Best Dispersed Camping in New Mexico

Recent Dispersed Reviews in New Mexico

613 Reviews of 167 New Mexico Campgrounds

• 

  Kathryn P.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 10, 2021

  Chosa Campground

  Close to Carlsbad Caverns and Free!

  BLM land that is close to Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns. Great cell reception. A fenced in area of land, that has dumpsters, just of the highway. Some traffic noise, but not that bad. Free camping by two National Parks!

• 

  Jennifer C.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 16, 2020

  Six Mile Canyon - Dispersed Camping

  Free Dispersed Camping

  This is a nice area with free dispersed camping. The road in is dirt and gravel and could easily get rutted out when rainy. There are several spots along the road the first being right after the cattle guard after the sign. There are more spots farther in when you get to the trees. Although the road does get worse the farther in you go. Near highway 40 but far enough away the noise doesn’t bother you.

• 

  Hayley K.

  Legend

  

  Feb. 14, 2020

  Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

  Quiet beauty

  Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is BLM land so it is all dispersed camping. You will need to make sure you aren't on someone's property or nearby any roads. There are plenty of turn offs. 

  This isn't a "get away" more like a stopover spot. I stopped here on my way back North to Colorado to see the bridge over the Rio Grande and so I wasn't so high up in elevation that I would freeze. 

  But if you can find a quiet place it is a beautiful dispersed spot where there is civilization nearby and toilets at local businesses  and picnic areas that you can use. See map on review. 

  Be careful roaming at night. The drop into the river is quite deep so offroading isn't just ill advised for keeping the flora and fauna safe…but you as well. 

  There are picnic ares around the monument too, just not established camping spots.

• s

  seryna R.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 27, 2024

  FR376 Dispersed

  Amazing

  This camp spot is one of the best free camp sites in New Mexico. Would definitely go again. Highly recommend to anyone who loves to camp and drive four wheelers

• 

  Esperanza R.

  Traveler

  

  May. 12, 2022

  Sante Fe National Forest BLM-Road 62 Dispersed

  Great Boondocking Spot!

  Great boondocking spot @15 mins from downtown Santa Fe.

  Zero amenities but clean, huge open areas, and safe.

  Your are behind a huge solid waste transfer station but you’d never know besides the huge hill. No smell or garbage anywhere.

  Pros-

  -HUGE open area -WIFI is great (pull in and go to the left down by the cattle coral) -Clean areas -Safe -Bathrooms (Didn’t Use) -Tons of hiking -15mins tops to downtown Santa Fe -Free

  Cons-

  -Windy -Dusty -No water -No Dump Station

  We got water at the dog park up the road with our water bladder bag. Try to go during dusk as it is way less busy with fewer spectators watching and wondering what you’re doing, we had zero issues! 😊

  It’s a great Free spot for a night or two weeks also surrounded by BLM land so you can’t really go wrong.

  This area is well big enough for any size rig, just stay to the right on the gravel road pass the cattle guard where the road is gravel and smoother for sure!

  Enjoy! 😊

• 

  Jeff K.

  Guide

  

  Feb. 14, 2021

  Baylor Pass West Trailhead Dispersed

  Things to note

  1. Yes, you can camp in the parking lot of the trailhead or around it if using a tent. There is a sign asking you not to block the day use parking spaces.

  2. When you click "get directions" here on The Dyrt and use Google Maps, you will be taken to a different free/dispersed camping area a another mile or so down the road (I camped here) first come/first served. It is made up of pullouts along a rocky two track that roughly parallels the road

  3. In reference to the above statement. Tent campers can use either area, the only stipulation is no vehicles or generators on the other side of the fence.

  4. In reference to #2. If you are a large RV or 5th wheel, you probably won't fit and the rest of us will have a grand time watching you get out after you discover this fact for yourself. If you're lucky you'll get the single pull-through(ish) spot that is next to the cattle gaurd.

  5. All of the above being said. This was a great place to establish a base camp for a few days while exploring the western parts of the Organ Mountains. The pullouts vary in size, from car and tent to pickup cab style RV. Most of the spaces were occupied by #vanlife types and my bright yellow teardrop stood out. Neighbors are close enough to wave at but not intrude.

• 

  Michael D.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 7, 2025

  BLM Near City of Rocks

  Open BLM land

  This is open BLM land. When you turn off Highway 61, you go through a gate. There are multiple pull-outs along the road. Great views, desert terrain. I have good cell service, and my home fi hot spot is working great.

• S

  Shauna H.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 21, 2023

  Mile 10 - Dispersed Camping

  Great spot for dispersed camping

  Quiet place away from others, which we like. We followed the GPS coordinates and found a spot away from the freeway. It had a firepit and we weren't super close to our neighbors. We could see them, but they were a ways off. Sunrises were beautiful and the weather in April pleasant. Occasional wind gusts, but not too bad. We stayed for 4 nights. 

  10 minutes from the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Once you enter, you have a 15 minute drive to get to the Visitor's Center. And, this spot is only 25 minutes from Carlsbad, with Walmart, restaurants and gas stations. 

  First we tried Carlsbad BLM Land Dispersed, but didn't want to stay in the lot right off the freeway. And we walked the road going further up and it was too rutted for our 36 ft travel trailer. We could have done it but wanted something not so hard on our camper. 

  Next we tried Carlsbad Caverns Dispersed. We followed the coordinates here on Dyrt.com and it took us way out into a cow field (with very aggressive cows) and eventually a dead end. It was a bit tricky getting turned around. We never did see places off the side of the road to boondock. Right after the grates there is a dirt lot off to the left but was too close to freeway and others for us. If you do that one, just don't follow the GPS coordinates.

  We needed to refill our water and use a dump station, so I called around. White City RV charges $15 for dump and refill (too much), and we found an Ice House America at the White City gas station the had water refills for $.25 a gallon (good for our drinking water bottles, but not good for filling our RV). Finally we called Greasewood RV. Neil, the owner, was super nice. He told us we could just pull up to any open spot at his park and fill our water tanks, dump our black tank and use the big trash bin. He also said he had spaces for us to stay if we wanted to. He offered $20 a night instead of his usual $30 a night which I thought was super nice of him. If we had known that, we may have stayed their instead since we calculated that it costs us $18-$20 a night to boondock. We like having electricity when possible because we have a full size fridge to keep cold. 

  Anyway, we really enjoyed this spot. Our kids even found a sinkhole with what looked like a small cave near our campsite.

• 

  T&A Adventures *.

  Guide

  

  Apr. 2, 2024

  Cibola NP

  Quick Overnight

  We came here planning on staying at Coyote Trailhead that was listed. Turns out you can't overnight park at the actual trailheads. And to get to the dispersed camping you have to have a jeep or similar rock climbing type vehicle & not towing anything. Crazy steep rock face in the middle of the road near the trailhead. So we turned around, saw this spot and no one was there. We spent the night, boondocking. No one bothered us.

• D

  David L.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 16, 2020

  Bluff Springs Dispersed Camping

  Awesome Dispersed Camping Spot

  This is a quiet area tucked away in Lincoln National Forest. It's not too far from Cloudcroft, NM so it's easy to resupply on water, snack, etc. You can camp right next to a creek and the valley makes for some great views. This area is basically everything you can ask for when dispersed camping. It's quiet and other than the occasional hiker, nobody else is around. There's plenty of hiking and just good times to be had. A quintessential camping experience.

• B

  Brandon S.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 6, 2023

  Dog Canyon

  Free. Clean. Mostly quiet.

  Ok, so it's free on BLM land and there's quite a few places to put your camper. I'm sure you could pitch a tent as well. Most spots are reasonably level and the road in should be fine for most travel trailers, I wouldn't pull in a huge trailer but under 40' should be able to fund something that works.

  There's a self appointed camp host most of the year, you'll know him when you meet him. He'll be the one in a thong. Yes. A thong. No, it's not a big deal. Talk to him, and you'll understand why, and you'll be fine with it. He's a great guy, and he made our stay better.

  All in all, great little BLM spot. Watch out for all the bushes. They're basically midevil torture devices masquerading as bushes.

• 

  Danny H.

  Guide

  

  Mar. 5, 2022

  Gila National Forest Road 861 Dispersed

  Nice Overnight Boondocking location

  This is a Gila National Forest Access Road just west of the Continental Divide on highway 90.  It has multiple fairly level and easily accessible boondocking sites. It's far enough from the highway to be quiet. The only real drawback is the Cattle droppings here and there. We spent the night, so can't comment on other activities in the area, but there are roads and trails leading out of the location and into the Forest.

• 

  Jacob W.

  Ranger

  

  Aug. 3, 2020

  Gap Tank dispersed camping

  Lonely desert

  Gap Tank is located in the gap between Mt. Riley and the E. Potrillo Mountain ridge in the Desert Peaks National Monument on BLM land in the Chihuahuan Desert. Very few people out there. Very primitive. No campground. Little to no shade. I’ve camped here twice in my truck bed—once in 2017 when I climbed Mt. Riley and once in 2020. Close to Mexican border but I didn’t have any problems. Probably not conducive to RVs because difficult to pull off county road.

• 

  Dan G.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 6, 2021

  Sante Fe National Forest BLM-Road 62 Dispersed

  Santa Fe BLM

  This is dispersed camping with mostly RVs, some vans, and a few tents and teepees. There are no hookups but near the entrance there is a building with two enclosed bathrooms. There is no trash collection so you must carry out everything you bring in. This is great free camping or just free overnight parking if you are self sufficient with your own water and solar power. There is lots of space but it seems like a lot of people just pull in and find spots near the front. We camped in August 2021 and days got up to 90 degrees. We hung out in SantaFe until about 8pm and it dropped to 80 and the breeze picked up. It is dry in the desert so 80 is very comfortable. Another nice thing about desert camping is there are some flies, and a few mosquitos but compared to the moist midwest we seem fine without having to use a lot of bug repellant. We will stay here again.

• 

  Rachel S.

  Ranger

  

  Apr. 4, 2024

  Raptor Lake Dispersed / Holloman Lake

  Busy but great location for White Sands

  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!

• 

  Ben R.

  Ranger

  

  Apr. 29, 2023

  Santa Fe BLM Dispersed Campsite

  I mean, it was free

  The area is right next to a landfill which worried us at first but turned out not to be a problem, I imagine it gets worse in the warmer months. You can drive around and find some cool and private spots but there is trash seriously everywhere. We even found shot gun shells a little further out all over the ground. When you pull up to the area you can either turn right into the blm land or go straight past the signage into the National park area. I think it said El Camino Real. This is where the toilets and shelter is. The toilets were actually well kept. There were some nice people but I can imagine if you drive further out away from people it feels a little sketchier. It wasn’t the best, but it was definitely free.

• 

  Ron G.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 9, 2023

  Carson NF - Forest Service Road 578 - Dispersed Camping

  Tres Piedras area

  The location on Dyrt maps is wrong, forest service is NW of 285 & 64. Beautiful dispersed camping spots plentiful. Park ranger Melissa was the top notch. Couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly. Definitely stay there again.

• 

  marycatmathis ..

  Ranger

  

  Jun. 17, 2020

  Dispersed on 4 - Fenton Lake State Park

  Best Kept Secret

  My friends and I were climbing at the Cattle Wall all day, and decided we wanted to disperse camp. While we pulled up to Jemez camping nearby, the park rangers told us it was closed because of Covid, but we could go down the road to this unmarked, unnamed, dispersed camp site. 

  when we did we drove to the left, followed the path until we saw an opened gate, and turned up to a site on the right. It was well-used and had a fire pit, but you're not allowed to have fires right now. 

  We wandered down to a cliff, and the most BEAUTIFUL view awaited us. If it was known, it would be a better view than the jemez falls and people would FLOCK to it. Instead, it was our campsite, free, and people-less. This is just a new mexico thing, I guess. finding best kept secrets everywhere. 

  PS: weather was perfect, no sounds from anywhere in the campsite, completely amazing! Definitely go here.

• A

  Amanda V.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 17, 2023

  Caja Del Rio Dispersed Camping

  Great Spot

  Perfect dispersed camp spots close to town but very quiet. Except a few evening fun shots. Lots of spots scattered with plenty of privacy.

• 

  Jacob W.

  Ranger

  

  Aug. 3, 2020

  Bluff Springs Dispersed Camping

  Potentially good

  Bluff Springs is nestled in a pretty forested valley with a creek and falls in Lincoln National Forest about 10 miles south of Cloudcroft off Sunspot highway on Upper Peñasco Road. There’s a gravel parking lot with bathrooms but no campground. We tent camped Sat, Aug. 1, 2020, arriving about 2pm. There were many people camping and it was difficult to find a spot along the road with dispersed camping sites. We had to camp in thicker grass among cow dung because the mowed sites were taken. Still, life outside is better, right? It stormed much of the day and night but Sunday morning dawned clear and we took a short 1-mile hike from the Bluff Springs trailhead to the Willie White trailhead. There are longer hikes too. There were some camping trailers but no big RVs. Upper Peñasco Road is narrow in parts. A decent place.

• S

  Shauna H.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 21, 2023

  Carlsbad Caverns Dispersed

  Maybe we did something wrong but these coordinates were wrong

  We tried this location. It looked like it could be just what we wanted. However, we followed the GPS coordinates here on Dyrt.com and though the road was smoother than the one across the street, it took us way out on a small dirt road that led to a cow field (with very aggressive cows) and eventually a dead end. It was a bit tricky getting turned around. We never did see places off to the side of the road to boondock. 

  Just as we left the freeway, right by the grates there is a dirt lot off to the left but it was too close to the freeway and others for us. If you decide to try this spot, just don't follow the GPS coordinates.

  We ended up staying 4 nights at Mile 10 - Dispersed Camping, and we really liked it.

• L

  Loren A.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 6, 2021

  Sante Fe National Forest BLM-Road 62 Dispersed

  Perfect dispersed camping spot

  This is a massive dispersed camping area. I’m not really sure how far in the camping spots go, but so far I’ve seen over 100, with about 1/4 of them taken right now. Many, but not all, are level spots. Roads vary depending on which spots your getting to. Great cell service. Great views. And minutes away from stores and gas stations.

• C

  Chloe H.

  Guide

  

  Mar. 2, 2019

  The Box Recreation Area

  Climbing area where you can camp if you are chill

  10-15 down 60 west of Socorro you'll find "the box" climbing area. This is on BLM land, and there is no trash pick-up or other managed facilities here, so camping is at your own discretion and you MUST leave the area as you found it (or better). There is a vault toilet at the main parking lot as you drive in, and if you drive further up the road there is a small pull-off with a couple of simple fire-pits where you will likely find a couple other climbers camping. Please be responsible about your food, trash and making a fire. There is loads of good climbing in the area and it's a great place to set up camp for a few days, but don't ruin that privilege for everyone by mistreating the area. Follow pack-in, pack-out, LNT and common sense rules.

• m

  mike

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 28, 2023

  Raptor Lake Dispersed / Holloman Lake

  Raptor lake dispersed camping

  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.

• 

  Anahi B.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 14, 2021

  Bisti / De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area

  Great place to camp

  This is a free campground with bathrooms near by. There is also some more dispersed camping in the BLM areas, but 4x4 is recommended to reach them. There is no visitors office and the landmarks/features are not marked on the trail map. 

  This is a great place to stay.

• 

  Lily H.

  Traveler

  

  Dec. 6, 2021

  Dispersed Camping off FS 542

  Great location, primitaive camping

  This dispersed camping is a great spot to stop. There are multiple site identified with lot signs and fire rings. Some of the spots are Easier to access than others. Be prepared for a road that in rough shape. I would not recommend accessing this if your in a small sedan or a large vehicle pulling something as if will be difficult to maneuver. You will likely need 4x4 and some ground clearance. My Rav 4 did just fine at the first few spot but I wouldn’t take it much further. It’s primitive camping no water no outhouse. It’s past the group camping site turn on the left. Great hiking in the area and it felt like a safe location. You can hear cars and dirt biking in the background but activities ended around 7 and made for a peaceful night. I liked it a lot and would come back again!

• 

  Rachel T.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 11, 2021

  Dispersed Camping off FS 542

  FS ROAD 542 Dispersed Camping

  This was a great campsite! Dispersed and secluded. Between Tijeras and Albuquerque. In the Cibola National Forest. When you turn into Juan Tomas (FS 542) Rd - be sure to go straight down nearly to the very end of the road. You’ll see signs marking campsites (refer to photos). Sites were large with fire rings. No showers or other amenities… however there are two vault toilets along the road (only one was usable). They are gross - so be prepared to do your business in nature. Cell phone tower nearby - so cell service was great. We saw a coyote and a snake and several beetles. If you love nature and want to be secluded - highly recommended!