Campground

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4.5

out of 5

8 Reviews

Reviewed Jul. 28, 2025

Not as great as I thought it would be.

Based on the reviews I thought this place would be a cool oasis up in the trees. Alas, it's not. There's a loop with 14 total sites. Unfortunately, at least half the sites in the inner ring are unusable because of road runoff making it tough to get to them, and we have a Toyota Tacoma. As a result, they do not get used and are, therefore, overgrown with New Mexico ground cover, which is not comparable to soft grass. That immediately bumps it down to about 10 sites. When we arrived, there was one site available that we could access. It was behind the main trailhead parking area and completely shaded. All in all, not bad, just not our ideal choice since it's right there close to any and all foot traffic. Luckily, as we walked the rest of the loop to see if there was anything else, a couple was just finishing packing up so we were able to snag their spot (#13), which we felt was the best one. Score! 

Now, let's talk the road to get there. Absolutely do not try to take a camper of any size to this campground unless it's a legit overland type tear or squaredrop, ideally with an articulating hitch. People are not kidding when they say that's not a good idea. We had our Tacoma in 4L and I'm honestly not sure how some 2WD vehicles make it. There are many spots where the incline is pretty good, a number of deep crevices as a result of water runoff, many sections that are absolutely one lane only, and at least 6 spots where there was a small pond of standing water to drive through. Were any of the ponds show stoppers, no, but the water in one dip came up past the bottom of our doors. All in all, the road is no joke. Yes, I get this is a forest road, but the road snakes through multiple pieces of residential property (albeit they are probably summer homes but we saw people at almost every house when we drove past), and there's a hiking trailhead at the campground, so I expected it to be not THAT bad. In my book, it's not officially 'offroading' but it's worse than other forest service roads we've been on. Oh, and the couple residents we passed driving in their vehicles (you can tell by looking at them they are not campers or hikers) made it abundantly clear they weren't happy with us being on their road. All in all, nice campground with great trailheads but there are too many other beautiful places to hike and camp in NM for us to want to go back.

Site13
Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Apr. 10, 2022

Ruff road ahead

It's a nice little place tucked away in the woods. The road to get there is a bit rough, hence the title. By no means, Not a road for a large trailer or 5th wheel. Wild life everywhere..

Month of VisitNovember
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Frank and Olga C., April 10, 2022
Reviewed Jul. 8, 2021

The best campground in NM

We camp here as often as possible! Often we use it as a base camp to start over night backpacking trips in the Pecos. It's tucked away, so there are usually few other campers. It's a nice hike down to the river from Iron Gate, too. If there is mud, it could be very difficult getting into the campground without a 4x4.

Month of VisitApril
Reviewed Sep. 23, 2020

Solid Spot

Road isn’t terrible going up, saw many 2WD vehicles. Good amount of spots but many have no shade/not level. Decent amount of traffic too. For being way out there there’s a lot of day hikers. Overall a fun weekend spot though.

  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Nathan M., September 23, 2020
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Nathan M., September 23, 2020
Reviewed Apr. 5, 2020

Remote campground

Enjoyed the hiking trails. Definitely difficult in a car. We made it barely. A nice remote campground. Saw quite a few backpackers   Looking forward to camping there again this year now that we have a truck

Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Karen  N., April 5, 2020
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Karen  N., April 5, 2020
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Karen  N., April 5, 2020
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Karen  N., April 5, 2020
Reviewed Apr. 21, 2019

Great Base Camp for Backpacking Trips

We spent one night in Iron Gate before embarking on a three-day backpacking/camping adventure. Campground was well maintained, had plenty of clean restrooms and parking. Agree with the other reviewer... a low-profile vehicle will have a tough time making it up the hill to the campground, especially in rainy/snowy weather.

Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Lisa C., April 21, 2019
  • Review photo of Iron Gate Campground by Lisa C., April 21, 2019
Reviewed Sep. 28, 2017

Great campground

Site isn't easy to get to for low clearance vehicles. During rainy seasons, ruts form with deep mud on some spots driving up. Once at site, there are about 14 spaces, reasonably spaced apart in some areas.The trees are beautiful and wild flowers grow around. Great hiking trails are near by taking you up to some great scenic outlooks over the mountain sides. The toilets are scary, not my first choice but good to have I guess. I don't recall the fee being too much per night, I want to say $4/day. Tent camping and popups/small campers are fine. No room for RV's and larger travel trailers.

Month of VisitAugust