Didn't stay here. Drove through it and wondered why no one was there. They must have forgotten to close the gate. Beautiful campground. According to the forest service website, Monarch Park campground is closed for 2024 season to make renovations. Too bad.
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.
No facilities, but a beautiful spot. Lots of shade. Dirt road in decent shape. No road signs off of highway 15. Just need to use the GPS coordinates. A few level spots with fire rings. A little ways in you'll see large piles of gravel. Not sure what that's for. There is a placard that states "Constructed by the United States Conservation Corp in 1976". Not sure what was constructed. There is just a dirt road.
Hard to beat the views. Road is pretty rough and many of the sites are not at all level. You must stay is designated sites. No toilets except for the one at the south entrance, before heading up. Road is very rough. Might be treacherous if wet. I visited in mid-October. Thursday night was fairly open /unoccupied. I stayed in #4. Fairly level. Beautiful views of Grand Teton. The FS was doing prescribed burns so it was pretty smokey for a while. Friday night started checking out sites at about 4 pm. A lot of the good sites were taken (e.g., #9 and #10), but ended up at #17. Nice and level but right next to the main road. Only a couple vehicles passed by so wasn't bad. Great views of Mt. Moran. Sites #18 and #19 were still unoccupied in the morning.
Just passing through and only needed to stop for the night. Very peaceful. You could only slightly hear the traffic out at the road. Got a site near the creek. Maybe #11. Vault toilets clean. Only a couple other sites taken. Cheap $5 with senior pass discount. No cell reception for me. Sites are not very private, but with so few people here it didn't make a difference.
It took me about 90 minutes once I hit the unpaved portion of the road. Very rough. Averaged about 5 to 10 mph. I have a 4x4 van. I did see a Subaru coming the other way. Would not want to travel this road if it was wet and muddy.
However, the campground and surrounding area are beautiful. Lots of hiking nearby around the lake and into the Winds. The sites are fairly private and spread out. The clean vault toilets are like little log cabins. There was only a handful of sites occupied while I was there in mid-October.
Each site has a covered picnic table and fire ring. Fairly exposed to the wind. Vault toilets. BLM dirt road near the entrance you can walk / hike down. Brochures of El Malpais at the entrance to the campground. Got there at 4 pm and only half the sites taken. Not bad for a spring break Saturday. Eventually all the sites filed up. Woke up to a beautiful snow storm. Dogs are allowed on this national monument trails, but discouraged because of the sharp lava rocks.
It was about half full when I got there at 3 pm on a Friday in March. There were a couple sites still empty by the end of the night. Nice little nature trail near the bluffs with signs indicating the fauna. Standard vault toilets. Campground very well kept and clean. $20/night or $10/night with Access/Senior pass. Not really setup for big rigs, but you might be able to squeeze in. My camper van fit nicely. Campground host was there.
Sites are fairly well spread out. One restroom, flush toilets, water spigot outside, dumpster. Friendly to camper vans. Showers down the road. Lots of hiking and biking.
Small campground. Maybe 9 or 10 sites. 2 vault toilets. No pull-throughs. Free for both campground and the rest of Nat. Mon. Dog friendly trails. Interesting place to visit.
Semi private sites with cactus and other desert plants between sites. Quiet except for the guy next to me listening to audio books. Pull through concrete drives. Some of the restrooms have showers. Was very nice. Not hot but warm enough. Dogs allowed on some of the trails.
There are many dispersed areas around Sunset Crater Volcano NM. I stayed off FS road 545B. There was a meadow nearby with a lot of Ponderosa pines. FS 545B is the first road to the left as you leave route 89 heading toward SCVNM. Only one here. If you stop by the SCVNM visitor center, ask the ranger for a map of dispersed camping. Very helpful. Shows lots of options. The FS dirt road is a little challenging, but I got through it in my campervan without going into 4-wheel drive. Might be a different story if it's muddy.
Got spot #22. Very secluded yet close to bathhouse. Hot shower (no extra charge) was wonderful. Ranger at check-in was super nice and helpful. Lots of trails you can even take your dog on. I got one bar of Verizon near the bathhouse.