Best Tent Camping near Boise City, OK

The Cimarron Grassland is an amazing part of the Great Plains ecosystem and definitely worth a look when driving through the southwest corner of Kansas. It will not be what you’re expecting! The sunrises alone are worth the price of admission, which was just $7 per night.

Just off the park driving tour road, this little campground sits between small ponds in a larger wetland area within the Cimarron River. Each site is spacious with the usual picnic table, fire ring, and tent pad. Vault toilets and potable drinking water are available all year round, we just had to wait for the faucet to thaw after freezing up overnight.

The area is fantastic for bird lovers, and we watched flocks of Starlings tuck themselves into the marsh grasses for the night. Raptors, warblers, and many other bird species use the area as a fly-over stop during migration. Hiking is close by on the Sante Fe Trail which follows the original path of the old wagon trail through the plains, biking and other motorized recreational vehicles are allowed in certain areas. While the terrain might not be challenging, the sandy soil makes any long walk or ride just a little bit more difficult.

The nearby town of Elkhart affords the usual amenities for groceries, gas, and a few restaurants. The National Grassland office is also in town if you want more information about the area. Check out our blog about our time traveling through southern Kansas...and unexpected treat!

Clayton Lake State Park, Clayton, NM…5200 ft elev.

Beautiful oasis nestled away in the windswept high plains of NE New Mexico. Not only for today's travelers but for yesterday's pioneers we take the Cimmaron Cutoff from the Santa Fe trail. We pitched tent at Chicano Beach site #2 (there are only two on that ridge), far away from any crowds upon a knoll overlooking a western "dog-leg" of the 170 acre reservoir. Even though the man-made Clayton lake was down from 32' to 19' depth…it was tranquil and bustling with wildlife. Coyotes barked in the distance, strutting turkey's gobbled, jackrabbit's darted, fish jumped and mule deer grazed the shoreline grasses and taking in late night and early morning drinks. Bring your binoculars to glass the shore and ridge lines. Fascinating park, the sandstone formations were varied and interesting…worn away by generations of rain. The rock garden is worth a scramble…very cool columns…(R4 campsite is nestled deep within them and the most highly coveted tent site). Highlight: The dinosaur tracks (uncovered at the spillway around 1982 after a flood) at the spillway are of particular interest. Informational signage lines the spillway and the small pavilion atop the levy. The 471 acre state park was quiet and peaceful. Mark, the park ranger, is full of great information of the area…and incredibly helpful, having spent his entire life in these parts…truly as nice a man you could meet (and the first ranger to ever return my phone message when calling for last minute availabilty). The visitor center and every other aspect of this park is spotlessly clean and meticulously maintained. The visitor center, though small, utilized every inch to bring you desired information of the park's history. New signage and informational displays were going in as we left. A heated restroom/ shower house was a wonderful creature comfort. Plenty of very new and clean pit latrines and water spigots dotted throughout the campground. If you don't want crowds avoid the fishing tournament the second weekend of June when about 900 campers descend to camp and fish…and most summer holidays. Other than that there is room….and no bad spots. I'd recommend using the online reservation portal. Tent sites are cheap($10 developed/$8 primitive)…actual too cheap, in my opinion…the state parks are nearly bankrupt, if not already so. Skeleton staffs are underpaid, yet they worked tirelessly to keep the parks to the highest standard. http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/claytonlakestatepark.html

•A nearby highlight is the Capulin Volcano National Monument an hour away up Rt 87. The walk around the rim of the dormant volcano offers epic views of the surrounding high plains, Sante Fe trail and the jagged snow capped mountains to the West.

Van Camper perspective: Extra cool campsites with many in lightly wooded areas or tucked within boulders, or lakeside. Group sites available also. Adequate spacing between sites in most areas, some sites are secluded. Very clean area, the host picks up trash daily and even washes area around the covered tables. Lake was a bit low, saw two bald eagles, lots of beautiful wild flowers in June. Interesting dinosaur tracks at spillway that were exposed after a flood removed a layer of dirt from the spillway, it’s half mile round trip hike. Clean toilets.

Great small campground / rec area. It was clearly very popular among hunters/fishermen during season as we were the only campers there that were not hunting or fishing. It’s a day use area, too. There’s only vault toilets but there is drinking water available. No power or dump stations, but generators were welcome for the RV folks. Fires are allowed when there are no active fire restrictions and they have great fire pit rings. Pay attention to fire restrictions on the USDA campground site. No fire wood for sale, so bring your own. The sites are first come first serve since they’re non-reservable according to the USDA website. I had heard there were great trails on the grasslands but it was hunting season when we were there so I recommend researching that first before coming here and expecting to hike safely. The grounds are kept decently well. There’s no camp host but when we were there all the other campers were very quiet / chill. In fact we were alone on the whole grounds until the hunters rolled in for the evening. The sunset & sunrise were gorgeous here. It’s buggy of course because you’re in the grasslands and near ponds, so be prepared for insects as well. We heard a pack of animals loudly roll through in the night, pretty sure they were coyotes. Trash cans available, and great picnic tables available.

All in all, this was a wonderful site and we’re glad we made the drive. It’s a lovely campground with the grasslands’ nature surrounding you on all sides. We camped in a Roof Top Tent (RTT) and the lot was level, decently private. We camped in #6. People clearly like to spread out here when it’s not crowded, that was nice.

Word to the wise: if you’re traveling here on Stevens County roads with gravel and 65mph speeds, sloooooow down and get off to the side as people approach you from the opposite direction. Those “Stevens Co not responsible for broken windshields” signs are there for a reason.

Website for info on this park: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/psicc/recarea/?recid=12413

Cimarron National Grasslands,$7.00 per sites 10 sites(some are double sites so they call it 14 sites) all pads ar gravel, a couple are pretty level, all sites have fire ring, vaulted toilets, several water spigots according to Kansas worker they check the spigot monthly. Several Ponds some are stocked with trout in the winter a stamp is needed for the rainbow trout. During the summer they are stocked with catfish. 23 miles Santa Fe Trail are within the Parks boundaries. Bobwhite, and coyote, dear and other birds spotted through the Park. CAUTION: Before you get to site 1, there are 2 trees the one on the left has the scars to show the damage it has done to taller vehicles(we are 13.11 and just received a slight raspberry a couple layers of self leveling caullk and all is good for now!).

This secluded park is seated right on the start of a semi-arid climate. Shortly before arrival from the east the grass turns golden and and you begin to see varieties of cactus and yucca. Upon entering the park we were greeted by a small herd of pronghorn deer bouncing along the road. We also ran into a herd of mule deer in the park that were quite accustomed to people, they let me get within 10 yards of them before the bolted. The park has all the amenities you’d expect of a state park; showers, toilets, and established camp sites with fire rings, grills and picnic tables. However the seclusion was not expected. The nearest town where you can get supplies and gas is Boise 36 miles east of the park. The park is situated around a small lake which is partially surrounded by small limestone cliffs. There are a few trails to hike varying in length and difficulty from a stroll in nature to a bit of exercise, nothing to extreme though. After heading west out of the park to Black Mesa itself the geography changes rapidly from small limestone formations and boulders to large sandstone canyons out of a Wild West movie where outlaws would be hiding and mountain lions would be (and still are) stalking their prey. The beginning of the trail up the Mesa has a small parking lot and is a 4 hour hike to the top. The area is popular for the star gazing unfortunately it was overcast the nights we were there but the scenery and wildlife was beautiful enough to make up for the lack of stars. All in all it was great and highly recommended for families and those looking for a secluded far from civilization camping experience but still wanting the amenities of a maintained park.