We stayed one night here in June, 2020. Just wanted to get out of hot Albuquerque and into the mountains for some cooler hiking and cooler air in general. Because of the ongoing pandemic, campgrounds at State Parks were still closed, so the National Forest campgrounds offered the only real option for something close to home. Black Canyon really fit the bill. It took us about 90 minutes to get to our site from our RV storage facility in Albuquerque. It's in the mountains, on the road to the ski area. Not quite as high as the State Park, but still out of the"pinion/juniper" mix you get in the hills of NM and up into Aspen and Pine territory. The sites here have no facilities. There are a couple of vault toilets, which smelled pretty bad when we walked by them. A couple of very primitive looking water areas; no idea if they actually work(I've seen earlier reviews that imply they don't). I never saw anyone using them. And they have non-traditional connects, so if you want to try your luck and get water for your rig here, you'll need a Water Bandit. The campground is well wooded. Campsites come in all shapes and sizes. Our rig is 29 feet, 3 inches, and we were in a spot that maxed out at 32 feet(per description on web site...Site 15). We barely fit. We saw very few sites that could have accommodate much more. I don't think any site would have been able to handle more than 35 feet. Our little Thor Hurricane 27B was the only Class A we saw on site, and the place was pretty packed. Lots of tent camping.(Our pad was narrow enough that back in took more than one try. And there was no space for bringing out the awning. The fire pit area and such were BEHIND the rig.) It was very nice though and in the evening, the temps were fantastic. It was actually chilly enough that my wife had to put on a small wrap while we ate dinner outside.
At the end of the campgrounds is the entrance to the Black Canyon Trail. It's only about 1.3 miles, but for about.4 miles of it, there is considerable steepness. I wouldn't call it a workout, but it's not a totally whimpy trail and it was lovely. We saw lots of plant life and grabbed many nice photos. We went late in the afternoon(around 5:30) and NO ONE else was on the trail. The next morning, we hiked the nearby West Circle Trail on the State Park site, and that's a MUCH tougher trail. You go up 1000' in one mile, and it's an often rocky trail, so careful plodding is recommended. It's a nice trail too! Black Canyon Campground was just what the doctor ordered. Unless, you want/need cell service or wifi. We had read there was no mobile service and they weren't kidding. Over the air TV doesn't come in either, and even radio stations were spotty at best. No problem for us.
(By the way, less than 20 yards from the entrance to the campground, the National Forest ends and the Hyde Memorial State Park begins. And another 50 yards up from there is the State Park RV dump station. Right now, IT IS CLOSED. Don't plan to dump there. In fact, finding a place to dump anywhere in Santa Fe is a tall order.)
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