Best RV Parks & Resorts near Raton, NM

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'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.)

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!

Nice, level gravel sites. Only a handful of FHU’s. Most are water/electric in the section nearest the ranger station. Lots of electric only sites in a pretty area with Great Lake views. Many tent sites. This campground has a laundry facility with 3 washers and 3 dryers. Also has vending machines with snacks and cold drinks. Restrooms are super clean. You have to pay to take a shower, it takes quarters only and based on time. There are great hiking trails and you can hike to the lake. Sites are fairly close together, and many are not long enough for large RV’s. This is an expensive park that is well maintained. We paid $41 a night for a FHU, and on top of that there is a $9 per day park entrance fee.