Best Tent Camping near White Sands, NM

Car camped in a tent site for just a night after visiting WSNP. Non-flush toilets without sinks near tent sites and the full bathhouse is a bit of a walk away. Worth it, though, with spacious shower stalls and well-kept buildings. Sweet views of the valley and mountains and far off the highway.

Dont have high expections for this place. It was tough to camp in a tent. Staff underestimated the walk-in, which was hard - mostly because of uphill, but also because of unstable and uneven rocks. No showers, of course, because you are in desert’s territory. This place isn’t good for tent camping because it is camping on rock, and you cant stake your tent into rock. Heads up! We used rocks inside our tent, at the corners, to hold it down against the winds. This is a better place for RVs and the like.

30 minutes from White Sands, quiet and well maintained. Book ahead of time to reserve covered picnic table sites especially if going during the summer.

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.

This site was very convenient and close to town and not far from white sands national park. There were plenty of spots to choose from and fire pits already available! We loved waking up to the Mountain View’s

Well managed KOA and short driving distance from White Sands National Park and Lincoln National Forest. This KOA is in the city so there is some traffic noise and there is a train that passes through at night. They have sleds to borrow for White Sands which saves you the hassle and cost of getting a sled at the White Sands park. Wifi was unreliable, but cellular internet worked fine on our phones.

Many great spots available and easily accessible by low clearance vehicles (we have a camper class B van). Very close (less than a mile?) to the state park, and about 30 minutes from white sands NM. Very quiet. Cell signal. Dog friendly.

We have been living in our airstream for the past month now and this has been my favorite place we have stayed. Nice cement pad and shaded picnic bench with the mountains in the background! It was so cheap too I think $15 a night you can’t beat it. 15 minutes from las cruces and 50 minutes from white sands np.

Amazing little gem located half an hour from White Sands. Recommend reservations if looking for electric sites. Plenty to do and see. Close drive into town for just about anything you could need but far enough to get the high desert. Clean bathrooms and showers. We only used electric site. Used the air conditioner for the hot mid days and heat in the early mornings. One evening we could hear what we think to be artillery explosions from the White Sands missile range by the Air Force Base. Nothing alarming if you have heard artillery before. Short lived and did not interrupt our experience.

Good, clean state park campground central to Alamogordo and White Sands.

Pros:

• Location/easy to get to
• A good mix of pull through and tent sites with plenty of room to drive in.
• Views on both sides are spectacular
• Reasonably spaced, not super private but that is pretty much any paid campground
• Clean bathrooms and pit toilets (showers still closed)
• Sites are relatively spacious and very well kept with tables and fire rings; some have partial shelter

Cons:

• Seems to get a little crowded, which is to be expected due to its proximity to White Sands

The campground is located in the Oliver Lee State Park, with access on paved roads. There is a dump and water fill station at the entrance. Many sites have electric and water. All have picnic tables, fire rings/grills, but no shade. The Comfort Station is well kept and clean, with running hot and cold water in showers and sinks. Toilets have running water. It’s very quiet in the night so you can enjoy the sound of night creatures. Sadly, although there is electricity at the sites, generators are run at times tearing up the silence and tranquility. Hiking trails are accessible from the campground, a strenuous treck into Dog Canyon and an easy Nature trail. The park is only twenty minutes from White Sands National Park. Great experience! I would come back here any time!

I've been on a nationwide roadtrip for a few months that now and I have tent camped alone in many sites from Florida to Arkansas to, now, New Mexico. I chose Aguirra because of its close proximity to White Sands National Park. It is a First Come First Serve site and you must pay in cash. I was lucky to find a site in the afternoon. There are many sites. Over 40. I lucked out with 43 because it is huge! It's a jilly Rocky site with no one around me and several stone fire pits, a BBQ grill, and animal proof garbage can. There are Porta John's in close proximity. I have not found any water yet. Not sure. No RV hookups. But what do you expect for 7 bucks a night. I was here over Easter weekend so it got noisy with Fiesta music and someone throwing up across from my site at midnight! Whole families come here, jam their music etc. It's Easter so whatever. There is a covered picnic table and lots of tree cover to deal with the intense NM sun. I love how this place is at the end of an ascending, remote, windy road though. It's large enough that no rangers come and bug you for trivialities.

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!).

Visited this park in both November & February multiple times. It’s a great place for primitive camping though official tent sites are available. No showers that I am aware of but vaulted toilets are located near tent pads. There are many trails to explore which extend all the way into New Mexico. However, at that point, you will be past park boundaries. One of my favorite areas in the Southwest.

It really is beautiful here. Southeast New Mexico has mountains believe it or not. The camp is nestled up against one. It’s Memorial Day weekend and not too crowded. Highly recommend for the price (basically free). If you are tent camping and low maintenance this place rocks. If you have a huge rig I’m not even sure I would want to make the drive up the road to the camp site. Spots are small, so you would need to find the best spot if you have an RV or Trailer.

We stayed at this campground during our #9Parks12Days road trip, and this was the fourth campground of ten on our trip. We did not have advanced reservations and arrived around 4:00 PM to find many open sites (this was early June). The sites are private, separated by cement brick walls, with a level gravel pad for the RV. However, there was a four-inch cement "lip" that stepped up to a huge, all-stone picnic table that could be a HUGE issue for accessibility. We have a special needs preschooler who cannot see well, including differences on the ground that are the same color. Luckily, when he did trip and headed straight for the huge, cement picnic table, I was between him and it, and he only ended up with a skinned knee and not a head injury.

The pool was nice and clean, we swam well into the evening hours after arriving on a very hot day. The playground was quite... scary. The equipment looks to be from the 1970's and was mostly climbing bars, swings, and a merry-go-round. Only the swings were appropriate for our little guy, although our 9-year-old had a lot of fun climbing around. I noticed the playground is no longer mentioned or shown on their website, so maybe the equipment has been pulled out.

The rec room is great - it was our saving grace on this stay along with the pool. Plenty for the family to do, and the welcome center is very nicely kept. In the morning we filled up our coffee mugs with great brew and chatted with the managers, who were very friendly and helpful.

For a quick overnight, we would stay here again, because it is only 15 minutes away from White Sands National Monument, and several other attractions are only a day trip away. Would like to see more shade, more grass or other softer ground cover in the future (i.e. mulch) and for it to be more accessibility-friendly.

Crowded RV park, but had trees which was nice! Right off I-10 so traffic noise is always present. This would be a good place for RV camping, but not tent camping.