Searching for a dispersed campsite near Torreon? Here you'll find a diverse selection of places to camp, including remote dispersed camping to boondocking, and everything in-between. Search nearby dispersed campgrounds or find top-rated spots from other campers.
Primitive camping is allowed almost anywhere on the Santa Fe National Forest unless otherwise posted. These areas generally do not offer any amenities although occasionally you will find a toilet building or a picnic table and grill. Please keep your campsite at least 100 feet from streams and lakes, including riverbanks or areas next to bodies of water. This will help preserve the health of the riparian area and protect sensitive animals and plants found here.
Guide
There was a decent amount of snow but the road was easy enough to navigate. I came in from Las Alamos and went in about 7-8 miles. The site I found was amazing. There was a site available right as you pulled in and about 3-4 more half developed sites (fire rings) within a quarter mile walk in. It looks like there’s a bit of an OHV trail leading up the mountain, halfway. From there if you want to reach a peak you do have to bushwhack a bit. This was easily by top 10 dispersed campsites I’ve even been to and will definitely be coming back. Little to no service, roughly an hour 45 minutes from Albuquerque stayed 2 nights.
Guide
This place is about 20-30 minutes outside of Las Alamos. If you go through Santa Fe, you do have to go through a military checkpoint. There was a decent amount of snow, so I didn’t go very far in. I saw plenty of 4x4 trucks making it further than I did. The site was nice, but there was broken glass nearby so be careful. Made a couple of fires, and had a good time. From my site you could see the town below but thankfully it did not impede my view of the stars. I had full service too which was nice.
TravelerAfter a long drive I found this site to be posted and closed. I’m a newbie so I could be incorrect but check USFS closures.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/santafe/alerts-notices/?aid=88339
Scout
Jemez is a popular camping destination. There are boon docking and campgrounds available. I do not recommend trying to bring a rig of any size through the Gilman tunnels. Best access for large rigs is taking 126 and accessing FS 376 from that route.
The Jemez are by far our favorite mountains to camp in within a 3 hr radius of my home.
Traveler
This campsite is beautiful and right next to the lake. Perfect for some chill camping. There are multiple clearing along this road. Each one is big enough for several cars and even a couple groups. The clearings are far enough apart that you can make some noise without bothering the other campers. You need a bit of clearance to be able to drive the road but not much as my Crosstrek did it great. Even on July 4th this site wasn’t busy. We only saw one other camper since most people choose to pay for a campground right on the lake
GuideI live in Albuquerque, and this road is one of my constant summer repeats. You got water, shade, privacy and an adventure. It's about 1.5 hours from Abq and it takes you through the Gilman Tunnels which is always a fun stop and view. The road is a little bumpy and rocky, but there's probably 100 dispersed camping spots. There's ones right on the river, in forrest spots or meadows, you choose! There are no bathrooms, water, or cell service. Everyone has got their spot in Jemez, but this road offers endless possibilities, for all types of campers!
ScoutQuiet, secluded spaces especially if you drive out the road far. We didn’t see any other people or campers but heard guns being shot in the morning and there were old shells at our campsite.
RangerStayed: May 26, 2024 Cost: FREE Site: 35.84243° N, 106.37266° W Cell Service: Solid LTE AT&T and T-Mobile Equipment: Forester / Tent
Different apps give this different names. It is Forest Road 181 within Santa Fe National Forest, directly off of Highway 4.
This is some great National Forest camping. Seemed like plenty of room when you first turn in and the you can go left or right. We went left and continued to the end of the road. There were a few sites along the drive back, but we pulled up the satellite map and wanted to keep going. It gets pretty rocky and you’ll need a bit of clearance in some spots.
To get to the end of the road site, when you pull off Highway 4, take a left and then eventually a right at the fork in the road further beyond (~1.5 miles from Highway 4). There were a couple more sites along this road, not very level, so we continued on and are so glad we did! About 30 min from Hwy 4 to end of this road. Elevation is just over 8,000 feet at this point.
ScoutThis camp spot is one of the best free camp sites in New Mexico. Would definitely go again. Highly recommend to anyone who loves to camp and drive four wheelers
Traveler
This spot is so peaceful and beautiful. Great canyon view but need a 4x4 vehicle to access it.
TravelerWhat a great spot. After backcountry in the Valles Caldera, I camped here for a night.
Pulling off of HWY 4, I turned left and veered right. Got to look for it, but not far down there is a path up to a great spot.
I did this in a 2WD Tundra. Just go slow and be careful.
TravelerFound the perfect spot to soak in the sunrise and amazing views. Easy to get to in my Subaru. Fire pit too! Go left after entering and take the road to the gate (which was closed). But to the right at the top of the hill is perfect to relax the weekend away.
ScoutThe road is a bit rough, but easy access and close enough to the lake that I drove over to kayak after setting up camp. Fire pits set up, the first area is a big open space with a beautiful cliff view, we had it to ourselves but could be busy, if you drive further up there are areas to camp that would have more privacy if needed. Very quiet and peaceful. It does get cold at night since at approximately 8,000 elevation.
Ranger
Great spot once you make the steep road up!!! We camped close to the entrance. We explored and found some amazing sites further back
ScoutLots of camping along this forest road. Be prepared... Zero cell service. Don't care what the main post says.
TravelerThis area has multiple free camping spaces. If you follow the road, you can find the prefect camping for you. We saw from damp camping areas to big groups spaces. There is a fire restriction to gas stove only and there is no bathrooms or potable water.
Guide
It was getting late after a full day of driving and I happened to find this site. No amenities, but we were the only people in the area. We were just thankful for a place to stop. Lots of sage brush and we had a full moon that night and the area was lit up l, bright as a cloudy day!
GuideThe campsites are big and plentiful but I think they are used by locals as there is a bunch of trash. Not that is had to be locals but I don't think the dispersed community would do that.
We are car camping/tent, RV's couldn't make it is the spot we have at least.
I would rate it better but we have been at so many other campsites in AZ and CO that are definitely better.
Hopefully someday we will have a different experience in NM but hey, it smells good and is pretty. Stop by for a night and see how you feel.
What we think is the best site is to the left and then up to a little hill (any AWD or 4WD could make it, its the only one we saw with a view besides trees (not that they aren't great!) but for free I would take it for sure 😊
TravelerThere are sites all along the forest road with fire pits and pretty views.
Guide
Woke up by gunfire at 3am. We knew full well to expect some gunfire at dawn but 3am was a little too early. It was way to close to be comfortable. Additionally, the entire location was full of litter. It was quite shameful. Shotgun shells, bullet casings, beer bottles, cow feces... cows marched through our site at one point waking us up.
Legend
We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were here for a few days in mid April. The roads in can be pretty rough in places, but not too awful bad in others for dirt and gravel road anyway. I wouldn’t attempt it in anything other than a 4WD if the area were to get any significant rain, as the ruts in the road were pretty significant. There are basically two ways to get here, one is at Nageezi on CR 7800 to NM 57(aka ISR 451 on some maps) from US 550, which is the way we came in. The 1st 4 of the 15 miles are paved, the rest is gravel and/or dirt. I was able to go between 20 and 30 mph most of the way, except in some really rough sections and at a couple of the cow guards. The other way, that BLM suggests on their website https://www.blm.gov/visit/ah-shi-sle-pah-wilderness, is to just take NM 57 off of US 550 several miles north of Nageezi, which we tried on the way out. Parts were better, but most of it was just as bad and a longer drive than CR 7800. The last 5 miles were“paved” or used to be and is some of the worst parts. The entrance to the trailhead is a fairly tight turn from the east, narrow, somewhat U-shaped and sporty(see photo looking NE, which really doesn’t do it justice), but after dropping our tow, we managed to get our 36’ MH up and in on the second attempt. Arriving from the east, I would suggest trying to turn around as we did and entering the trailhead from the west. To get to the wash and hoodoos it’s about a 0.6 mile walk from the trailhead. The trailhead area is nothing special, but the Wilderness Area, wash and hoodoos are really cool.
AT&T coverage was actually quite good, with 1-2 Bars of 5G service and speeds of up to 9 MB/s without a booster. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and Starlink had up to 10 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.
ScoutWe were just looking for a place to crash in our SUV before going to Bandelier National Monument in the morning and continuing on our road trip. Showed up at midnight and grabbed the first flat spot to park. Convenient and free is always nice. 20 min from the visitors center. There was a “No Campfires” sign at the entrance despite what this listing states.
Guide
Great little spot for a short night stay on NMBDR. Tucked into the ledge. Probably a mess in a rain storm but a wonderful spot to disperse camp.
TravelerEasy to find. Easy access. Excellent views. A little abused in some spots but over a dozen spots, some pretty spectacular. Some not accessible in late March due to snow.
TravelerStayed here just one night—last minute decision and found several easily accessible spots. Road was muddy and rocky and was holding snow still in a few spots but we were able to drive in and out slowly in our extended van. Beautiful views of Los Alamos below.
ScoutSo the road getting here is a bit of a long dirt road, somewhat washboarded by the big trucks that drive along it. The area is big and has a selection of camp sites / flat areas to choose from. The shooting sounds were indeed there, but didnt bother us much. Cattle grazing in the area sometimes. Overall not a bad place to camp. Nearby are also some hiking and biking trails.
GuideThere are a lot of spots to disperse in this campground but there are a few certain spots that blow the rest of them out of the water. We arrived on a Friday with only a few people there. Saturday/Sunday was maybe at half capacity. Pretty sure that were we the only ones there when we left on Monday.
We stayed on the edge of the cliff at the far back right side of the campsite and it was easily one of the top 5 locations that we have camped at. Even in July, it was a perfect 60-65 degrees at night and in the upper 70's low 80's during the day. We have T-mobile and there was relatively no reception here. We had just enough to send out and receive a text message every once in a while but not strong enough for a phone call. The reception comes and goes the more that you walk through the campsite. We stayed here for 3 nights and were never bothered by the cars driving on the road close by. The later it gets the fewer the cars. We locked our food and trash up every night and never ran into any problems with any other animals during the day or at night. We all slept well include our Dog who always shuffles around if she hears something scurrying around our site at night.
Directions to our cliff edge campsite:
*Note we took on this adventure in a long bed Chevy 2500.
As you enter go to the right.
The road will split but stay right and continue the slight uphill climb.
As the road starts to descend, you will see a small white sign nailed to a tree on the left with a sharp turn off the road.
Take that trail to the left unless you have a high clearance vehicle. (We took the more adventurous route straight down and almost didn't make it)
At the bottom of that trail go right and start to weave your way through the trees all the way to the back right side of the campsite.
The trees will begin to open up and you'll get a very clear picture of the cliff and mountains.
In the 3 days that we were there, we didn't see anyone else try to take on the same route. Although, we saw plenty of other smaller SUVs and cars get down there via the turn-off.
Still can't believe that this place was free with no reservations needed. It's a must stay if you are in the area.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Torreon, New Mexico, where nature offers a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. With a variety of options available, campers can enjoy the great outdoors while embracing the freedom of camping without the constraints of traditional campgrounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Torreon, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Torreon, NM is Dispersed on 4 - Fenton Lake State Park with a 4.5-star rating from 13 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Torreon, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 23 dispersed camping locations near Torreon, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
