Raptor Lake Dispersed

This whole valley is just… something! A disappearing and reappearing lake, ancient human and mastodon footprint fossils, the birthplace of nuclear reactions and aerospace exploration -- all this AND hills of white gypsum sand upon which you can sled year round?  Not bad for the middle of New Mexico, between two mountain ranges. 

However, camping nearby leaves something to be desired, even in the RV parks – which is never our thing. However, during a couple of visits we’ve spent the night at some BLM areas just a few miles to the east of the main entrance to the National Park. We’ve spent nights on either side of the highway, but the better boondocking area is on the north side of the highway here at Holloman Lake (not for swimming, read other reviews for details).  You’re right on the border of the air force base, so expect a lot of activity nearby.  In December, there were maybe 6-8 other RV's nearby, but lots of space to spread out.  Road in was good (a little rough in spots) but overall pretty easy, even for our 67 year old camper. The sunsets are always spectacular, even better if it's a bit windy as the fine grains of gypsum sand are in the air, creating gorgeous color.

There’s nothing in the way of services at this place, just a good, quiet place to park for a few nights.  But, the wide open range has everything you need for solar power and Starlink.  

Outdoor activities outside of the park can be found up in the mountain ranges to the east of Alamogordo, or to the west in the mountains closer to Las Cruces. 

Alamogordo is just 15- 20 minutes away where you can get anything you might need, food, groceries, gas, laundry etc.  Oh, and go to the New Mexico History of Space Museum...super fun for kiddos of all ages!

Super convenient (maybe 4 minutes) to White Sands National Park, the "lake" is reclaimed waste water from the nearby Air Force base and the whole area can kinda intermittently smell like stale farts. Fairly decent amount of flat space for RV's, but turning around might be tricky based on congestion.

Found the location on Google. During my time there the lake had a bit of a funk but not too bad. Some reviews said there wasn’t anything while they were there but alas I was not so lucky

No amenities, just an empty lot, but decent enough for a night while exploring white sands. Gravel access road is pretty good and my low clearance sedan had no trouble with it

DO NOT go in the water. There is currently an ongoing lawsuit against the USAF due to the amount of PFAS in the water from firefighting foam. That being said, it’s a great little spot if you’re planning on hitting White Sands NP. Was fairly packed during my visit last month but I still found a spot. Very quiet and peaceful!

Good spot to camp near white sands. Very busy- but most people seem to stick to the large lot near the entrance. If you follow the road around to the west side of the lake there are additional spots that are a bit more secluded.

The Air Force does regular flyovers throughout the day on weekdays. Very loud.

Quite busy and noisy with people running their generators. No privacy. The redeeming factor is the sunset was spectacular over the lake!

Pretty crowded on a Wednesday night in April. Had a little trouble finding a level spot far enough away from others but otherwise no complaints for this free camp spot, great sunset views!

Little more than 3 miles from White Sands Natl. Park easily found rough road. Quite, didn't find to m8ch trash

Super close to white sands, sunset and sunrise were great. It was relatively busy but the sites are far enough away from each other that it still felt private. At night you can hear the sounds from the highway and see the lights from the base/city. Also as an FYI, not sure I saw this ahead of time, the lake is actually a wastewater treatment pond so steer clear from the actual water.

1990 Winnebago Chieftain towing a '95 Wrangler from LA > FL

Got here late last night driving from Albuquerque and since it's essentially just all dirt/shrub, you're able to park wherever you can (just don't block the worn in dirt roads obviously). Had about 30 other RVs, campervans, 5th wheels, tents and cars parked all around. Any type of camper is welcome and their space respected. Quiet, everyone was respectful of one another. Mostly families with young children and retirees. Woke up to a beautiful lake. A bit windy though, for anyone thinking of tent camping or has a tall vehicle.

Stayed here 04/26/23 for an overnight stop after visiting White Sands National Park. Great views of the lake and plenty of other vans/RVs around but everyone was very quiet and respectful

Super easy to find. Empty when we arrived around 7 PM. Clean and never had any visitors. Great location from White Sands NP.

Super close to the park only 3 miles. Easy to find, easy to navigate with small cars and even some rvs. Lots of spots that are spread out. Great views of sunset and sunrise. Windy and no amenities of any kinda. Good for just sleeping

Plenty of spots, it was a busy Saturday night and we arrived after 10pm and still saw plenty of spots. It was very basic honestly, I would not want to spend much time here.

Pretty bright city lights across the lake so no stargazinf

It’s meh. The water is a wastewater evaporation site so it’s kinda gross looking. No smell in April though. Lots of open land to park on. 0 privacy.

A big parking area For RV r's looking for a place to spend the night. No facilities at all. 3 miles from white sands National Park.

Easy access, gravel road in a class a or lower vehicle can travel on without a worry. Beautiful view of the sunset over the mountains on one side and the sunrise over the mountains on the other.

We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were here for a few days in early April. There are only a handful of other campers here on a Monday afternoon. It was quite windy the day we arrived with wind speeds of 25 mph and gust up to 40 mph, which kicked up a little dust from time to time, but the weather was beautiful otherwise. Much the same forecast for tomorrow, but the wind is supposed to die down a fair bit on Wednesday. As others have mentioned, getting to some of these back sites can be a little rough, but if you go slowly, it’s not too bad, even in our rig. 

AT&T coverage was quite good, with 3 Bars of 5G service and speeds up to 4.5 MB/s. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and Starlink had up to 5 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels.

This is our first time on BLM land. We didn’t really know what to expect. We pull a 36’ fifth wheel and was a little apprehensive about coming to a place like this for fear of being too large. After getting through the gate though, there is plenty of room. We got a nice spot right on the lake. There are a few other campers but it’s not crowded. We have enough distance between us to let our dogs off leash. The only advice I have is if you’re pulling a trailer and approaching from Alamogordo you should make a wide right turn in from the travel lane. Turn on those flashers and slow down. When you see the gate. Make turn as wide as possible. I pulled off the highway first and had a hell of a time getting straight enough to get through gate. From direction of las cruces. You’re fine.

Campground is right off the highway. Easy to get all kinds of campers, Rvs, trailers, ect into the campsites. No services, pack in, pack out. Only a few sites right next the to water and all fairly flat. There are plenty of more sites off the water. Only a 5 minute drive to White Sands National Park and about a 20 minute drive to groceries and restaurants.

This was actually one of our favorite stops. Breathtaking views, especially sunrise and sunset. Clean, easy access, and peaceful. Plenty of space and several fire rings. Bring your own wood.

It’s a good spot. I didn’t smelt anything. It’s accessible with any car and it’s a nice place for tent. Very close to the national park (5min)

To get inside there is a sign “camp” in the freeway.

Little dirty but it’s not that much.

Go for it !

nice view easy setup, white sands spots apparently still closed due to covid in 2022. tell that to my job! haha

Biggest draw is that this place is only about 3-5 miles away from the entrance to White Sands. You can see the lights from the highway, but it is very quiet, especially after dark. Only 4 other campers when we were there and plenty of room to spread out. There are fire rings, but nothing else. Sunset and sunrise over the lake were nice. The smell that others have mentioned was only really apparent after the sun went down and the temperature dropped, it’s just a marshy smell, nothing that terrible, imo.

Nice place, we found a perfect flat spot. It smells sometimes, but not often. The highway was very loud but such a pretty sunset and we saw lots of stars. A little trash, we found some metal and glass.

Arrived at 830 pm on 8/25 and stayed just one night. No smell at all. Only 2 other RTT. When it cooled down at night there was a very slight smell. To me it was kind of like low tide at the ocean. Totally bearable. Plenty of flat spots if you have a RTT but also plenty of space in general. Was very quiet as well. AFB stopped flying around 9 pm. There is a little bird watching sign just before the turn off 70.

We arrived at night and didn't have difficulties finding it. you must look for an open gate on US 70, just few miles before the exit to White Sands National Monument. The road is perfectly fine at the begin ing and quieckly turns bumpy so we decided to ivernight just before the dust road becomes mire challengi g for a non 4 wheel car. At night we could hear cayotes. The place didn't smell bad, as noticed several time in the previous reviews so I guess it must depend on the wind ! And of course it's not a place you can swim in : the lake is a wastewater evaporation pond but as long as you know it ,it just makes sense. The highway is not that far so it can be a bit noisy for light sleepers.

I thought this was a good little camp site for a day or two. The view is nice but the area is kind of a mess. You can’t swim in the water its sewage or something from the air force base and there are many signs saying no swimming. The best part about the site is it’s 5 minutes from white sands. The entrance is right off of us 70 you come in and cross a cattle gate and there is a bunch of signs saying no off road driving from the Air Force. Just go back there 100 yards. There is plenty of room and will most likely never fill up.

Pros - Free camping, gorgeous sunsets. Plenty of available spots.

Cons - the lake is sewage from the Air Force base. It’s stinks here, badly.

We stayed here for one night. I think that’s all we could take. We got out of here as soon as we could. We love free camping as much as the next person, but we were kind of disgusted that we were sleeping next to a lake of pee and poo.

Stay here if you must, if you can find another campsite, do it.

This area is very easy to access and has plenty of RV sites all with great views of the lake and surrounding mountains. ATT and Verizon service are both very good here, and White Sands NP is only a few minutes down the road. There is the occasional fly over from the nearby Air Force base, but other than that, very peaceful. We stayed here for just under a week and have worked remote full time from our location without any issues.