Hyde Memorial State Park Campground

Black Canyon Campground is just before the Hyde Memorial State Park entrance. From what I could see for the latter, for RV's there's only one option and this is the campground on the left (west side) while heading up 475 after entering the State Park. The other campground on the right (east) is currently closed for renovations. The West side campground has 10 sites - #37-46. That's it. 

The Piggyback trailhead is located in the closed campground. Even this looked like it hadn't been used in awhile, with one bridge crossing blockaded. While hiking through I observed that it appears the East side campground has been closed for awhile evidenced by a tree growing through a bench near the Tesuque Creek. I did a little research and one article says the campground closed in 10/23 for a complete solar install. I did see 2 electric boxes in the ground where the road used to be? Another article said this campground closed due to water filtration issues. I believe this because there is still no water at this campground as of 7/25.

All this being said, the park is close to Santa Fe, a beautiful drive up into the mountains and if you can snag one of the few spots in the open campground, it's a win for the location and electric if you need it. Also, a level pad, picnic table, fire ring. I fit a 25' Class C in no problem. I would skip site 37.  Next time, I would stay at Black Canyon. It's cheaper for about the same amenities and I didn't really need the electric hook up.

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.

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