Best Glamping near Whites City, NM

What an incredible spot. 6 yurts. 4 cabins with power and all amenities. A hot shower. Less than 30 minutes to the park. Soooo peaceful and beautiful. 15 minutes from Dell City for supplies. I'm so glad the park was full and I stumbled onto this place. This place could be a destination on its own.

When looking for a campground close to Carlsbad Caverns, the most recommended for proximity happens to be that of White's City RV and Campground also known as Carlsbad Campground. Only a short 7 miles from the visitors center and only a few hundred yards from the main entrance, the campsite offers over 200 camping zones for those coming to the area.

We arrived late afternoon to the site and noticed a large quantity of rv campers but very few tents on premise. In fact only a single tent camper was on site at the time of arrival. 

We searched for the check in and were a bit baffled as to where to stop as no clear registration was marked. Instead we stopped and asked someone on site in the RV area and they were very welcoming and informative.

For those camping, arrival check ins are at the local gift shop about a block away, the sleepy town closes by 6 p.m. however so if you arrive past this time you are forwarded to a local hotel for check in. 

After overcoming the confusion we were finally able to start unpacking. Due to it being early in season, we were able to pick our campsite and settle in without any issues.

Campsites are all equipped with a picnic table and fire ring area and a light shade cover. Water hook ups are on hand and the camp keeps a camping hose accessible to all for extinguishing camp fires at night.

We noticed upon our arrival and throughout the evening a plethora of native Bunnies grazing which made for a pleasant atmosphere of bringing nature to our camp.

The camping facilities were grassy and softer than many other sites we had visited along our journey. A nice shade tree made for a great block to the early morning rays. 

Our only areas which we noticed could be improved were in the bathrooms as we noted a lack of recent maintenance and lights needing to be changed to improve brightness in the mirror and sink area. Also the showers were a bit of a question mark for us as they closely resembled indoor beach showers and had no doors. 

During our stay we were the only ones using the facilities so we had plenty of privacy, however during busy season this shower could pose an issue for campers. We recommend the buddy system during busy season here so someone can either hold a towel for a make shift door or be a look out for additional guests coming in.

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Overall this campground gets 3 of 5 Bunnies, in major part because of the bathroom facilities. However we do also have to consider the confusion with check in. We suggest doing a call reservation with payment to avoid having to check multiple facilities just to check in!

Let's start with the fact that there are few actually camping areas close to Carlsbad Caverns or Guadalupe National Park. Assuming travelers are coming to Carlsbad to see these great places, the location becomes a major player. Fine print: there is a small campground (absolutely no amenity campground) in Guadalupe National Park which is first-come, first-serve (aka: full), and there a campground in White's City--although having driven past it, I don't think I want to stay there.

Carlsbad RV Park is primarily an RV Park. In fact, while we were there, they were bulldozing their only tent sites and I'm not sure if they are upgrading them or replacing them with more RV sites. So the "tent" site status is tentative. As with most RV Parks, the RVs are crammed in, side by side, and really the place is like an RV parking lot with amenities and hook-ups--but they do appear to be mostly pull through and the staff will show the way to go to pull through without hiccups. These are not spacious by any means. We stayed in one of two cabins, which were very reasonably priced, esp. when comparing to Carlsbad KOA. They even came with a cable and a fridge.

The RV Park (like all of the RV Parks in Carlsbad) has overall become a residence for the oil field workers, so be prepared to try and sleep through the 4 a.m. traffic rush out of camp to oil field. However, the neighbors are pleasant and quiet to have, even if they must drive away before the roosters announce the coming of the sun.

The park has gated access and we felt very safe during our stay. There is a playground that was being bulldozed with the tent site; I am unsure if it is being upgraded or eliminated. There is a camp store, a pool, a game room, showers (which were ok), laundry, a dishwashing sink, picnic tables at the cabins, and universal fire pit. Please note that I am inherently biased against parking lot style RV parks--so 2 stars from me for an RV Park is quite a compliment.

Carlsbad RV Park and Carlsbad KOA direct comparison: we have stayed at both the Carlsbad KOA and the Carlsbad RV Park. The KOA is NOT actually in Carlsbad, and is over an hour away from Carlsbad Caverns and 30 minutes from town. On the other hand, the RV Park is at the southern end of town and only 30 minutes to the Caverns. While the KOA lots are more spacious, they offer no more and no fewer amenities than the RV Park…well the KOA sort-of offers meals but the RV Park is right in town, so delivery is an option. The basic, no frill KOA cabins cost double the RV Park charges. Additionally, the KOA staff was not as friendly or as helpful as the RV Park staff, imho.

While in Carlsbad check out Fiesta Drive-In for one of America's few remaining drive-in movie theaters.

Overall not too bad of a campground. 15 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns National Park and less than 40 minutes from Guadalupe Mountains National Park. A little pricy in my opinion ($90 for 2 nights) but they have no competitors so they can charge whatever they want I guess. Full hookups and a store right next door within walking distance.

Simple, no thrills campground. Full hook up and WiFi. Located directly at the entrance to the Carlsbad Canyon National Park. Small restaurant across the street and a general store, gift shop and post office right next door.

The website says reservations not necessary. When I walked in to get a site, the very kind clerk asked if I had a reservation. Luckily they had sites available but they only set aside 10 for nightly stays. Those 10 sites are close together and have pretty rough picnic tables but they do have full hookups. The monthly sites look nicer. The point of staying there is to visit Carlsbad Caverns so as long as you don't plan to stay at your site long, it does the job. You can access the Old Guano Road Trail from the campground. There is a small grocery and laundry mat on site.

Campsites were fine.

Bathrooms were limited. Four toilet/shower combo rooms for the whole site. Could use some TLC in the bathrooms.

Pretty much everything wasnt nice about this place, but its 7 minutes from Carlsbad caverns. If you need a place to stay and want to see Carlsbad you can tough it out

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We needed a night to get to our reserved time to see Carlsbad Caverns in the morning next day and called them up and got a spot for the RV 28 foot.

It was a great open space

We had tought we were going to eat at the restaurant/cafe on other side of street for the evening, but that was closed because they were out of staff.

So BBQ it was then ,which was fine , had a firepit and a grill .

Two laundry rooms ,so got some washing done after been dry camping for five days it was about time. Full hookups

Free wifi

It was a gift store there and one could get to buy some food in the store too,but not to many choices.

Bathroom/shower concrete floor , but it was clean and had lots of hot water.

Best part it was just at the entrance to get to the caverns and just drow up hill 4 miles.

The campground is old and unkept. Definitely not worth $41 per night. We stayed because we needed electric to heat our camper due to unusually cold weather. There is BLM land a mile down the road. It is truly unfortunate the Campground has fallen into such a state of disrepair. It once was a thriving place.