we had a pretty good meal. The sunsets and landscape in this part of New Mexico really take your breath away.

This is a hidden gem. We were evacuated from our camping spot in Northern New Mexico due to wildfires and set out for a new spot. Exhausted from driving, we pulled into this campground. It is clean, well maintained and the dog got a kick out of doing a bit of swimming. There is unique topography and enough to explore for a night or two.

My first backpacking adventure in Northern New Mexico took me from Iron Gate Campground to Mora Flats. BEAUTIFUL!

A quick 4-5 mile hike in, we crossed the Pecos River and found a nice, shady spot in valley. It was peaceful, quiet and surprisingly cool for late-July. It rained each afternoon, but we had everything we needed to stay dry and cozy.

The river provided plenty of trout for a nice rice and fish dinner. The sky provided plenty of stars for gazing.