Best Cabin Camping near Ranchos de Taos, NM

We stayed at this site on the way back to Texas from our Colorado trip this summer. This is a great National Forest Campground south of Taos in the Carson Forest. The campground is just off the highway and situated in a beautiful mountain pine forest and next to a great trout stream. You have great shade during the hotter summer months. It’s far enough away from the highway that you don’t hear the traffic. It has a huge meadow and group camp site which look fantastic. The individual sites have some privacy between the sites and come equipped with fire pits and picnic tables. We made a reservation but the camp had a number of open sites in the peak summer season. The highlight here is the proximity of great hiking to nearby lakes and fishing in the trout stream. They had great facilities including clean pit toilets and some historic log cabins. They have a camp host and the sites accommodate tents and smaller vans and campers. I would give this another visit on our next trip to NM.

Camped 2 nights at site #38 on the Puerco Loop. Reserved thru rec.gov while at the site. Wonderful campground hosts. Site was not quite level for our campervan, but close enough. Good views of lake & surrounding area from site. Vault toilet & drinking water a short walk away. Juniper provided minimal privacy. Site has lantern poll, fire ring, trash can & table. No hookups at this site. $6/night with senior pass. Restroom/shower house within walking distance. Facilities & vault toilets were very clean. Hiking trail in campground. AT&T & T-Mobile service. Overall, quiet & peaceful stay.

General: 54-site campground in four loops; the Pedernal Loop has water and electric hookups, the Chama and Puerco Loops do not and there is a walk-in tent site loop. There is also overflow camping. 

Site Quality: Sites appeared to be mostly level (at least in the Pedernal loop); most were paved but a few were gravel. Most were back in, but some were pull-through. There are two ADA-accessible sites in the Pedernal Loop. Many have reservoir views. Site 14 has a generous-sized paved driveway. Completing the site is a lantern hook, BBQ, and covered picnic table. Too bad it was so darn windy that we could not enjoy these amenities. There was also a garbage can at the end of each site but no recycling that I saw. If you do not need hookups, sites 34 and 39 (in the Puerco loop) provide excellent water views. 

Bath/Shower House: Basic with two shower stalls, two toilets, and one sink. Very clean. There are also very clean vault toilets located throughout the campground. Did not use the shower so cannot comment on how well it works. 

Activities: The Abiquiu Lake Vista Trail is a 4-mile hike and bike stacked-looped trail (so you can add or duplicate interconnected loops). Boating access is one mile away. Fishing is also popular. There is also a volleyball net and a very nice modern playground. We were there at the end of April, so it was very quiet (which is the way we like it). Shout out to great camp hosts – we were greeted upon arrival and they made sure we didn’t have any questions or concerns. For $16, this is affordable but with the senior pass, $8 is a bonafide bargain!

4k River Ranch is the best campground in Red River. They've got RV sites, apartments, cabins and a beautiful penthouse in the center of town overlooking the town and mountain. The Red River runs through the park, so you can fish in it or in the stocked private pond. The have 50amp & 30amp sites. Pull-thrus, back-ins & buddy sites. WiFi is good for checking emails and browsing websites. Very nice bathrooms with showers plus a laundry room. The staff is fantastic and they've got a really nice new office/store. They're building new cabins along the Red River plus a new pavilion for family gatherings along with a playground for the kids.

We absolutely loved our stay at Ojo Caliente. The entire staff is helpful and kind, especially Danny on the grounds and Annie at the restaurant. We wanted spot 17 but it was booked so we got spot 11, which had some privacy as well. As others have mentioned, the hookups are on the opposite side but they will lend you extensions if you need. All spots have picnic tables. The spots further from sitting have most privacy and are still only a 5 minute walk to entrance (I timed it from our site). The best part is that you get early access to the pools, you'll have them nearly to yourselves 7:30-10am and 20% off admission. Also there is free yoga at 9 or 10:40 for guests and all the instructors were fantastic. The onsite restaurant was good, although we wished they had more than 5 bar seats. Would definitely stay again, so many amenities for the same price as a state park!

Nice park nestled at the foot of the mountains and on the banks of the Red River. Nicely landscaped with two ponds and a river walk. Location is great for visiting Rio Grande del Norte NM and the Wild Rivers Recreation Area. Just north of Taos too. Nicely shaded, level sites with full hookups. Nice picnic table and grill. Might be a little tight for big rigs, but my little Casita was quite happy. Very friendly folks in the office. Clean laundry and restroom. My site backed up to the river and the sound of the rushing water was the perfect lullaby.

Our truck broke down 1 mile from the ranch and we weren’t sure what to do so I hopped on my mountain bike and rode to the welcome center. I met a wonderful lady who offered a gentleman who worked there to help me. He grabbed his truck and towed me and my trailer to the campsite. We ended up staying there for about five or six days while the truck was being fixed in Albuquerque. Couldn’t have broken down in a better place. The scenery is beautiful and the people are nice. It’s true they had meal plans, but we were prepared to camp off grid so we didn’t need anything. Instead, we enjoyed the views and the museum and the, swimming pool and horseback riding. Completely unplanned. It’s probably important to know this is not a remote campsite because there’s lots of amenities and if you’re the kind of person looking for a flat asphalt pad to park is your camper on them, you might wanna move on. We definitely love this place and would recommend it to anyone looking for secret little area to chill out. The vibe was perfect. looking forward to coming back.

My wife and I spent 3 days here in late May.  Because we planned out trip a little late, we actually stayed the first night in Spot 16 (no hookups) and then the last 2 at Spot 14 (electric and water).  Spot 16 was in the "Chama Loop" and I have to say, this loop is really not for our rig (a 30' Class A).  We had a pull in spot, and fit okay, but the spots here are all on the smaller side and we mostly saw tents and some truck campers and a couple of Class Bs.  We could NOT get level on our site without some serious efforts and more blocks than I really like.  We never got level enough to feel comfortable putting out our slides.  When we moved the next day to Spot 14 (in the Pedernal Loop, where the only electric/water sites are), it was much better.  Leveling was easy as can be.  The hookups were very conveniently located and we had no complaints here.  Very spacious lot.  Picnic tables under cover, a grill and a fire pit.  

Spaces between spots are fairly generous.  Not huge, but far better than most commercial sites.  We felt very much "alone" here.

Some great things:  the camp hosts Al and Cindy were INCREDIBLY helpful and friendly.  Best hosts we've ever had!  The playground is excellent (we don't have little kids, but we actually enjoyed the swings and such ourselves one evening!).  The views of the lake are very good (you can't get down to the lake from here, but the extra height made for great views), and the walking trail from the visitor center to the boat launch goes right through the park, so you can join it easily if you wish.  Dump station has two dump spots, which was nice.  There are lots of picnic areas, and the tent sites looked very nice too.  

Not the greatest:  other than the aforementioned levelness issues, I was amused to see how steep the road down to the little "front gate" is.  Not ideal for RVs!  You come down off a Mesa to the much lower campground on a fairly steep grade, and 2/3 of the way down, you have to stop to check in.  Just seemed weird.  The dump station has NO hose hookup for the non-potable water (just a weird contraption that sprays water everywhere), so no easy way to flush the black tank, which I don't love.

Connectivity:  no wi-fi.  And the cell signal is spotty.  We were able to use my iphone to create a Verizon hot spot, and actually, after a struggle, could watch some Netflix.  But then surfing sometimes went from slow but okay to non-existent.  My one word review would be:  inconsistent.  And now, we don't spent our time surfing the internet, but for doing research, checking email, etc., it was not ideal.  Workable, but not the best.

We'd stay here again in a second.  We've already talked about what we'll do next time we stay here.