the dyrt
About
Tetilla Peak
Tetilla Peak Recreation Area is located in Sandoval County, New Mexico, within the boundaries of the Pueblo de Cochiti Indian Reservation. The lake offers two public recreation areas: Cochiti on the west side of the lake and Tetilla Peak on the east side. Both sides offer spectacular scenic views of the water and surrounding mountains. The Cochiti Dam is one of the ten largest earth-fill dams in the United States, and also one of the largest in the world. The lake derives its name from the Indian Pueblo on the Cochiti Reservation.
Recreation
Our quiet lake is an ideal for all paddle and wind craft. The lake is also a popular fishing spot for species such as bass, crappie, walleye, catfish, sunfish, pike and trout. Santa Cruz Day Use area is open daily and provides visitors with acces to the lake as well as several shade structures, bathrooms, and two fishing docks.
Facilities
The campground consists of two loops. Cholla Loop includes 36 individual campsites, each with an electric hookup, table and grill. All electric campsites have shelters, and water spigots are located throughout the campground. This loop also provides a dump station and large restroom and shower building.
A partially paved road winds through Coyote Loop, which has 10 sites, each with a table and grill. There are no electric hookups, and water spigots are scattered throughout the loop. The restroom and shower building is centrally located for easy access.
The Tetilla boat ramp area offers a parking area and courtesy dock.
Natural Features
Cochiti Lake sits at 5,343ft in elevation and is nestlein the foothills of the Jemez Mountains. Our high desert environment is dominated by juniper, piñon trees, and mixed grasslands. There are many opportunities for wildlife viewing. Four osprey nesting platforms have been erected around the lake to provide nesting sites, as well as viewing opportunities. On the east side of the lake, deer, coyote, river otters, rabbits, beavers, and bear are often sided.
Nearby Attractions
Cochiti Lake is 23miles from Tent Rocks National Monument, which has fascinating geological formations.
ADA Access: N
Sites
44
Operator
US Army Corps of Engineers
Access
Drive In
Contact
Location
Tetilla Peak
is located in
New Mexico
Directions
From Albuquerque, New Mexico, take I-25 north to exit 264. Travel west on State Road 16 to the Tetilla Peak Recreation Area/La Bajada Village turnoff and follow the paved road into the recreation area.
4 Reviews of Tetilla Peak
Old but peaceful
As other reviews note, this campground looks like it was built in the 50s and not touched since. That said, the area is really pretty and this campsite was totally empty even just a couple days before memorial day weekend. Had clean bathrooms and showers and all of the sites were nice. Some sites had great views of the lake.
It may not be as nice as the camp on the other side, but offered a bit more solitude.
Old but peaceful
As other reviews note, this campground looks like it was built in the 50s and not touched since. That said, the area is really pretty and this campsite was totally empty even just a couple days before memorial day weekend. Had clean bathrooms and showers and all of the sites were nice. Some sites had great views of the lake.
It may not be as nice as the camp on the other side, but offered a bit more solitude.
Needs Some Work
There are two campground I found in the area, this one and one almost directly across from it. I checked out each on my way to the tent rocks and ended up settling on the other.
WHY? This one is like the red headed stepchild that everyone knows is there but doesn't want to deal with it seems. I think what happened is the other was constructed after this one and because of that this one was neglected instead of maintained.
Was it all bad? No. But was it as nice as the other, NOPE!
I honestly think that if there was a little maintenance to this one I would have enjoyed it a bit more. I liked the views from this side a bit more and they seemed a bit more vegetative overall. But that was also the problem, it looked like no one had maintained the sites and they were a little wooly.
When I visited over a year ago some of the picnic tables were vandalized and looked broken. Several of the plug in posts had been bent and damaged and looked a bit dangerous. I have seen photos of other campers which have camped since my visit and it looks as though they have been working on this area to make improvements and I really hope they have because I would love to see it again in better form.
The water access in my opinion was better from this side and had more points of interest overall including the feeder stream which was flowing pretty well when I was there.
TIPS:
If you have ATT you will not have signal here so if possible bring a booster. The entire region is spotty for this service.
Check out the Tent Rocks, only a short distance away for some amazing hiking and views. An amazing way to see this portion of New Mexico.
old
old campground. across the lake is Cochiti campground so much nicer and updated.
