Best Tent Camping near Raton, NM

Tent Camping Reviews near Raton, NM

236 Reviews of 2 Raton Campgrounds

• 

  Madeline B.

  Guide

  Sep. 2, 2019

  Lake Alice Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

  It was wonderful

  My boyfriend and I took a 13 state journey this summer over the course of 3 weeks and this was one of my favorite campsites we stayed at. The site itself was quaint and very nice to tent camp in. The tent sites had raised platforms to put your tent on and the ground underneath was softer, so it wasn’t that uncomfortable to sleep on👍🏻10/10 would go back🏕 they had bear boxes to keep all your food and odorants in over night. They have wood for sale for fires, there’s showers up the road and bathrooms within walking distance of every site. The camp hosts were very kind and helpful.

• 

  Max M.

  Guide

  Jul. 31, 2020

  Tolby Campground — Cimarron Canyon State Park

  Beautiful Cimarron Canyon

  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.

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• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  Nov. 20, 2020

  Lake 13-Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge

  Empty Lake but FREE.

  FREE campground! Large relatively flat grass lot with garbage cans and picnic tables. Pit toilets and recycling at  the entrance. The lake was completely dry but has fishing and trolling motor boats only allowed when there is water. Very quiet place to stay the night. There was only one other camper that showed up when we stayed here. Lots of wildlife and pets allowed on leash.

• 

  Steve & Ashley G.

  Legend

  Jul. 31, 2019

  Blue Lake Campground - Temporarily Closed

  High Elevation Forest Camp

  We camped here two nights in July 2019. The site is about two hours west of Trinidad Colorado in the Spanish Peaks Area along scenic highway 12. The road leading to the site is about 5 miles of step gravel and dirt road with multiple switchbacks. The road is wide enough for vans and smaller campers but not the larger 5th wheels or RVs. You follow road up the mountain along the stream to blue lake a small mountain lake that is popular for trout fishing The campground is just north of the lake. The have a couple of loops with about 10 sites in each loop. Most of the sites are located along a beautiful wooded mountain stream. The high elevation of 10,000 keeps the temps down in the summer and the night sky is spectacular. The camp was full during our stay and reservations are highly recommended. A few campers were moving around each night for the odd opening. They have fire wood, water, and nice clean pit toilets. Our site number 8 was great and positioned on the trail to the lake and along the stream. You can see the mountain tops from sites 6 and 7 but they are along the road. This is a popular area for ATVs. So you may have company on the trails or around the site. The sites had a nice mix of tents, vans, and campers. We plan to come back in the fall. This is a keeper. Each site had a picnic table, fire ring and ample parking for two cars or one van. You do have some privacy between the sites. The camps along the river including 8, 9, and 10 are outstanding.

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• 

  Texas Roving Ranger

  Guide

  Jun. 23, 2024

  Lake 13-Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge

  Fantastic views

  We stayed here 1 night on our trip back to Texas from Colorado. 

  Plenty of room for several rvs/vans  and tent campers.  Picnic tables and trash bins available.  No shade, no potable water, no electric, no sewer.  True boondocking site.  There are pit toilets at the entrance to the camping zone.   Roads are gravel and well maintained.  

  Great site for a touch-n-go overnight stay while traveling.

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  Aug. 17, 2022

  South Shore Campground — Trinidad Lake State Park

  Hot and windy!

  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.

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• 

  Steve M.

  Legend

  Jun. 10, 2025

  South Shore Campground — Trinidad Lake State Park

  Has everything!

  Here on Monday, June 9th to avoid bad weather in NM. $28 + 10 for CO state 1 day pass ($80/yr), but trash, vault toilets, covered picnic tables, fire pits and BBQ grills, included 24 hr showers, laundry, garbage, full and self contained, ALL with lake views! Very quiet and serene, boating, kayaking, hiking, wildlife...awesome campground!

• 

  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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• 

  Abby M.

  Legend

  Oct. 17, 2021

  Lake 13-Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge

  Only stayed for a night but would stay longer

  Came here on a Friday night and shared the place with only 2 other campers. The camping area isn’t huge but a few others could have been there and still had plenty of space. There’s a new picnic tables and several trash bins located in the camping area. There’s also 2 vault toilets that were clean. Not much of a lake left but plenty of birds & beautiful sunsets to watch. Super easy to get to off the interstate and was very peaceful. Free & felt safe! Also had great AT&T service.