Beautiful campground near Las Cruces NM and White Sands National Park. Love that the camp site all have covered structures over the picnic tables. Definitely keeps the sun off. We stayed in site 25. Plenty of room. No large RVs because they can't get up the road. Lots of folks camping in vans. Could have done without the DJs blasting heavy metal music in the evening and again in the morning.
First come first serve with clean pit toilets and trash bins. It has beautiful views and great hikes. I will be coming back!
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.
First come first serve. Not for a big Rv, we came w our 29ft and made it. We got two spots which was so awesome! (Paid for both of course). It’s confusing w a lack of signage. The loop down the hill ja the best. Spot 29/30 are awesome w incredible views.
Stayed 2 nights.
The campsite was beautiful. Wonderful views of the mountains and of the valley below.
Campsites weren’t super level, which I didn’t mind too much. Saw other vehicle campers had blocks to level out their rigs.
Signs were kind of confusing. Two separate areas stated they were the campgrounds but campsites were littered throughout. The loop to get back to the beginning was about 30 min if you wanted to drive to drop off your fees. I ended up walking and realized it was 1) much steeper than I thought 2) much farther than I thought and 3) I was much more out of shape than I thought.
Campsites have picnic tables, Ramadas, fire rings and there were many vault toilets throughout.
It’s important to understand that upon arrival at the camp fee kiosk the natural traffic flow bears right where there’s a loop with about 20 campsites, but the bigger and more private sites are found by driving straight as if going back down the mountain.
Also, the first fee kiosk is for day visitors only. Pass it and stop a few hundred yards further up the road at the camper fee kiosk. Lack of signage creates the confusion.
There is a four mile hiking trail leading out of the campground, but no trail maps were available.
Aguirre is a clean, well maintained campground offering spectacular views and great hiking.
Simply stunning. Great single lane road to entrance. Breathtaking.
One of the best places I’ve stayed in a long time. Day and night the view is amazing
I had originally planned to stay at the Sierra Vista trailhead, but by the time I got there, all of the dispersed sites appeared taken. (It was well past nightfall on a Saturday night.)
Luckily I saw this campground on the app and took the half hour drive over. Even though it was Saturday, there were plenty of sites available.
The thing to know about this campground is that there are two loops, the second loop does not even show up on google maps, but it’s there and you’ll see the sign for it once you exit the first loop. The road in and out of the campground is one way, so it’s a big loop itself, so you cannot NOT see the sign for the second loop.
That being said, because the road in and out is one way, if you see a site that might work for you, TAKE IT. Or else you will most likely have to go all the way down the mountain and back up to fully circle back around. The road up is only about five miles, but the switchbacks are short and tight, which can make for an annoying drive when you’ve been on the road all day and are exhausted already.
All of the sites seem to be situated a little differently. I stayed in site 47 in the second loop. There wasn’t a tent pad, but there was a nice worn down, level spot for a tent behind the picnic area, under a tree. The view of the valley below from this site was a beautiful sight in the mornings.
This site was also right across from the bathroom and trash cans. I thought that might make for a lot of noisy foot traffic, but it did not and I was happy to have the convenience. The toilets are vault toilets and they were clean and well maintained.
I did not personally spot any wildlife while here, but had a nice talk with a birder, so if that’s your thing, it’s apparently a great place for birds. There are also a few trails accessible from the campground. White Sands National Park is about a 45 minute drive away and Las Cruces is about 20 minutes away.
For $7 a night, this place is a steal! I would def stay here again!!
We went here thinking there's a fee campground and a free BLM site nearby, it is not. It's only a campground that's $7 for overnight or $5 day pass. If you can figure out the map to this place, figure out what site you want to head to, otherwise you'd be like us and ended up near the exit, we decided to head to another place that's free.
Also, on the way near the site there's a sign saying drinking water to a right side pull over where I didn't see any spigot, just a gate that says employee only.
Great place for a short camping trip, there is no natural running water, but it has great facilities
I spent a night here while passing though, and while the campsite is very developed (facilities, lots of paved roads/areas), it’s in a beautiful location a good distance from populated areas.
Loved this spot! Campsites were a little closer than ideal, but still gave us privacy. Vault toilets were fairly clean, no running water available. Nice concrete pad with picnic table and shade, and plenty of hiking around the area! Definitely take the time to hike to the old Boyd’s Sanatorium nearby! Plenty of interesting history to learn.
Amazing place. Wicked hike right at the campsite. 6 stars
Spent an August Saturday night at the campground. Drive-in, pit toilets (pretty clean) and ~50 sites. Low light pollution and amazing views of the Organ Mountains. Organ Needle, Rabbit Ears, Sugarloaf, and Baylor peaks are all visible from the campgrounds. Would have been perfect except for neighboring campers that were making noise until midnight.
The desert was pretty hot and I was wishing I'd set up camp near Cloudcroft. After passing white sands I saw the sign and thought, "check it out". Glad I did. Nice windy road climbs up to a great campground with plenty of trees and views of the peaks above and desert below.
There is no water in the CG, but its available at the entrance, so take a gallon or two in with you.
I stayed on a Saturday night and it was loud. Kids and dogs.
I had a short stay (one night) but the views were awesome. At night I could see so many stars, and in the morning I could see all the way across the Tularosa Basin to Lincoln National Forest, probably 80 miles away! The sunrise was awesome! I could easily see White Sands National Monument in the distance.
The camp host was fantastic. I got here after hours (not knowing that they lock the gates at 9 pm) and she let me in and gave me a space to crash. I was only there for a few hours and it was easy to get in and out without waking everyone else up.
Most people do not plan a vacation stop just to check out a Military Base, in fact usually that isn't something that is an option, but when I found out that the base located nearby is actually the test site for many of the warheads used today and there was in fact a museum here, I had to at least try to see it.
I found that Aguirre Spring Campground was literally at the footprint of the road to the base so it was perfect.
When I arrived I had no idea that the mountains would be so breathtaking. It is strange how they jut up different than anything else in the area and for this perfect setting for watching the world around you. The view of the area itself was worth more than the $7 fee for camping here.
So what about the facility though? I mean what can you get for $7?
Well it is pretty basic, a pit toilet, picnic tables and fire rings. It is also pretty small but spaces seem to feel comfortable despite the size of the facility probably because you don't have a lot of neighbors.
While you can see the traffic for the Holloman Air Force Base it doesn't fully allow you to see the base itself and instead you have to take the drive down the road which makes you realize that while camping here you are in fact monitored well. They have lots of signs telling you to stay on roadways because of active sites and also that there are drones monitoring the area. So while this might seem remote you are in fact probably at one of the more supervised campsites in the nation and just don't realize it.
We took a risk in trying to go see the museum, not knowing what exactly that would entail and it wasn't to hard actually, that is if you don't mind having a DOD check at the gate which takes about 15 minutes on a good day. Of course not having anything to worry about on our records we quickly passed and were allowed a permit to the museum which is on base, you do have to carry your credentials with you as you walk around however. We did see someone get turned away while we were there so not everyone is allowed access.
TIPS:
Very affordable campground with beautiful views. Located close to White Sands and campground has beautiful trails. Plenty of sites available. They are first come first serve. Each site has a picnic table, awning, tent pad and fire pit.
Campsite is decent, bathroom and water is available. Good place to stay to prepare if you plan to hike the organ needle such as we did. Gate to enter park closes at 6 and does not grant access in until 8 the next morning.
The Organ Mountains are breathtaking. The campground has basic amenities, but found some lack of maintenance on our last visit (overflowing trash bins, tons of litter). Also, there is a gate that is closed absurdly early, as our friends who were planning to meet us learned. They arrived at 6 PM to be turned away by the host, who didn't want to open the gate. I hope this situation has been resolved, because this is overall a nice place to camp.
