Soda Pocket Campground, near Raton, New Mexico, is a fantastic destination for those looking to immerse themselves in nature while enjoying some modern comforts. This campground offers well-spaced sites, each equipped with covered picnic tables and fire rings, making it easy to gather with friends or family around a cozy campfire.

The facilities here are top-notch, with clean vault toilets and a shower house nearby that visitors rave about. Many campers have highlighted the stunning views from sites like #23, where you can soak in the beauty of the canyon and even catch a glimpse of a double rainbow after a storm. As one camper noted, “The view from Site 23 was incredible of the canyon below.”

For outdoor enthusiasts, Soda Pocket is surrounded by hiking trails that lead to breathtaking vistas and historical sites, including remnants of an old coal camp. The area is also great for fishing, with nearby lakes offering opportunities to cast a line. Campers have mentioned the friendly staff and the engaging ranger programs, which add a nice touch to your stay.

While the campground is a bit remote, it’s well worth the drive for the peace and quiet it provides. Whether you're here for a weekend escape or a longer adventure, Soda Pocket Campground has everything you need for a memorable outdoor experience.

The nature enthusiast will appreciate the abundance of wildlife, birds, butterflies, and wildflowers among the lakes, creeks, forests, and meadows.
Nearly all outdoor recreation activities are possible: Fishing, boating, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, and camping.

Soda Pocket Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

Raton is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. Discover secluded campsites where you can reconnect with nature. Or maybe you like to bring your family and friends along. Either way, there are Raton campgrounds just for you. At The Dyrt, campers like you share their favorite spots, plus tips and photos. No matter where you're headed in Raton, you'll find the best spot for you and your camping crew.

Raton

The Best Camping Near Raton, New Mexico

Amazing site with all of the amenities. Nice, clean bathrooms and SHOWERS! Gazebo over the picnic table to help you out if you visit during monsoon season like us. Best sites 22-25 with beautiful views overlooking the canyon. Potable water across from lake Alice Campground. Firewood for $5 from campsite leaders. Rangers and campsite leaders are so nice and even gave us dishwashing soap when we forgot ours! No problem with bugs or animals and site was PERFECT!

Amazing Campground

We very much enjoyed our time here.  It was beautiful.  A dry campground with no hookups and no water (water is available at the lower Lake Alice campground and showers st the park entrance). Vault toilets were clean, sites nicely spread out with covered picnic tables,  fire circles and bear boxes to store your food and supplies.  Highly recommend! 

Great Campground 

We stayed at Soda Pocket in mid-May 2022.  Actually we had reserved site 06 in the Lake Alice campground, because it was full hookups, but upon arriving at Lake Alice we confirmed what another reviewer had said - it's a tightly packed campground, very close to a busy road and not close to the lake itself.  On top of that, there was a boil water notice for the water hookups, and to top it off, the utility hookups for Site 06 are on the \*Wrong\* (i.e. the passenger) side of the rig, given the orientation of the driveway for backing in.  Put all that together and we decided to forego our reserved site and see if we could do better up at Soda Pocket on top of the mountain.  The campground host at Lake Alice warned us that the road up to Soda Pocket was treacherous and without guardrails, but we disregarded this warning and took our chances...

  

Man are we glad that we did that!  The view from Site 23 was incredible of the canyon below.  And we arrived just as a thunderstorm was passing to our east, and witnessed an incredible double rainbow over the canyon.  The pics don't even do it justice.  There's great hiking and viewpoints from Soda Pocket, and the so-called "treacherous" road up to the campground is gravelly and a bit steep in a few places, but very passable (there was a Class A rig up there, and a number of 30+ ft 5th Wheelers as well).  The sites were well spaced, and Site 23 was fairly level and wide, easy to back in.  It looked like Site 18 is a nearby pull-through site that still offered nice views even though it's situated more in the middle of the campground circle.  

  

Overall this state park was extremely cool, kind of off the beaten path, and well worth the visit!  Check out Soda Pocket, it's worth the drive up the mountain!

Soda Pocket - worth the drive up the mountain!

Made advanced reservation for site 17 in Soda Pocket Campground. Driving up the unpaved road to this campground was no problem. Site 17 was in a corner by itself, distant from other sites. It's a pull-thru site. Level enough for our campervan. Nice patch of nature behind the site. Site has a shelter over the picnic table. Site also has a bear box &amp; fire ring. Trash &amp; recycling receptacles at campground. Two vault toilets; very clean with toilet paper. No potable water. Restroom/shower house across from state park visitor center is very good. Fantastic camp hosts at Soda Pocket. Park law enforcement ticketed a rowdy group of campers. Nice hiking trails in state park. Fishing opportunities in park.

Soda Pocket Campgound Review

This State Park is beautiful, with hiking/fishing/historic walks galore. We arrived late on Friday, June 23 after a 10 hour drive from Arkansas. We were in Site #23 in the Soda Pocket Campground.  Every site had a covered picnic table and was relatively level.

Sites 20-23 have spectacular views of the canyon, but you trade that for some serious wind and neighbors as there is no natural shade.  Sites 1, 3, 14 and 16 have shade and a little more distance.  Bathrooms were in great shape, and there is a free shower near the park entrance which had good water pressure and was very clean.

  

The visitor center is small but with a lot of good exhibits, and adjacent to the hiking trails of the abandoned coal camp and mine.  The coal camp trails have lots of informative stands explaining what everything was, how the people lived, etc.  The two lakes (Lake Alice is more like a pond) have nice walking paths. There is another lake just across the Colorado border and you can drive to the parking area just a mile or so away.

There are numerous nature hikes, and I did the short (.5) miles Vista Grande Nature Trail which has a beautiful bench for a sunrise view.  Uphill some but not too strenuous and with lots of information.

  

A really beautiful hike is the Little Horse Mesa Trail which takes you to the top of the mesa you can see to the north of Soda Pocket Campground.  It meanders a bit but at some point the trail builder said "I've given you all the switchbacks I can, you'll just have to go straight up" and the last 50 yards are pretty much straight uphill.  When you get to the top though it's like another world.  It's a pasture like setting with trees, and beautiful views from a trail that follows the cliffs. You'll have to make your own way over to the Lake Maloya overlook but it's well worth it.  Highly recommend this.

  

The camp hosts and visitor center people were great, and the ranger came by one night and showed a group of kids a mountain lion pelt and a bear pelt. There was a report of bears on the road up to Soda Pocket Campground but we did not see any.  The road was a typical dirt road, and not in bad shape at all.

  

I'm not a fisherman, but could easily spend two full days here hiking alone, much less fishing or kayaking Lake Maloya.

Perfect for a Weekend

Nice state park tucked into a valley. We were in the last part of Soda Pocket loop. Great views of area but it does catch the wind! Vault toilets were super clean and not smelly. Very dark at night so great for star viewing.

Sugarite Canyon Soda Pocket 

Traveling from Denver to Southern New Mexico, this is a nice stopping point. Very easy to get to off I-25.

Pit toilets are very clean. Unfortunately the camper next to me had his generator running the whole time until 10 pm. Even when they left their camper for the day. Very annoying. Other than that it was a quiet campground. The campground is less than half full (Tuesday night). 

Note: The park office closed at 4. The sites are reservation only and there is no cell service. The sign at the gate states that you need to drive down the road to get cell service and make a reservation. Also the gate closes at dusk, so make sure you get there before then on your first night. After that you can get the combination to get in after dusk.   

The campground staff were very friendly and helpful.

Very easy to get to off of I-25

Soda Pocket has no water, so bring plenty for a stay! 

Beautiful place. Developed Camping camp ground(nice spots, covered picnic table, fire ring). Clean vault Johns. Hiking trail up to the observation area is short, but a good challenge to get some sweat on the forehead. 

It's a nice place! Nice Park! 

Photos of Soda Pocket Campground — Sugarite Canyon State Park

Real photos from real campers