Best Tent Camping near Valdez, NM

We arrived early on a Tuesday and snagged a tree heavy site on the upper loop. The sites on the outside of the loops are decently wooded, smaller and not well suited to RVs. The sites on the inside of the loops have longer, RV sized pull in and little trees. Vault toilets are well maintained by the very active camp host, Mark. There is potable water from a well two miles down the mountain and trash, but packing out much that can’t be burned is encouraged. Pick up firewood in Pecos, there is enough dead & down tinder at the site. Dogs allowed on leash at all times, quite time begins at 10pm. The closer we got to the weekend, the more crowded and noisy the site became. One night, multiple campers arrived after dark and noisily set up camp. I’m sure the state parks being closed forced more people into the National Forest, but it’s a great site. There are several trailhead and just down the hill is easy access to creeks and fishing. We had great weather, upper 70’s during the day, dipping to low 50’s overnight. Each site has large fire rings with cooking grates and at least one picnic table, some with two. Sites are close together so try to grab one at the end of the loop for a little privacy.

With seasonal access this campground can get pretty crowded during peak season due to its close proximity to Santa Fe as well as the amazing outdoor spaces. Driving out of the city you leave the desolation and low laying vegetation and are transported into an oasis of tall growth trees and mountain living. It is hard to believe that less than 10 miles separates these two spaces because of the dramatic difference in appearance. This place really has the best of both worlds!

Driving into the camp, you have three options: Walk-In Camping, Camping With Parking Access & Limited Access.

The walk-in spaces are directly to your right across a small bridge with flowing stream below. Some of the spaces are close enough to the stream that you can hear the gentle trickle of water to put your to sleep at night. Parking for these sections is limited, so it is not recommended to take advantage of these if you are with a party bringing more than one vehicle.

The units with parking are well spaced. Pavement and landscaping create separation which allows each camper to have their own space without feeling cramped. Throughout this section are staggered water stations with potable water and toilets as well as trash cans which are weighted to keep animals away.

A trailhead can be accessed from the rear of this camping area so during busy season there are hikers which park in one of the two lots creating excessive foot traffic throughout the camp;. My suggestion would be to avoid site 24 or 26 which are the sites positioned on either side of the official trailhead.

Each site in the campground is equipped with a fire ring and grill top, a picnic table and a lantern hook. Though this campground has not showers the potable water is a nice touch for those visiting making it much more convenient than other area limited access camps.

Because the trailhead leaves from the campground, throughout the off season the first restroom, the one by the trailhead parking and the walk-in camping does remain open along with the water access to the potable/drinking water fountain at this point of entry.

TIPS:

• Check the Kiosk when you arrive, this are will provide any information you might need about the area including any potential dangers on trails, closures or maps.

• The pay box is located on the kiosk in the bricks. It is a weird place and isn't the most well marked so rather than looking around for a while and contemplating what to do when you see the broken pay box (previously used) just look down in the middle on the rocks.

• The camp host is available during open season and is located in the first space of the drive in loop, when in doubt always remember they are there to help you find information.

A reasonably priced campground near Santa Fe NM.   Campsites have picnic table, fire ring and paved parking.  Several were large and can accommodate big Rvs.  No electric, water, sewer or dumpstation.  Pit toilets and dumpsters are available.  

The campground is at 8400' elevation.  Summer temps were very comfortable during the day and cool overnight.  Perfect camping weather.   The sites were mostly sold out while we were there. 

Camp hosts were seen busy tending to the sites and pit toilets.  The campground was very well maintained.

I liked the small roadside campground in the Carson National Forest. It’s located near some of the smaller ski slopes about 30 miles south of Taos NM on Highway 518 near Rock Wall New Mexico. The National Forest Service campground has 10 sites along a nice mountain stream. The campground is just off the highway with some privacy between the campsites. They have picnic tables and fire rings and clean Pit toilets. This site did not have a host and works from a self service. The hiking and fishing are the highlights here along with the scenery. I also appreciated this was mostly empty in the peak summer season. This is a nice option if you want to avoid the crowds a do some trout fishing in a relatively quite location. The only downside is the noise from the highway.

My wife and I have stayed at Hopewell Lake twice now. The first time we stayed here, we stumbled upon this little gem of a site while driving from Durango, CO to Taos, NM. It was enchanting enough that we made sure to make it back for an opportunity to take in the scenery and relax during a long weekend. The only issue we ran into was an abundance of mosquitos, but this should be expected during the late Spring/early Summer in northern New Mexico and can be easily addressed with a citronella candle and a bit of bug spray. Our most recent stay was on one of those rare nights where you can pull off the rain fly and not worry about a midnight downpour, which left us with a wonderful view of the stars, and the sites are private enough that, as long as you don't set up next to the table, it's comfortable with an open tent and away from prying eyes.

The campground is nice, very well maintained, and the site host is friendly and helpful. The grounds are a

This Forest Service Campground is less than ten miles from the Santa Fe Plaza and is, thus, very popular and very busy. It should be noted that about half of this distance is on a somewhat steep, but very good road. Most of the sites are reservable, and are reserved well in advance, but there are some hard-to-get, first-come sites. The campground is smaller and the sites are fairly close together, but the vegetative undercover gives some visual separation, and, during our stay, it was fairly quiet except for the several generators that often make there presence known during the evenings. Generator hours, if there are any, seem to be very generous. It would certainly be nice to have generator-free zones. The campground has very nice tree cover and, because of the elevation, is cool even during mid summer. The campsites are well laid out with a picnic table and fire ring and well-designed tent sites. There are water spigots throughout but none were able to provide water during our stay. It is unclear whether there will be water available in the future, but, during our stay we had to haul in any water that we needed. There is no dump station in the campground, but next door, at the State Park, there is a dump station open at times, for a charge of$10 per use. The dump station has the gates closed, but can be accessed, after paying the fee at the park, by simply sliding open the latches on the gates. There are vault toilets, but you will want a mask to use them, not because of COVID, but because of the gag-producing odor. You will need a strong stomach to frequent these facilities. This is a real shame in an otherwise nice campground. It is not really that hard to keep toilets like these clean and decent smelling. There are camp hosts, but on a busy Friday night when we arrived, they were no where to be seen and were not much of a presence in the campground. They do provide a greeting of a really trashed-up campsite and a beware of dog sign. This is another indictment of the poor Forest Service management and rather sad since this could be such a very nice campground if well managed. There is no cell service with Verizon in the Campground. There is a nice two-mile loop hike that can be accessed directly from the campground and several other hikes that are available in the State Park next door. In addition, there are several nice hikes nearby in the National Forest. Even with the several criticisms noted above, this is a nice campground and well worth a visit. Just plan well in advance with reservations or get very lucky with a first-come site.