Best Cabin Camping near Tucumcari, NM

Traveling the old familiar Route 66 time and time again I have found so many stops to enjoy. I try to make it a point to check out new places each time I pass to get a full perspective of what this strip of highway has to offer. Not always will you be able to stay in a classic roadside stop, but when you can get within throwing distance of one you have to jump on the opportunity.

The grass here is semi green the spaces are large enough to not be on top of your neighbor and the staff is friendly. I like that they have a grassy tent area with the signature KOA feel in the picnic structures and while you are in a semi desolate looking space, you feel that the area has a sense of community with a lot of retro trailers and rvs passing though on the same mission as you.

This seems to be an older KOA so some of the amenities, while nice are not as up to date as other campgrounds. I noticed this mostly in the playground, and while I am perfectly happy with the see-saws and older swing sets which remind me of my own childhood, I am sure to newer parents used to all things plastic and padded this is a nightmare waiting to happen.

The pool is not large but perfectly sized for a small group and is gated to protect it from being used by just anyone at the camp during any non-specific type of hour. It is, like at many KOA camps, seasonal so if you are wanting to take a dip, might call in advance to make sure you aren't there when it isn't open. The one thing that was a little strange to me was the height of the fence, a little tall and made me think they ave had issues with fence jumping previously, then again maybe it is just an extra precaution for insurance.

Nights here are pretty quiet and if you can get past the appearance of chainlink surrounding the property you have an amazing New Mexico sunset only a short distance from the old Neons of Route 66.

The sites themselves for tents come in 3 basic types, standard grassy sites with no improvements, pull thru sites with water and electric and group sites known as the tent village. The prices vary depending on type of site and location and for tent village I will recommend booking well in advance online because I tried on three different sets of dates and it always said NOT AVAILABLE. Average cost of camp however is between $28 and $35 before tax.

TIPS:

• Opt for a site further from the road because traffic can be a bit loud along the road side of this campground.
• Checkout is at 11 a.m. make sure you are aware of this because otherwise you are subject to an additional days charge at any KOA camp.

Ute Lake campground had nice large pull through sites, a shaded picnic area, and nice views of the lake. The playground was very nice and shaded. We were disappointed that the electrical hookups did not provide consistent output. We were unable to run our AC while the refrigerator was on, and the other camper we spoke to had the same issues. They do have showers but the flow is a hard diffuse spray that goes more out of the shower than in. You had to press a button and hold it down to have any water output, which made showering myself and my kids very challenging.

There are several separate CGs at Ute Lake. We stayed in Logan CG site 23, which was nearly perfectly level, for 5 days. There is no dump station at the Logan CG, the only dump station is near the main office, several miles back down the road. The restrooms were closed while we were here- not sure if that is seasonal or due to COVID. I did have to pick up 7 or 8 large, albeit old, piles of dog feces and a broken beer bottle right in the site and around the picnic table. I shouldn’t have to do that, but some people are just inconsiderate and nasty. The CG has is a trailhead for the 2.4 mile park nature walk. It’s a nice trail, with several lake viewing areas along it. Our dog didn’t encounter too many sand burrs on the trail, but be advised, the evil little things are everywhere else and imbed themselves in everything. The CG has fee for service WiFi, which is fairly pricey(e.g. 3-day unlimited, one device for$20, 5 GB and 3 devices for$30, etc.). They also offer 30 minutes per day for free, but I couldn’t get but a few KB/s on it. I didn’t buy the service, so I’m not sure how fast the paid service is. AT&T coverage was really good, with 4 Bars of LTE service and speeds up to 27 MB/s. Since there are few trees, satellite coverage is not an issue, so we didn’t try to get any OTA channels. There is a small grocery in Logan, but their selection is limited.