Paliza Family Campground

Although there are no hook-ups and currently, you can't reserve spots in advance, this campsite is absolutely worth the effort to secure a space. It is relatively small but it is VERY peaceful. About an hour from Albuquerque, but it feels worlds away. While some of the sites are a bit close together, most are quite large. We stayed at one of the"medium" sized spaces and there was room for our rig(30 ft) our tow vehicle and 2 large tents(our adult kids), plus a great fire pit, grill and sturdy picnic table. Our space(#16) backed up against the forest, so we had huge amounts of room and privacy. Cell coverage is VERY spotty. While you can make phone calls almost anytime, expect a garbled experience. As far as data...it popped in occasionally, based on the sudden arrival of hours worth of emails, but do NOT expect to stay here and enjoy those advantages of "modern life." You will be largely disconnected. Forget about surfing the web. The lots are relatively level. Some back up against a very nice stream(these are grabbed up first, of course). There are toilet facilities(vault toilets) throughout the grounds and the camp hosts do a remarkable job of keeping them clean and the odors at a minimum. 3 of the sites have wooden shelters, built in the 1930's. These feature chimneys! You're also quite close to the start of Paliza trail, which is a roughly 4 mile roundtrip, and ends at "Goblin Village", a rather amazing collection of hoodoos. This ought to be a more major site, in my opinion, but when we hiked there on a Saturday noon-time, we had the entire amazing place to ourselves. That was a great experience. The little village of Ponderosa is just a couple of miles away, and it contains Ponderosa Winery, a small winery with a modest tasting room, but you can buy a bottle and sit out on their grounds and enjoy the views. We had a GREAT 3 nights here, and look forward to coming again. Certainly recommend this spot!

Camping in Santa Fe National Forest is great if you know what you're in for. There aren't a ton of amenities depending on where you camp and it's in high elevations so during winter months it can get FREEZING. We went in November and it got down to negative temperatures. Thankfully my wife's sleeping bag was rated for -20 but I was not that fortunate. So for sure if you're going in the winter then be prepared! 

Other than this the views up in the mountains were amazing and each site has a picnic table, fire pit, and a location for a tent. 

Definitely would recommend checking out!