Looking for the best campgrounds near Timberon, NM? Camping, hiking, biking: however you want to spend your days near Timberon, you'll find great campgrounds with The Dyrt. Get the dirt on all the best camping near Timberon. Browse campgrounds by amenities, site types, and more.
Set against the dramatic Sacramento Mountains, this park features a historic ranch house, quiet camping in the Chihuahuan Desert, and pools of water under the cottonwood trees of Dog Canyon. Springs flow year-round and ferns cling to the sides of mossy rocks. The water in Dog Canyon has attracted people to the area for millennia.
The park’s namesake, Oliver Milton Lee (1865-1941) was a colorful figure in New Mexico history. In 1893 he settled at the mouth of Dog Canyon and built an extensive house at his ranch headquarters. At its peak, his holdings reached about one million acres. Oliver Lee explored ways of bringing water to the dry Tularosa Basin and was instrumental in establishing the town of Alamogordo. Lee is also credited for using his influence to attract the railroad to the area.
Oliver Lee’s home at Dog Canyon Ranch has been completely rebuilt from ruins. It is authentically furnished providing visitors with a glimpse of Lee’s life at the ranch. The house is closed for renovations. Please monitor the park events page to find out when tours resume.
Want to Visit?
The campground, just southwest of the mouth of Dog Canyon, is dry and rocky with desert grasses, mesquite, ocotillo, creosote, yucca, and various species of cacti. The sites vary widely in elevation offering privacy and incredible views across the Tularosa Basin.
Travel Tips:
Peak season for the park is October through April Park Elevation 4,400 ft We are the closest campground to White Sands National Park (30 min. / 27 miles) The park makes an excellent base for day trips Ruidoso 1.25 hours / 66 miles Three Rivers Petroglyph Site 56 min. / 50 miles Cloudcroft 44 min. / 35 miles There are attractions in Alamogordo less than 30 minutes away Alameda Park Zoo New Mexico Museum of Space History Heart of the Desert Pistachios & Wine McGinn’s Pistachio Land The nearby Lincoln National Forest offers miles of trails ranging from very easy to very challenging
$10 - $14 / night
From the KOA website: Nestled in the Tularosa Basin, the Alamogordo / White Sands KOA is a perfect location to set up as your base camp while touring the beauty and attractions of Southern New Mexico! With RV sites, tent sites, and cabins we can accommodate most every type of traveling camper. Mild winters make Alamogordo a wonderful place to escape the cold and snow of northern climates so be sure to ask about winter rates. Escape the desert heat by cooling off in our inviting pool. A large rec room and long covered outside patio work great for group events. Enjoy hiking or disk-sledding down the vast gypsum dunes at White Sands National Monument, only a short 15 mile drive from the campground! Learn about New Mexicos role in the US space program through interactive exhibits at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Explore ancient rock drawings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph site, just 30 miles north of the campground! Or, simply unwind while taking a leisurely stroll through the oldest zoo in the Southwest the Alameda Park Zoo established in 1898. Though were located in the southern New Mexico desert, the tall, cool pines of Cloudcroft (8600 feet) and Ruidoso (7000 feet) are within an hours drive of the campground and make great day trips to escape the heat. Your hosts will gladly share other hidden gems in Alamogordo during your stay. Well see you soon!
Sleepy Grass offers a total of 15 units of which 2 are double and 3 are triple units leaving 10 single units. Located just south of the Village of Cloudcroft, this site offers many sites for RV's, tents and campers. RV's limited to >30' in length. (Sacramento District Camping Brochure)
LIMITED WIFI IN PARK, GOOD RECEPTION AT OFFICE AREA (FREE)
EXTRA LARGE PULL THROUGH SPACES WITH FULL HOOK UP
ALL SPACES 30 AND 50 AMP
RECREATION BUILDING , LAUNDRY , SHOWER
BIG RIG FRIENDLY
ALL SITES ARE PULL-THROUGHS
WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS AND MONEY ORDERSPERSONAL CHECKS ONLY ON PREPAID AND MONTHLY RENTALS
PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED UPON AVAILABILITY
CANCELLATION POLICY
CANCELLATION REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN AS A CREDIT TO BE USED ON ONE BOOKING UP TO ONE YEAR AFTER CANCELLATION DATE
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE
WE LOOK FORWARD TO HOSTING YOU!
$50 - $70 / night
Welcome to El Campo Glamping! A place to count stars. This is a one of a kind escape in the gorgeous Lincoln National Park region nestled in the beauty of nature. A unique glamping experience in High Rolls Mountain Park, New Mexico on 20 acres of private and secluded land. A luxury tent furnished with hotel quality beds and linens. Each tent has a private, detached bathroom in close proximity to the tent with a hot shower, sink and incinerating toilet, allowing for complete comfort in nature.
$160 - $215 / night
Stayed here while visiting White Sands National Park for 2 nights. Its a well kept fairly small campground. Everything worked as advertised. Highly recommend this place. Some nice hikes from the park with amazing views.
A really great place to hang out for a few days and just enjoy life. Beautiful cliffs to the east towering over the sites, and the wide expanse of the valley to the east. Wonderful view of the starry night sky as well. Facilities were acceptable, nothing to complain about. Good cell service for both Verizon and T-mobile. Close for a day trip into the mountains or White Sands. Perfectly open to the sky for great solar.
Pros - gorgeous 360 views, quiet spot, clean pit toilets, water available throughout grounds
Cons - zero shade so it is HOT especially if you're tent camping, nothing to "do" at the campground but plenty activities in a reasonable drive
Oliver Lee Memorial, NM: We stayed in Loop B, non-electric. I did not evaluate Loop A. Good location for visiting White Sands (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)
Overall Rating: 4.5 Great campground layout. Well designed. Sites are staggered giving view grand view for all sites
Security: Desert vegetation does not offer privacy
Site Spacing: Great .
Toilets and Showers :There is a dispersed camping area nearby, therefore, showers/flush toilet building is shut down at night to avoid their unauthorized usage of facilities during the night. Scattered pit toilets are always available.
Usage during visit: 95% full
Site Privacy: No
Site Spacing: GREAT
Reservations: Yes
Campground Noise: Quiet
Outside Road Noise: This campground is at the end of the access road.
Through Traffic in campground: No
Electric Hookup: Loop A
Sewer Hookup: No
Dump Station: Yes. Open from about dawn to nighttime to avoid unlawful use.
Potable Water Available: Scattered spigots in Loop B.
Bathroom: Pit toilets and one nice shower/flush toilet facility.
Showers: Private stalls.
Pull Throughs: Some
Cell Service (AT&T): Good service from our site.
Setting: Nestled close to the mountain range with nice views of the desert below.
Recent Weather: Sunny. 60s to 30s
Solar: GREAT
Insects:None
Host: Great hosts
Rig Size:Large rigs
Sites: best sunsets sites.:42, 43, 44(however, you can see the sunset from most sites.). Nice view sides: 41, 40, 39, 38, 32, 33, (35, 36, 37, great views just close to the bathroom). Every site here has an extraordinary view. These are just a little bit better, in my opinion.
I messed up thinking I had booked this campground - I hadn’t. It was five minutes to seven pm and the staff called me back and got me a site for less than $50 for the night. It was a nice, level pull through site with water/sewer/cable/electric. I was pretty relieved that we would have somewhere to camp - no one else picked up their phones.
We didn’t arrive until nearly nine and the same staff person was still working - helping someone back into their site. She was very kind and welcoming.
The next morning I checked out the campground. The area was pretty industrial, but less than two minutes to the science museum and zoo. Individual spaces were generous (especially the tent sites - they would fit any tent size) and I liked the little patio we had. The playground was newish, the pool looked like it would be nice when filled, the laundry room looked great (but cash only - I prefer the card ones) and there was a lovely store and rec room. There were also showers and a small dog run.
This KOA had everything you could need - including excellent customer service.
20-25 minutes to White Sands National Monument.
Great state park. Clean and well thought out camping sites. Not much shade but some sites have shelters over picnic tables. Stayed at dry site (no water or electric) but water is available around campground.
STAY FAR AWAY!!! This place was a nightmare. Over priced cheapy dirty lodging ran by a old men frat boys. The cabin was not as listed. It's a SHARED cabin with the owner although listed(and priced) as a private cabin. Listed as family friend yet we got a complaint that our kids noise was excessive from INSIDE of the cabin. The cabin comes with no view and lots of attitude. Decorated with cheap tacky prints in goodwill frames with price tags on every single one. The"maintenance guy" came onto the property on our 1st morning to yell at us and treat us like children over the fire pit we used the night before. He came trying to intimidate us, threatening that we are going to be charged for excessive damage, at the very start of our stay. There is NO communication here. No instructions, no checkout or checkin information, nothing. We placed a log on a propane firepit because we were supplied a nearly empty propane tank, and were unaware we could burn a log on it. Again, no information about ANYTHING anywhere inside or out. just an inaccurate map. Once he saw we were recording this, he sped off in his truck yelling"I'm taking away your fire privileges". We spent our Saturday morning cleaning out that firepit with our bare hands, it looked and functioned 10x better than when we arrived. Not my idea of vacationing! So we didn't mess with it the remainder of our 2 days there. We came for the view and campfire, both we didn't get to experience here. Went to talk to the owner after the maintenance man drama and he could care less and then sat there blaming us for excessive noise from my kids(sorry that you CHOOSE to live in the same cabin you rent), parking in"his driveway" for a few hours last night(again, you chose this life bud), and saying stupid things like,"wheres your realtors license"(huh?!?!). Biggest waste of money ever. There's a reason there are no pictures. Map advertises the other cabin is private and seperated, NOPE, shared cabin. Pictures are of the"amazing view", aka the owners junky backyard and a crappy doghouse(which we were scolded for turning on the light of). STAY ELSEWHERE, TRUST ME!
As other people have mentioned, there are some sites that have small shelters built over the picnic tables, but I couldn't figure out a pattern to them, so it would be difficult to reserve ahead. (Also, many of them were at the RV sites--which have water and electricity but no sewer connections--which seemed like a waste since RV's come with built-in shade. Luckily, we had brought an 8' square canopy which was a lifesaver. About 15 minutes from Alamogordo and 30 minutes from White Sands, so convenient, too. It seemed to be full on Friday night but only half-full on Saturday night. (The Trinity Site was open on Saturday, so my guess was that some people went there and then moved on.) Nice flush bathrooms with free showers, and there were additional spigots and vault toilets for backup. Didn't go on it but the Dog Canyon trail looks like a beast and started from the campground. Highlight was definitely the views, especially during sunrise and sunset. The sites across from us ($42 and #44) would have been even better for views (though neither had the prized picnic table shade!).
Clean and well maintained place to set up home for a few days! Friendly and helpful folks running the place. Offered good advice on area “things to see.”
At the mouth of Dog Canyon this is a gem of a campground! Though not a lot of shade so you should plan for that, there are some covered shelters at a few sites. Clean facilities, showers, restrooms. Friendly camp hosts. You do remember to thank your camp hosts, right? Great base camp for exploring White Sands NP even though it’s a bit of a drive. Potable water and dump site available. It can get quite windy… Be sure to check out Alamogordo while you’re there and don’t forget the world’s largest pistachio!
Big sites, had a tiny camper and tent. Plenty of room. Table and fire pit. Beautiful views! Showers, trails and a visitor center. Less than 30 min from white sands and Alamogordo. PRO-TIP go to Nenas ice cream and snack shop on Alamogordo and order mango creama with a scoop of ice cream. SUPER FRESH ingredients. Also Amigos Bakery has amazing baked goods and burritos.
Lovely campsites, good tent sites and a few pull thru and back in sites for small Rv’s. Saw several teardrops. No showers but clean pit toilets.
We stayed here in January and the stay was wonderful. We were greeted by friendly and helpful hosts. Nice office and with couches and a book/dvd lending library. There is a pool in the summer and an area for breakfast. Our stay in January was wonderful. You can also refill your propane on site. We would come back here any time !
We have stayed here many time, the owners are great and the rv park is great.
General: Nicely laid out state park about 15 miles from Alamogordo where you could stock up on anything you need.
Site Quality: The sites are level, gravel, and generous in size; each would have room for an extra vehicle if needed. I believe all of them have water and electric hookups. The only odd thing is that these hookups are located near the front of the site which could be awkward if you do not have a long enough cord. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring; some (but not all) have a covered shelter.
Bathhouse: The bathroom appeared clean. Two shower stalls appeared clean, but I did not use them. There is a gravel path leading to the bathhouse, but it is twisty and rocky; make sure you bring your flashlight after dark.
Activities: There are guided tours four times a week where you will drive your own vehicle to the ranch. There is also an occasional Saturday morning “coffee and conversation” where staff is available to answer questions about the history of the area, plants, and wildlife. Unfortunately, we arrived after dark in the rain and left the next morning around 9 am still in the rain and not on a day that any of the programs were offered. From what I could see, this looks like a very well-laid-out park, and I would definitely like to return to see the ranch and explore more of the area.
We spent three days in December here as a basecamp for White Sands. Everything was what we expected, and the cost per night is just about right. It's a solid option, but we'll probably look for something a bit wilder the next time we're in town. I'd recommend this to anyone who needs full hookups, needs to stay close to town, or gets KOA discounts.
I just talked to the camp host at the Cedar Creek recreation area, a sister side to the Cedar Creek San Tobias campground, Jamie. He said that the recreation area has a locked gate every night and every morning and no one is allowed to stay overnight inside. Sam Tobias has got a group site but unless you've got five or more people it's pretty darn expensive, must be for the locals.
A great campground with beautiful hiking trails, visitors center and showers!
Stayed here last month and loved it so much we had to come back! Camp hosts Bob and Donna are helpful and welcoming - they have lots of sleds to borrow if you want to take a trip to the dunes for some fun. No sewer at the site but dump station is easy to access. Good shower facilities. Site #41 is our absolute favorite - huge, 2 level site with lots of room for our son to play. Nice cement table, fire pit and gravel tent pad as well. Nestled next to the mountains but full sun during the day which is great for us since we have solar panels and no electric at the site. Some walk in sites available if you don’t have a reservation - first come, first served. Always see a combination of campers, rvs, tents and vans. Peaceful with gorgeous views.
Loved this campground. Views were awesome and several trails leaving from the campground. Bathhouse was dated but usable. Vault bathrooms were very clean. Loved it!
My wife and I enjoyed our visit to this park. The views alone made the trip. The history of the location amazed us. The hikes/exploring kept us busy. Take the guided tour and learn the history of the area. The sites are large and clean. The staff and hosts are very polite and helpful.
Perched on a slight elevation at the base of the mountain, Oliver Lee State Park provides a wonderful scenic overlook. On a normal clear day you can see White Sands National Park in the distance.
No water or electrical at the park. There is a dump station.
The nature trail is well done and the informational museum does a nice job describing the history of the area.
The sites were spacious and the campground was very quiet. The rangers were very friendly and they have loaner sleds that you can take to the White Sands dunes which are about 30 minutes away. Every site seemed to have pretty views. Bath houses were very clean and heated. Would definitely stay here again.
Nice park, lovely sights, friendly staff and close to white sands National park!
KOAs tend to be a go to chain for me. They usually offer similar amenities between locations and good prices. I should probably consider becoming a member. This KOA was great. They had spotlights at each tent pad that you could turn on and adjust where they point. This made my nighttime arrival set up experience so much smoother. I'm pretty skilled at night time set up at this point, but having light always makes things move faster when you're solo. Each tent site also had a water spicket and 1 or 3 tables. The tent sites are huge and can fit any tent I've ever seen. Close to white sands national park. They also offer sleds you can borrow for free and wax for a $1 deposit. I highly recommend going there and sledding. Be aware of the weather/season because the sand will be hot during the day in the summer months
Absolutely beautiful campground. Very quiet and peaceful. Way stayed in spot 17 with no hookups in a 30 foot class A. We had no problems getting here, but the roads could use some work. The showers were decent, very hot!
Great campground about 8 fcfs spots
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Timberon, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Timberon, NM is Oliver Lee Memorial State Park — Oliver Lee State Park with a 4.8-star rating from 58 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Timberon, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 12 glamping camping locations near Timberon, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
