Best Campgrounds near Reserve, NM

Arrived just after dark.  Kept my headlights off as I drove in as I didn't want to disturb others.  I saw a small pull off for a spot, and I took it.  In the morning, I discovered I hadn't gone all the way to the actual campground.  Lots of places for people and almost no one here on a lovely Friday evening in November.  Easy access for my 25' RV.  Highly recommend.  We were able to see the milky way (faint), satellites, and 3 shooting stars, all in about an hour.

Wonderful campground with flat sites, well spaced. Pit toilets and a shower. Dump on site! A bit expensive for dry camping but there in no dispersed camping in Greer and the neighboring apache res requires a $9 permit to dispersed camp. Three reservoirs nearby to hike to or fish at.

Right along the highway on a big climb from both sides. Maybe when the b/w photo was taken it was cool with 10% of the traffic now? The road is crazy busy these days. I would not recommend this location.

It had been 28 years since we last camped at Rainbow. It is still a great place to escape the desert heat.  It was 115 when we left the big city. Five hours later we found ourselves camped at 9100 feet, enjoying the cool temps in the mid 60's and the passing rain showers.  Aspens, pines, and wildlife were all in abundance.  Big Lake is a good fishing lake too.  

The sites have plenty of space, shade, and privacy.  Roads are paved and in good shape. The restrooms were constantly cleaned by the very friendly and capable staff from recreation resource management which operates the campground for the forest service.

Firewood and ice are available (stage 2 fire restrictions were in effect so no campfires), water was convenient as was gray water disposal.  There is a centralized dump station, showers, and a small but educational visitor center.  Trash dumpsters are centralized and easy to access.  

If you don't fish there is still hiking to Mount Baldy, and short scenic drives to the very small towns of Greer and Alpine.  We enjoyed exploring the miles of scenic forest roads, and wildlife viewing.  We saw 4 Mexican gray wolves which was very special.  

This is a very popular campground that accommodates all types of rigs. They do have first come first serve sites available, but it is recommended to make reservations at least 4 days in advance.  Reservations can be made at recreation.gov.  It's always best practice to print a copy of your reservation.   There is no cell service in this area. 

We look forward to camping again at Rainbow.

Always great fishing here. There is NO camping here. I repeat, NO CAMPING. But plenty of dispersed to be found up the road further all the way to Terry Flat. There are trails up the road and some OHV and a Jeep trail. There is housing when coming off the highway. Be respectful and don’t drive 45 down the road. Take your time and take it in.

Quiet place not far off a Forest Service Rd.

El Casi CG in Rec Area: Past the lake with large campsites. This is the only campground open in the rec area during our April visit.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 4 for large sites. However, our site was trashy . Toilets are only moderately clean. Warnings are posted that no OHV allowed . A large group has camped at one end of the campground using Senegal sites. . Looks like it works out well. Price 2023: Free Security: None Usage during visit: 1/4 full Site Privacy: No Site Spacing: Large sites, well spaced. Pad surface: dirt SITE CLEANLINESS: most sites I noticed were trashy. We needed to pick up trash at our site upon arrival. Reservations: First come first serve Campground Noise: Quiet Outside Road Noise: Gravel access road along side of the campground. Some sites near this access road may get a little dusty, I suppose, during dryer times of the year Through Traffic in campground: no Electric Hookup: no Sewer Hookup: no Dump Station: At Pynon campground, which is not open until May. Charge for dog thing is going up for five dollars to $15 in. Potable Water Available: not at the campground. Generators: yes Bathroom: pit toilets. Not as clean as they should be. Supplied. Showers: no Pull Throughs: yes Cell Service (AT&T): no Setting: under scattered trees. Recent Weather: very cool nights Solar: yes Insects: no Host: no Rig Size: any size Sites: sites are not numbered

International cosmic campground: Beautiful scenery. Beautiful views. No water availability. Concrete pads for telescopes. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 3 for camp site layout 5 for dispersed sites Security: No Usage during visit: very full during weekday Site Privacy: No Site Spacing: close Pad surface: Gravel Outside Road Noise: far from highway , no highway noise problem Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: no Potable Water Available: i did not see available water. Generators: yes Bathroom: Pit toilet Showers: no Pull Throughs: All are back in.
Solar: Good in sites Insects: not an issue during our Spril visit Sites: sites in the campground are tight. Some dispersed camping nearby looks pretty nice. Some are close enough to use the bathroom.

Bighorn, NM: great for stopover., As it is right off the highway (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 3 perfect for a stop over Security: no Usage during visit: light Site Privacy: no Site Spacing: OK Pad surface: dirt Outside Road Noise: some highway noise Through Traffic in campground: no Electric Hookup: no Sewer Hookup: no, Dump Station: no, Potable Water Available: no Generators: allowed Bathroom: pit toilet Showers: no Setting: parallel with creek, just off the highway. Solar: great Insects: none during our visit in April. Host: no Sites: along the creek bed, just off the highway.

stayed here mostly to do some astrophotography as it’s almost 10k ft elevation and almost perfect bortle 1 skies made this a pretty ideal spot, i’d suggest bundling up as it gets pretty cold most nights of the year but was freezing when i went in october. definitely a wonderful and secluded campground.