Best Glamping near San Rafael, NM

Visited the coal mine campground after driving a 500 mile day, so it was a set-up eat and crash situation. I did make a reservation on line, but that cost more than the $5 per site fee and was not necessary even though it was memorial day weekend. The fee is great because it is primitive, no electricity, no water at all, not just hookups, but the bathrooms were nice and clean with no sinks.

If you are prepared for a primitive camp with your own water and batteries for your electronics it is great. They have fire rings, grills, picnic tables and level places for tents.There are also nice back-in sites for boondocking RVs and the road up to the campground is fine for big rigs.

I ran into two mountain biker's here from Ireland that were riding the Continental Divide trail from The Mexican border in New Mexico to the Canadian border in Montana. They were staying here since the Trail goes through here. Paddy & Conner were very interesting people and I was fortunate to have run into them here.

I enjoyed my stay with a peaceful quite nights sleep and a short hike in the morning before breakfast cooked on the campfire. I would recommend this over a hotel stay if your passing through Grant's New Mexico on I40. You can probably get a site for the night anytime your passing through.

We loved this RV park for many reasons. Friendly people, creative vibe, nice campground, cozy cabins, full hookups for RVs, beautiful spot, free-range chickens, pet friendly, plus a yurt with enchanting wind chimes, spiritual labyrinth, a gong, art and healing artifacts. Not to mention the groovy Ancient Way cafe which was closed when we were there (April 2021) but opening next month. My parents stayed in the cabin and loved it, we stayed in our camper van. We really enjoyed talking with some of the folks who live there and it’s a very welcoming community. Feels like home. Morro National monument nearby is spectacular. We’d love to return and stay for a few weeks. Special spot.

It’s not scenic by any means but, it is close to Mal Pais National Monument (across the street) and the people that work here are super nice. Great price for a full hookup with clean bathrooms and showers.

We ended up camping in the truck bed here after a few other remote sites. The clean showers and bathrooms were greatly appreciated after a few days of roughing it and we were able to restock our water before continuing on. Most people staying in the park seemed to be full time residents. The vibe was something along the lines of the "good Ol' days" of family vacationing with small eclectic parks. There's an on-site brewery and bar but we didn't stop in. If you're tent or car camping be sure to arrive during the day or talk to someone prior to checking out as those sites are less expensive than the RV sites. Frenchy, a friendly Canadian ex-pat retired uranium miner, was on site to help with any questions. Would recommend for anybody taking a break from boondocking or heading to El Malpais.

We reserved an "Elite" Pull through spot. When we arrived, we saw that this "Elite" spot was dirt and not level at all. Hardly any room between our space and the permanent resident that was next to us. The stickers are terrible too so be extra careful if you have animals.
I wouldn't recommend this place but there's not a lot of options along this route so we took our chances. I will say, some of the spots closer to the office looked a little better. We were in Site 39. It's next to the dump station and closest to the highway.

Stayed in a full hook up, pull through site and everything went smoothly. It has a couple of dog runs, but they are too small for play. Not much dog walking space without cacti. I was most excited about the brewery on-site, but sadly I was too tired once we got there. Would stay again for a chance to drink the beer.

Lavaland is a nice rv park, but focused on the older community. registration was easy and online. Check in was simple.

There is no kid amenities at this property. There is a small dog run. No grass.

The property is still under construction in some spots. Newly cement pads and updated electrical (which wasn’t available yet). New asphalt road around campground; still loose and bumpy for trailer driving.

Restrooms were clean, but there was little toilet paper available, and no soap and paper towels. Showers were newly renovated. Fresh paint in bathrooms.

Brewery onsite. Cute . No food available. But you can order from dominos to be delivered. Outdoor patio and Jenga.

Easy check-in. Many sites have water, electric & sewer. Sites are very close to each other and there are no tables. The dog run is very small. Road noise from I40. There is a small brewery on site, hence upgraded to 4 stars. It appears that most sites are occupied by full-timers.

I grew up in this part of the state, but never knew this one existed.  It’s a small campsite and not much more then vaulted toilets. But it was a very beautiful campsite. There was only a few people camping so it was very quit and peaceful. Easy access to shopping in Grants and real close to many other attractions like Bluewater lake, El Morro, and the Ice Cave. I would happily camp here again.

This is just a picnic area, if you have a small tent you can make it work for just a night, one plus is you can hike the South Narrows trail!

We tried to stay at the Joe Skeen CG and it was full on a Wednesday. Searching further we found this spot. There are "no camping" signs once in the picnic area but nothing indicating no overnight parking or camping on the 3 spots near the TH for the Narrows Rim Trail. It was 7pm when we rolled in so we felt comfortable just staying the night in our van. In the morning we moved into the day use area and took turns doing the rim trail while our kids enjoyed playing in the picnic area. 2 pit toilets and garbage are available at this location.

We stayed here in 2018. The place has a very laid back vibe. The little cafe is fun and tasty. Decent clean shower house. Full camper hookups. It is just minutes from El Morro Nat’l Monument and close to Mal Pais Volcano flows. I recommend the place.

Densely wooded PRIMITIVE campground with trails and fishing but NO WATER. We only stayed there while driving from ABQ to the coast, which was perfect for us, but we will plan to return to explore the Cibola National Forest more. It was cool and shady in August so we quite enjoyed it as a stopover. In our little sedan we didn’t have trouble, but I think there are other forest service roads you’d want a jeep for?

Small campground with massive campsites. This campground could easily squeeze double, if not triple, the sites out of these woods, but someone decided to let everyone breath a little here, and we should thank that someone. Granted, it's a small crawl to one of the only two bathroom huts (each with two clean pit toilet bathrooms), but with so few campers, even when the site is full, you don't feel like anyone's fighting for their potty time.

Quiet? Absolutely. Stars? All over the place. When summer heat was beginning to knock everywhere else in late May, it was serious blanket weather up here. The hiking must be amazing, although we didn't have time to find out. 

Friday night, late May, and we barely got the last spot. No reservations makes this gem a tricky quest when you're running a bit late, but if you're lucky enough to snag a spot, you'll celebrate your success. There ain't a bad spot in the lot, if you're lucky enough to get one.

We love this area. Amazing hiking and mtb’ing trails. And, a nice lake.

We came in at dusk and it was such a lovely campground! Our only wish was that we could have stayed longer.!! We were shocked when we woke up to snow on Oct. 12, but it was gorgeous. Beautiful pine & golden Aspen greeted us on our way out. Will definitely stay here again.

Stopped in to rest late at night on my way to CA. Super easy to find. Set up our tent right before quiet time. Lots of campgrounds. Perfect for tent camping.

Located about 15min from I-40 is this campground. It offers everything you would expect including tables, fire pits, restrooms, and trash. For only $5 a day you can't beat it. There are a few hiking trails in the area worth exploring as well. 

Cell service: Limited by the entrance

Stopped here on our way from Arizona to South Carolina. And we’re hefty campers. This was the best campsite we’ve ever been at. The cleanest campsite we’ve ever been at. Bathrooms were spectacularly clean. It was great for a short night stop only about 15 minutes off of I-40. Don’t forget to bring your own firewood if you want a fire.

I would give this a 5-star rating except it didn't have hook-ups. Still, for $5/night you can't go wrong. Everything was clean: vault toilets, smooth gravel driveways, gravel tent pads, and almost no litter anywhere. Sites were spaced far enough apart we hardly knew there were others camping nearby. We camped in a 30' fifth-wheel and had no problems maneuvering. Some sites have pull-thrus and others are easily backed-in. We'll stay here again.

Claen vault toilets, well spaced and quiet sites. We'll maintained. No water. No hiking from campground. Some trails and dispersed camping 1/2 mi down road south.