Best Glamping near Raton, NM

Cimarron Canton State Park is a wonderful place to stay, right on the Cimarron River. Bring your fishing gear and license for some relaxing fishing. Some of the sites are immediately adjacent to the river. My favorite campground is Tolby, the Westernmost. It has a Ranger/Information Station in the east end of the campground. It has flush toilets and sinks, but no shower. This is my favorite, because I love to hike and backpack. Just south across Highway 64 from the campground entrance is the Tolby Trailhead. The Tolby Trail takes you all the way back to Tolby Meadow on an excellent trail. A good spot for overnight tent camping. Tolby campground is also just minutes from Eagle Nest, NM and within easy range of Angel Fire, Red River, and a little less than an hour from Taos.

There are two other campgrounds for RVs, Maverick and Ponderosa, as well as one more for tent camping. Maverick sits right next to a pair of gravel pit lakes for added Fishing opportunities. Ponderosa is across the street from that, but is more like a parking lot with painted camping slots around its perimeter.

In the town of Cimarron I recommend dining at the Historic St. James hotel (very haunted) or lunch at the Creemee. Stop in at the headquarters of Philmont Scout Ranch for the National Scounting Museum and a Tour of the Villa Philimonte (Waite Phillips’ mansion). Also recommended is the Tooth of Time Traders at Philmont. It’s a camping/hiking store that is like an REI.

If you’re coming via Raton, the Colfax Tavern between Raton and Cimarron at Cold Beer New Mexico is a great place to stop for food and drinks.

The Raton KOA is conveniently located off I-25 in Raton, NM. The campground offers of a mixture of back-in and pull through sites that are a mix of mostly live gravel and dirt. Most sites have 20/30 amp service, water, and septic hookups, although less expensive sites with fewer amenities are also available.

The campground offers a fenced in dog park where the pups can run off leash. There is also a nice grassy walking path around the perimeter of the property with trash cans and dog waste stations positioned every 100 yards.

The campground owner, Grant, is great to work with. He helped us get setup with the park WiFi and was super responsive to any questions we had. Don’t forget to ask him for the WiFi access code when you check in!

We stopped for a night on our way from Great Sand Dunes National Park to Palo Duro Canyon, needing to dump our tanks and do some laundry after boondocking for a number of days. Raton KOA was just what we needed. The staff members were friendly, bathrooms were clean, and the laundry facilities did the job. The close proximity to grocery stores was an added bonus!

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.

We traveling through Northern New Mexico on our way back to Austin. The campsite was a bit of a disappointment after so many get camps in Colorado. Cimarron Canyon is still recovering from a major wildfire with large sections of the pine forest destroyed. As you travel up the canyon the damage is less so in the State Park. The highlight here is the trout stream that runs through the camp. We stayed at Tolby Campground. The park headquarters and park rangers are based here. So it’s resource for those looking to information or assistance. The campsite has a nice day use area with lots of parking excellent restrooms with for ADA. The camp host was very personable and welcomed each of the guests as they came in throughout the day. You had a mix of families and retirees at the camp enjoying the summer retreat. They firewood for sale as well. Our big grip was the lack of privacy and the size of the sites and campground itself. The sites are right next too each other and many of the huge 5th wheel RVs were running generators all day and night while others were lighting fires in the rain and smoking out the campground. It’s only $10 per night to camp here. So it may be an option for those looking to do some fishing and perhaps visiting in the week when the site isn’t completely full. The road is also very close and trucks can be heard all day long. I can’t recommend this place based on our experience, the condition of the sites,and the location.

The campground was clean, older but well maintained. It is very much residential though. The neighborhood is very loud. Dogs have been barking for hours. This is out of KOA control but rather annoying.

This KOA felt a little aged, but it was clean, quiet, and felt safe.  We did arrive after a rain storm and our site was mostly a large mud puddle.  The parking slots could use a new layer of gravel.  There's a smaller playground which are son enjoyed. Across one road was a large field that gave us a view of a balloon festival

Good small KOA. People are friendly. Gravel tent sites

This is an amazing RV Park! The spaces are huge! We are on an end and I think ours is about a quarter acre in size! Really!There are lots of trees around and natural grass growing. There aren’t any shooting competitions going on at the time, so we don’t hear much shooting. There are only about 8 RVs in this 49 space RV area, but I imagine when they have an event going on, the RV Park is much fuller and you would probably hear more gun fire. The views are beautiful!

There is a free museum and a small laundry - 2 washers, 2 dryers.

We are strong believers in our Second Amendment and appreciate the NRA providing this center to teach people the proper handling and use of guns.

Just a 1 night stay but will return. It has just about everything you need to enjoy a longer stay. Great sites and many are pull through.

We were happy with the primitive campsites available. Plenty of wildlife to see around the area and a very quiet place to set up camp.

Beautiful view and fun stuff for the kids to do! Hiking, playground, geocaching. We will definitely be back!

This campground far exceeded our expectations. We arrived a bit earlier on a stoo over than we had planned. That gave us a bIt more tIme to explore the lake and traIils. We tent camped overlooking the lake and it was an amazing view and sunrise. The bathroom was the nicest I have seen yet in a camp. Very clean but the showers are quarters only. There is a change machine just outside though. InsIde the bathroom facilities there is also a laundry mat. It’s a great place to bring your boat and kids as there is a nice playground area as well.

They have 10 tent spots. Great view of the water. Some sites have trees. All have picnic tables and fire pits. Has toilet and bear proof trash containers. Lots of sunflowers. A few different places to hike or enjoy a walk with sweetie. Dogs welcome on a leash.

It was hot and I was probably a little cranky when we arrived here but state parks, in general, are charging more and more and for $38 (including the required $10 Colorado State Parks day use fee), I believe we did not get much value for our money at this campground. Access to the campground is down a long, bumpy washboard dirt road. 

The South Shore Campground has ten non-electric sites within supposed walking distance of the lake, although we did not go to the lake. Sites 101-104 and 107-109 are wide gravel driveways and 105, 106, and 110 are pull-throughs. Although sites are decent in size, there is no physical separation between them.

There were only vault toilets (which were clean) and no showers (I had really been hoping for a shower!). 

Each site has a bbq grill, fire pit, and covered picnic table. However, it was so windy when we were there and because of the direction the wind was blowing, the cover was useless, we had to use our van as a wind block to cook dinner, and eat inside the van. 

One of the rules was only 3.4% alcohol allowed. Fishing appeared to be popular here and there is a path along the dam, but it is a far distance from the campground. 

State parks used to be our go-to option, but we are finding we are using them less and less often as the prices continue to increase.

This is a great campground with top notch amenities. We enjoyed the laid back time we spent here looking at Fishers Peak. Nice to be that close to the lake. One thing to keep in mind, from the campsites there isn’t great access to the lake, you’ll need to come in From the East entrance to the park for lake access.

As is typical of Colorado State Parks, Trinidad Lake is clean, well thought out, and beautiful. With the Sangria de Christo Mountins as a backdrop, it’s a nice place from which to base camp and explore. And if you’re there during the monsoons, expect a rainbow or two and the sweet smell of piñon and Sage.

All dirt roads. No running water. There’s a port o potty near by aswell as clear parking spots for camp sites. Each campsite has a fire pit and a metal cover over a picnic bench.

Spend the weekend here, it was really relaxing. Except for two campers who almost got into it over camping spot lol. Other than that it was nice and at night it was quiet. Theres also a Walmart about 6min.

Highlights:

• At night there is zero light pollution and you can see so many stars
• The lake is fished nearly as much as Denver. Fish are bigger and easier to catch.
• Full bathrooms and showers
• Great campsite layout

Reservations required but can make them by phone or internet upon arriving. Phone number is posted.

No one at entrance. Nice campground. Clean.

Pros: beautiful lake and Mountain View’s. If u are a birder I saw 3 life birds in one afternoon. Good walking trail around park.

Cons: very close and mostly small sites. Have a few larger sites. We checked in about 4 pm and there was no one at check in and no instructions what to do. Black top roads a gravel at sites need some maintenance. We were in site 16 and it was not level had issues with auto leveling .

Rustic, freedom, camping up on a bluff is always a experience. Maintained by A.C.E. (Army Corp of Engineers)

We were lucky to book the last paige last minute, and what a view! Sites have picnic tables and fire pits. Trinidad is a charming town. Just perfect!

The amenities listed above can be misleading. There are 62 sites in Carpios Ridge and 7, yes..7 are full hook-ups!! I don't recall how clear that is on their reservation site. But, I thought I had reserved full hookup site until I got here and discovered not so much. Most sites are electric hookup only. And, this is the first State Park I have been to with coin operated showers. Cost 1.75 for 7 minutes. Also, take note, while there is fishing and boating. There is no swimming (Again, I should have looked closer and paid more attention). Of note to some, you may want to be aware they only allow 3.2 beer. And, at this writing their is a burn ban in effect. No wood or charcoal fires and no smoking outside your vehicle. Also, no 420 "public consumption"...whatever that might be.😊 However, the views from the overlook are wonderful. I would not recommend this gc if you are looking for seclusion and quietness. Camp setup is what I call "condo camping" neighbors are pretty much right next to each other.

Camped here for 3 nights. it was a great spot to be to check some other areas before moving further north. Some things to be aware of; Mostly electric only sites. I think they have 6-7 full hookups. Sites are reserved well in advance. Best sites 48-51, they overlook the lake. Only 3.2 beer allowed in the park and no public 420 consumption. Also, showers are coin operated. But, they do have a laundry! Overall, a very comfortable stay. I would recommend this place.