Best Equestrian Camping near Raton, NM

Equestrian Camping Reviews near Raton, NM

45 Reviews of 6 Raton Campgrounds

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  Reuben

  Guide

  Aug. 30, 2021

  Lake Alice Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Lovely location, but some tight sites

  We've lived in New Mexico (Alamogordo and Albuquerque) for 30+ years, but had never made it up north to Sugarite Canyon State Park. But on our RV trip back home from Rocky Mountain National Park, we decided to spend a night here rather in the small town of Raton(eight miles away). It's a lovely park, with some steep walls, small lakes and an interesting history. We took a few of the smaller hikes(time was limited) and the one of the Coal Camp was very interesting.

  Our 29ft RV barely fit in our site, and there were some tricky branches and overhanging trees to work around. The site was fairly narrow, but I will say we were spread out nicely between the sites. We were at a site with electric(30 amp only) and water(water pressure very low, due to a lower aquafer). The dump station was nearby, but no water available by it for flushing out the tank.

  Camp hosts were super friendly. It was a very easy going place. Most of the sites are pretty small, and our"small" Class A was the biggest rig there, except for the hosts' 40' RV. So if you've got a bigger rig, you might have trouble finding a site to accommodate. But for smaller RVs, I think this is a great place to stay. VERY dark and quiet at night!! A lovely and reasonably priced spot that I can easily see spending a long weekend at.

  (OH, there is NO wifi and no cell signal. Be prepared to be off-grid completely! You're at least 5 miles from a signal.)

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• 

  George C.

  Guide

  Jun. 10, 2019

  Lake Alice Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  First visit and wow!

  After a long drive from south Texas, this was my first visit to Sugarite Canyon and it definitely exceeded my expectations! The staff was friendly and helpful and the amenities were accommodating. The area is absolutely beautiful. This little park has something for everyone. Highland trails, lakes and streams, primitive and car-camping sites. Plenty of wildlife to see, birds and other critters everywhere. And of course the vistas. I will definitely be back there soon. Thanks, New Mexico!

• B

  Bill

  Guide

  May. 17, 2024

  Soda Pocket Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Very easy to get to off of I-25

  Traveling from Denver to Southern New Mexico, this is a nice stopping point. Very easy to get to off I-25.

  Pit toilets are very clean. Unfortunately the camper next to me had his generator running the whole time until 10 pm. Even when they left their camper for the day. Very annoying. Other than that it was a quiet campground. The campground is less than half full (Tuesday night). 

  Note: The park office closed at 4. The sites are reservation only and there is no cell service. The sign at the gate states that you need to drive down the road to get cell service and make a reservation. Also the gate closes at dusk, so make sure you get there before then on your first night. After that you can get the combination to get in after dusk. 

  The campground staff were very friendly and helpful.

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• M

  Matt B.

  Guide

  Jul. 7, 2023

  Soda Pocket Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Perfect for a Weekend

  This State Park is beautiful, with hiking/fishing/historic walks galore. We arrived late on Friday, June 23 after a 10 hour drive from Arkansas. We were in Site #23 in the Soda Pocket Campground.  Every site had a covered picnic table and was relatively level.

  Sites 20-23 have spectacular views of the canyon, but you trade that for some serious wind and neighbors as there is no natural shade.  Sites 1, 3, 14 and 16 have shade and a little more distance.  Bathrooms were in great shape, and there is a free shower near the park entrance which had good water pressure and was very clean.

  The visitor center is small but with a lot of good exhibits, and adjacent to the hiking trails of the abandoned coal camp and mine.  The coal camp trails have lots of informative stands explaining what everything was, how the people lived, etc.  The two lakes (Lake Alice is more like a pond) have nice walking paths. There is another lake just across the Colorado border and you can drive to the parking area just a mile or so away.

  There are numerous nature hikes, and I did the short (.5) miles Vista Grande Nature Trail which has a beautiful bench for a sunrise view.  Uphill some but not too strenuous and with lots of information.

  A really beautiful hike is the Little Horse Mesa Trail which takes you to the top of the mesa you can see to the north of Soda Pocket Campground.  It meanders a bit but at some point the trail builder said "I've given you all the switchbacks I can, you'll just have to go straight up" and the last 50 yards are pretty much straight uphill.  When you get to the top though it's like another world.  It's a pasture like setting with trees, and beautiful views from a trail that follows the cliffs. You'll have to make your own way over to the Lake Maloya overlook but it's well worth it.  Highly recommend this.

  The camp hosts and visitor center people were great, and the ranger came by one night and showed a group of kids a mountain lion pelt and a bear pelt. There was a report of bears on the road up to Soda Pocket Campground but we did not see any.  The road was a typical dirt road, and not in bad shape at all.

  I'm not a fisherman, but could easily spend two full days here hiking alone, much less fishing or kayaking Lake Maloya.

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• 

  Ken M.

  Traveler

  Mar. 19, 2023

  Mccrystal Campground

  Remote camping with plenty of wildlife to see

  A remote location and popular with horse campers and hunters.  The campground has sites with horse corrals installed. The campground was quiet and mostly clean. There are pit toilets on site and well maintained. Level spots with good separation. Nice hiking accross some flat lands and a smal creek runs near by. Early one morning we saw a herd of elk down in a valley near a turn out off the road.  Bears frequent the area trying to raid the garbage bins during the night. Makes tent camping a bit unnerving. If you want to explore the area, this is good place to camp.  It takes an hour to get to the campsite on a graveled road off the highway out of Cimerron.  25mph was best speed to go to handle the washboard road to the campsite.

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  Callie C.

  Guide

  Aug. 30, 2023

  Lake Alice Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Worth the price, kind of remote

  Small campground near CO border. Perks would be lake at top of mountain, 5-7 min drive from CG and showers, at entrance to park. Downfall is you need to drive to everything unless you want to walk along trails on the other side of road. Trails in park were nice - t-mobile service did not work at all, zero bars. Bear boxes provided, deer walked through campground often. I did see bear tracks while hiking but host said they’ve never been a human issue.

• 

  Shannon H.

  Scout

  Jul. 9, 2019

  Lake Alice Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Great Location, easy camping

  We reserved a spot at Lake Alice for three nights.  Some reviews of the campground talk about the road being close.  Sites 15 and 16 are great.  Site 13 and 14 are ON THE ROAD and the accessible site near the bathroom is literally a couple of feet away so beware!  We were in site 16 and tucked away from everything.  Pit toilets were well kept and there is firewood available on the site.  We parked our tiny trailer in the driveway and set up a tent two stairs up on the main part of the site.  The free showers were great down by the ranger station.  The lake itself is gorgeous, there are plenty of hiking trails.  We brought kayaks and had a great time.  Being from Denver, it was so great to be away from crowds (almost no one at the lake on 4th of July weekend) and to not have to deal with I70 traffic.  We would definitely go back.

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• 

  Greebly M.

  Guide

  Jun. 21, 2025

  Lake Alice Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Meh...

  We stayed in the first entrance sent to the left as you enter the smallish tent area, I'd guess site #1. The tent pad is standard size but we sleep in 2 single tents and we're tight. The campground is right off the road, and while there wasn't a lot of traffic, we heard everything go by. The vault toilet is nearby, I am unsure if there is potable water at the site. We stayed one night in June, temps were in the upper 40s and there had been a pretty big rain just prior to our arrival. Nonetheless, the campsite itself is decent, I took points for it's proximity to the road, lack of privacy, and small sites. Surrounding scenery is non-existent from the site, but a short drive and there are some beautiful sights to behold.

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• J

  Jeff T.

  Ranger

  May. 28, 2022

  Soda Pocket Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  Soda Pocket - worth the drive up the mountain!

  We stayed at Soda Pocket in mid-May 2022.  Actually we had reserved site 06 in the Lake Alice campground, because it was full hookups, but upon arriving at Lake Alice we confirmed what another reviewer had said - it's a tightly packed campground, very close to a busy road and not close to the lake itself.  On top of that, there was a boil water notice for the water hookups, and to top it off, the utility hookups for Site 06 are on the *Wrong* (i.e. the passenger) side of the rig, given the orientation of the driveway for backing in.  Put all that together and we decided to forego our reserved site and see if we could do better up at Soda Pocket on top of the mountain.  The campground host at Lake Alice warned us that the road up to Soda Pocket was treacherous and without guardrails, but we disregarded this warning and took our chances...

  Man are we glad that we did that!  The view from Site 23 was incredible of the canyon below.  And we arrived just as a thunderstorm was passing to our east, and witnessed an incredible double rainbow over the canyon.  The pics don't even do it justice.  There's great hiking and viewpoints from Soda Pocket, and the so-called "treacherous" road up to the campground is gravelly and a bit steep in a few places, but very passable (there was a Class A rig up there, and a number of 30+ ft 5th Wheelers as well).  The sites were well spaced, and Site 23 was fairly level and wide, easy to back in.  It looked like Site 18 is a nearby pull-through site that still offered nice views even though it's situated more in the middle of the campground circle.  

  Overall this state park was extremely cool, kind of off the beaten path, and well worth the visit!  Check out Soda Pocket, it's worth the drive up the mountain!

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