Hyde Memorial State Park Campground

We loved the location. The hiking trails were awesome. We booked a reservable with hydro for one night and decided to extend our stay with the first come first serve system. The self pay stations are at each of the teo campground loops. The 2nd and 3rd night didn’t have hydro however the size of the site and view more than made up for it.

To use the dump station, you have to go to the Rangers Station and ask them to unlock the gate. The access is a bit tight and we were not able to fill our fresh water tank due to the State Park having to bring their water up by truck. All in all, it was worth it.

This small state park, located just 6 miles outside of downtown Santa Fe, might provide the least expensive lodging options for visiting this wonderful city. Like many of NM state parks, the camping fee is $10 for a non-electric site, and $25 for electric sites (reservable).   

The vault toilets were clean and well-stocked, and water was available at the central office/ visitor center area, even in winter. One of the most charming aspects of our campsite was a small picnic shelter with built-in fireplace.  During the fall, winter, and spring, most of the camping loops are closed, but they keep one open year round as well as a few scattered along the main road through the state park.

The campground has a lot of evergreen trees, so solar power needs to be on an extension cord.  Our site down the road from the main campground had a bit more open sky, so we had pretty good solar power between 11 am and 4 pm in November. We also had no problem connecting with Starlink and had some spotty cell phone service. 

A few of the sites in the year-round loop, and dozens in the summer loops have lean-to structures (3 sided cabins) with enough space to set your tent up inside. 

Access to the Santa Fe Ski slope is just up the hill about 8 more miles, and of course all that Santa Fe offers is just down the hill, museums, restaurants, music, galleries, and so much great culture (the original Meow Wolf is worth a look). The park has great trails and borders the national forest with tons of other hiking options.

So the info on Dyrt and the parks website in inaccurate. There are 35+ first come first serve tent spots (none of which have water as of May 2024) and 10 ish RV spots on a separate loop, only 2 of which are first come first serve and electric only - all the rest are reservation only...

The tent spots aren't accessible with anything bigger than a regular car/SUV - class B with an experienced driver and short wheel base might be able to fit, no way a class C would. No way a trailer (even a teardrop) would fit in the parking spots for tent spots if you strike out on the RV spots.

The drive up is GORGEOUS and almost worth it regardless of camping, and super convenient to downtown Santa Fe, but if you're in a RV have your water straight and HAVE A RESERVATION! We ended up just parking in a trailhead parking lot (that said no camping) and rolled the dice (successfully).

There are several loops in this park, in Ludington Black Canyon, the Main Park Loop, a couple Yurt loops, and the small loop we stayed on with RV electric hookups. Its on the left side as you go up, just above the main loop. While there is electric and a vault toilet, be advised there is no water source on this loop. Sites are basic, but nice, with fire rings and concrete picnic tables. We camped with our 21' teardrop and had no problems. We walked through the yurt site just above us, amd they are stunning, with patios and what appears to be heating. Worth a look. No cell service or wifi in the campground.

3 people, tiny camper, tent, dog. It has a table, grill and fire pit. 2 Vault toilets nearby. Spaced far enough to enjoy the space. Occasional road noise that died as the night came from mountain traffic. Lots of access to the MTN and trails. 25-30 min to the bottom @ Santa Fe. Stayed Sept 30 and Oct 1

What a beautiful spot, close enough to Santa Fe to go in town if needed but remote enough to feel you’re alone. Great hiking, beautiful scenery, and friendly camp host. Our spot was a BIT tricky to get into so be aware if you’re not experienced backing uphill but our little teardrop is easy so no issues for us. Roomy campsite, private. Connects to hiking trail and stream.

We stayed on site 24 with our small camper. We didn’t realize that site 24 basically shares a site with a FCFS site, but they were respectful neighbors.

The site was roomy and had a nice picnic table and shelter. My husband and I did notice a lot of road noise at night, as we tented and let our family sleep in the camper.

Pit toilets were “cleanest I’ve ever seen”, per my picky mother in law.

Great hiking trails from the campground and the ranger at the entrance of the park was super helpful. We’ll be back!

The RV sites are well placed, the electricity worked well, and the asphalt pad was not level but made leveling easy. The proximity to trails is amazing. Group sites were closed and I worry that this area would be crowded if everything was open. Road noise was significant.

We loved our stay here. Monsoon season- not an issue with the Adirondack shelters. Stayed in Site 13, which was FF, suggest talking to the host in the RV lot across the street if you find yourself there without a reservation. The waterfall trail was beautiful, the vault toilet was clean, the views were incredible. Very peaceful.

Well maintained with picnic tables and metal grill in standard state and national park style. Near well traveled mountain road.

A family trip with the RV and although we did enjoy our stay for the most part, there was a lot left to be desired. The larger RV spots we had to get were right next to the road and right next to other campers. The drive up is steep and our RV had a hard time; would not even think of staying up here in the winter. The dump station was closed for some reason when we were leaving. The kids enjoyed the steep hikes and the stream the runs along the other side of the camp sites where there are smaller campgrounds for tent camping. There was a fun playground my kids enjoyed and a nice area at the group shelter. Lots of fun painted rocks my kids round my the stream. Would visit again but not in an RV and not during winter when it would be snowing.

Beautiful spot for fall camping since the leaves are changing colors and temperatures are cooler. In winter, this area receives snow and can be difficult to get to without a reliable, 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Tent sites have covered awnings and fire pits when open flame is allowed. There are two large yurts tucked away from the main road. Great hiking trails in and around the park.

We decided to take a late fall trip to CA and drag a 34' 5er up to Hyde memorial state park.  Bad idea on many levels.  First, you have to navigate through old Santa Fe to get to the entrance to the park.  Narrow streets+a big 5th wheel+a huge F250= unfun drive which took well over an hour to get through just a few miles of roads due to the heavy traffic and numerous lights, plus the navigation required to get around very tight corners.  We got to the RV part of the park and it was not crowded, but the spaces require some skill to back into and are NOT the slightest bit level, or wide.  We managed. 

The hiking around the park and campgrounds is amazing, but a bit challenging.  We live at 8000 feet, so the altitude was not a problem for us, but if you are from sea level, be prepared to take your time and handle the altitude. 

It snowed on Oct 31 and we had to dig out from 8+ inches of snow to get on the road on November 1.  The dump station was filled with 6+ inches of mud/slush/water and we regrettably had to use it.  It was a disgusting mess to say the least.  To add insult to injury, we had to drive BACK through Old Santa Fe, in the snow. 

My advice is to go IF you have a smaller trailer or 5th wheel, or are tent camping.  The tent campground closed well before we arrived, so I can't add anything to the review on that. 

It's a beautiful campground, but the RV area is small, close together spaces, difficult to get into and the dump station is the stuff RV nightmares are made of.

Ok so for a person staying in a tent, this place ins't ideal year round. They receive snow and are a known New Mexico ski area. So if you are planning a visit during the "off prime season" you might want to check into one of the other options for stay in the park.

The park has 50 camping sites designed for tent or RV campers and a few scattered sites for larger RVs as well. While only a handful of locations actually have access to electricity for those wanting of a nice stay without all the extras this place is quite nice. Water stations are scattered throughout camp along with vault toilets.

Something which does set this park apart from others in the area is the Yurt accommodations for those wanting to try something new or wanting to get outdoors but not so much that they are renting an RV and dealing with maintenance or sleeping in a tent which might be a bit overwhelming.

When I visited, it was not yet prime season so many of the amenities were limited. The regular season runs from May 1 to October 31, at this time the Lodge and private picnic shelters are available for rental and from what I have seen the accommodation there is quite spectacular. The lodge plays host to a lot of beautiful weddings and retreats.

While in partial winter shut down mode however, the access to trails is still available and I found that the trails were pretty spectacular to see as you would find native vegetation poking through snow patches, beautiful fluffy snowflakes to play in and plenty of options for enjoying your version of winter activities.

I was a bit concerned about road conditions in the ongoing snow, but even the roads were taken care of with a certain level of detail which made this park enjoyable as a 4 season park.

My only real concern would be some of the campsites did have pretty close proximity to the roadway. I could see this becoming a bit concerning for road noise as even though on my visit it was a weekday and also during a slower time for tourism, it remained quite busy on the road near the camp.

Tip:

• Book in advance online, especially if you want one of the only 7 campsites with electricity.

• Try to snag a spot away from the main road to make your stay a bit more quiet.

• Bring layers year round, despite being less than 10 miles from Santa Fe where weather is often very warm, the elevation is much different and considerably cooler.

• Try the waterfall trail it is a short hike of less than 3/4 mile round trip with great pay off at the end

We were visiting Santa Fe so wanted access to town. the main camp loop was very tight and seemed hard to maneuver. There was an additional RV loop with about 8 sites. We got a site in the RV loop. It's right along the road and there was traffic pretty late and early, otherwise though the loop quite. Pit toilet. Electric hook ups. No potable water in RV loop. A couple of Beautiful hikes.