Best RV Parks & Resorts near Socorro, NM

We stayed at La Vista for one night on our way through New Mexico heading to Utah. The owners are extremely friendly and were very helpful. They are a couple who own the park independently and you can tell the long term renters are happy there.

We woke up to a gorgeous view of the nearby scenery and were just a half mile from a Loves to gas up and head out for another day of driving.

Great place to camp

Full hook ups

Shade trees

Pull through sites if small enough 

Public washrooms with hot water

But no showers 

Cheap price 

Quiet convenient on my trip to Albuquerque

We love it here! We stayed for a weekend at campsite #6. Ours and A few other sites have RV hookups (electric only). No sewer hook up but dump station on site with water. There are multiple Drinking water spigots available; one next to our campsite 6, at the group shelter, by the dump station, and another spigot at the office / visitor center (closed right now) but that had a lock on it. Some sites have a nice brick and metal shelter and a charcoal grill, but all sites seem to have a picnic table, and fire ring. This is a pretty small electrical loop campground and some sites are pretty close, separated by trees, and vary in driveway length. There’s tent sites (some have good privacy) as well as day-use only sites that look very clean and with shelter. Our site had the picnic table and charcoal grill on one side of the driveway and the fire pit on the other side which is kind of weird but that just means we can drive in or back in depending on our awning side preference. I saw in some reviews that this was a problem for people.

Behind our site there’s a horseshoe area and group site not too far after. The group site has a small parking lot across the way for it and has a large shelter area with nice cement tables and large grills. Next to the office there’s a trail for the outer loop and nature trail. There are several trails within the park and all are pretty easy (kid-friendly) and not too long. This is a pet-friendly campground with dog stations to pick up after your pet. Make sure to bring your own firewood and kindling as gathering is not allowed in the area. There is phone signal for t-mobile and Verizon as well. Vault toilets were clean but no showers.

There is no lake or stream/river in the state park. The nearest lake is Manzano Lake it’s about 10 minutes from the campground in the small town of Manzano. Fishing and picnicking, not a very large lake - more like a pond really but still beautiful and something to see and do. Currently the lake just opened and there’s a sign at the entrance that the fish have not been stocked. Not much for some decent stores around but a grocery store in Mountainair (25 mins away) Also nearby is the Quarai Ruins (15 mins) to check out which has some trails and also pet friendly so long as they’re on a leash.

Also, getting here by GPS, just takes you to where the pavement ends on HWY-131 but you’ll need to go another mile on unpaved road to get the the campground. Just follow the signs for the state park. Also, make sure to check on weather because although the unpaved road is typically well-grated and maintained; when it rains hard - it tends to wash out which makes the last mile to the state park hard for some. Also, there’s not gas stations nearby to this camp.

Overall a great and beautiful place to stay. Definitely bring some bug spray and repellent, lots of flies and mosquitoes to be had! There’s not a whole lot to do besides relax, eat, and check out some trails so bring your own entertainment as we brought a remote control all-terrain car, frisbees, lawn darts, board games, card games, etc to entertain the kids. We would definitely recommend the place and we will certainly be back!

But wait, there's more; free firewood! Place was clean, level gravel, had great neighbors, and caught a fish within 10 minutes throwing out my lure. Fishing was busier in the morning but caught this just before sunset.

Do your reservations online, it's preferred according to their website (versus calling). It's easy and we stayed another night because it was chill and enjoyable. Was able to work on the RV without it being too hot or windy.

First night I was in site #1 for RVs and it had shade but no fire ring (but I think you can make your own fire ring). Site #2 has no shade but had a fire ring. Site #3 has shade, no fire ring.

This is a state park campground that offers everything from basic tent sites to full hookups near a small pond for fishing (no swimming or boating). There's a picnic table (numbered with the site so there's no question which one is which) and fire ring. Bathrooms offer flush toilets, no showers and it is not heated. Numerous portable toilets also got the park around the pond and play area. In early December only 4 of the sites are occupied and one person was fishing. It's handicapped accessible with a paved path to a small dock.

This little campground has 8 FHU & 2 water/elec sites. No “frills”, just fairly level sites, great rates & a friendly owner. A train track runs a 1/4 mile or so from the front of the campground, and 3-4 trains do go by at odd hours., so don’t stay here if you don’t like trains.

I would not recommend anyone with an rv or travel trailer to use this site. I was hopeful from the one picture that there would be some nice green trees which is hard to find in New Mexico. I arrived there's a steep decline to go into the park. There are a few big pot holes to be weary of. Most of the area looks to be overgrown and most of the trees look dead. I didn't see any budding in early spring and no signs of greenery. It was also very difficult to turn around. I ended up with a few scratches on the travel trailer.

It was hot in the valley so we retreated to the nearest mountains. What a quiet little camp. No huge RV’s or anything. Our 6ft wide, 20ft long trailer seemed too big. Our spot accommodated us well. The trails are fabulous. There’s a Track Trail that just opened and a motorized track wheelchair making this park very accessible. Not very many electric sites but that was ok as the temps were cooler (60’s at night)

Remote, wooded, serene. Sites are gravel, but not very level. Each site has a picnic table, grill & fire pit. Some sites have power, but none have sewer or water hookups. There is a dump station & drinking water. If you want to get away from it all, this is the place.

This is a basic campground located about a mile from I-25. The campground has the basics but that's it. It's a good place to stop while traveling thru New Mexico. There's a baseball field and a small lake adjacent to the campground. The trains do blow their whistle in this area. 

Cell Coverage: Good

It’s okay. Has decent hookups and a firepit. Comes with free firewood, which was nice. Has a picnic table. No showers. No bathrooms during covid, which sucks. Campsites are pretty close together.

Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is a bird nerd’s paradise during the winter.  Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and thousands of others congregate in this wetland wonderland. Here, the Rio Grande pauses on its long winding path to the Gulf of Mexico and allows these waterfowl and other migratory birds a place of rest and safety during their bi-annual migration. It’s an amazing place, but it does not allow camping within the park. 

Just a few miles to the north of the visitor’s center, in the quaint hamlet of San Antonio, lies Riverine Park. Slightly difficult to find in the dark and with a steep entrance, the few campsite spots offer visitors a great place close to the National Wildlife Refuge for the night within striking distance of the dawn patrol show (when the flocks take off for the day). Dawn and dusk are something to behold, so get your cameras ready! 

The campsites themselves are loosely defined, but a few actually have developed campfire pits and picnic tables. There are no toilets here, but there are lovely facilities in the park itself.  There’s not much room for a trailer longer than 20 feet, but feel free to give it a looksee before committing to the downhill entry point– which is short and steep.  With big cottonwood trees scattered throughout the area, we got some solar charging with our rooftop panels, but needed to move our portable solar panel around to collect a bit more.  Starlink worked well though!

In addition to birdwatching there are numerous, unlabeled trails and access roads all along the river bank and the canal for walking, or biking. The opportunities can also be found within the wildlife refuge as well.  Nearby services can be found in San Antonio, Socorro, or Truth or Consequences, NM, with the latter being the biggest town within an hour’s drive.

I didn't stay but I did drive through to check it out for future stops. First impression was very clean! There are two basic areas, the fishing area around the pond which is good sized and shaped so that there's lots of shoreline. The other area is the camping area with hookups and tent sites. In between was the playground and bathroom area. There is a group shelter, and trees. It's a bit off the main highway but easy access. The river is nearby and there are some primitive access roads.

This was inexpensive but turns out it will cost us a bit more in the long run. When we pulled up there was a maintenance employee doing his job. We were trying to get into our spot. My husband is hard of hearing and I was trying to guide him. I tell him “nooooo” and the guy tells him to “crank it” and guess what? He cranks it. Dents our bumper to the truck. Sooo yeah, that happened.

The site. It has all the amenities. The bathroom is tended to but basic. There is one light and it is right over campsite 13. So be aware. Luckily we have blackout blinds and that helped but dang it was bright. There are little stickers so don’t let pets run in the “grass” or kids barefoot. And bring your bug spray. I am covered in bug bites.

We loved the little town of Socorro. And this really was a pretty good deal overall. The lake part is really just a pond and if you want super quiet this is not for you as it was close to a busy road with ATVs and trucks running constantly over the gravel road and the occasional train.

Would I come here again? No.

But it was an adventure I suppose. All part of the ride.

Night one was decent, but the rest of the nights I had to hold the side of my tent up to keep it from collapsing despite multiple points staked to the ground. I’m happy I had strong stakes or the tent would’ve been gone. The wind comes in waves like hurricane bands. In one week we had the crazy wind every night, hail, and saw a dust twister at the base of the mountain. Lots of flies as well. At one point we had the back circle all to ourselves, but Friday large groups came out and were very loud until 1am. During the week everyone was quiet. The site layout was nice, private despite being close to the next site over. It’s pretty hot during the day and dips to the 40s at night. We liked the sound of the clicker bugs, they were pretty cool even though we never actually saw one. The trails are nice, vault toilet area is clean. The front office was closed our whole visit. I’d say it’s a cool place for a trailer or RV although the road is difficult in rain. Tents are fine, but be ready to move to the car for the wind or hail.

Very nice campground, all sites are reserve only. Pit toilets and no showers. Electric and non electric sites. Also a few trails in the area.

Only did about 10 minutes of driving around. Several small spots a couple feet off the main road. Nothing that would support 30'+ trailers. It's open desert with low shrub. Seems to be a popular ATV road so expect lots of dust and noise. I would only camp here if I had an ATV with me.

We spent a Saturday night here in a spot without services and I suppose because it is late in the season, only a couple of other campers. Clean, well maintained, nice trails. I have good enough service I could stay and work for the week which is awesome.