Oak Grove Campground

I don't know where Lindsay was, but this campground is nowhere near any highway called 79. Oak Grove is just north of Ruidoso off 532, which intersects 48 in Alta. Six bucks per vehicle for camping or day use, half off with the annual pass. The only parking is on the main road through the campground, you can't park away from the traffic. Three little bear proof dumpsters were emptied very regularly. The horses are fascinating and with horses come horse apples. There are piles of horse apples have a foot thick. Bring a rake. In May the meadow was blooming with purple irises of some sort. This made for a dense population of hummingbirds and huge wasps. The waspes are not aggressive but they are a nuisance. The low prices bring low income families, I wish it was twice the expense to camp here. Most plates were from Texas a few from New Mexico and even an occasional Colorado. On the weekends the place gets pretty full. This campground is closed in the winter because the road in is steep curvy with sheer drop offs. There is firewood galore to be picked up off the ground. The biggest concern of the camp post and the forest service rangers is forest fires. Please be sure to bring enough water to drown your campfire completely.

What a pleasant surprise we had last weekend when we discovered this wide open campground operated by the National Forest Service. Located right off the 79 in Warner Springs, there are several wineries along the way if you're into doing some wine tasting before settling into camp life.

There are no reservations at this location, it's $15/night and the camp host is not seen very often. Most sites have decent space between them, some are more private than others. We chose site 49 which had a bunch of creepy trees that created nice shade. After checking out the whole place, I would say site 57 is pretty ideal in size, privacy and has a great view of the mountain ridge.

There are plenty of basic bathrooms and vault toilets, but no showers. There are spigots to wash your hands and rinse dishes. There are also dumpsters so trash is not a huge issue. Biggest issue for me was the bugs...lots and lots of flies even with citronella candles pumping and a fire.

Would definitely camp here again, met some awesome folks and had a really memorable experience....we may have actually had a little too much fun.