About 10mi north of Ely. Map will take you to BLM off the highway. However, there are 4 forest service designated campgrounds on the road across the highway.
We found a spot on 631 road. It was nice and quiet. People do drive fairly fast up and down the road. The cows moo-ing added a nice ambiance. Good access to hiking, climbing, and fishing. Served our purposes wonderfully
Easy access and not too far out of Pueblo or Cañon City. We didn't venture much further than the gate at the latrine, but we saw people coming out so I can assume there are spots further in. It's dispersed camping, so not fancy but a great place to park our teardrop for the night.
Big dirt lot just off the highway. Not too much road noise considering you can see the highway. Close to Carlsbad Caverns. Pack out your poop!!
Not too far out of Santa Fe. There are multiple places for dispersed camping along the same road, including a few trailhead campgrounds like Diablo Canyon (rock climbing hot spot).
Great spot for some free camping on your way to/from Gila Cliff Dwellings Natl Monument if coming from I-25. BIG sites!!! Could easily turn around my pickup and teardrop. Fire pits with easy to scavenge fire wood. Multiple clean latrines. No cell signal 🙌🙌🙌. About a mile back from the pavement.
Big pullouts down gravel road off I-25. Great place for a quick overnight. You can go all the way to the old camp grounds for the upper end of Elephant Butte reservoir, but you might struggle getting back up the hill with anything bigger than a teardrop.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Brought my teardrop camper to do a couple days at Angel Fire. RV park is about 5min from the AF parking lot. Multiple hookup options can accommodate any size camper. Pull thru and back in spaces. Water at site. Bathroom/Shower house small but very clean. Self check-in (covid) was simple. It was a mid-week, winter stay so they were very chill and not strict about check-in/out. That being said, don't be a jerk to them either. Will definitely stay again.
4 star because the office lady was very nice. This place has converted to exclusively taking motorhomes and 5th wheel campers only. So for those of us doing the dirtbag/van life/teardrop camper thing to go snowboarding/skiing/bike park this RV park is not an option. The office lady suggested trying Monte Verde, I will investigate and update!! In summer there are other state parks and national forest campgrounds within reach of Angle Fire Resort.
7200' elevation can result in snow before the rest of the region. Area is easily accessed from the highway. Light road noise if choosing the first few sites. Good tree cover. Good road. Bring your own water. Sites range from tent to medium bumper pull camper. Only 30 min outside of Flagstaff.
BRING WATER!! Lots of dispersed spots. Spots range in size from tent to medium bumper pull camper with larger spaces further away from the trailhead. 10min hike down to the climbing area. Latrine on site, as always bring your own TP.
Nothing fancy. Close to I-40 but you can get far enough away to limit road noise. Road is good enough to drag a camper back. Sites are pretty decent sized. Good place to camp for the night of going climbing around Gallup.
Drove down the night before in order to go climbing the next day. Found a decent spot in a dry wash to put up the tent for the night. It worked and allowed quick access to the crag in the morning. Does start to get busy with climbers fairly early (8am or so). Would be perfect for somebody with a camper-van or teardrop.
Nice campground with creekside sites. Sites are a bit close together but could be worse, it certainly helps to get there early to pick the best site. Close to town and not far out of Santa Fe. Downsides are that it is pretty popular and people don's seem to want to haul their trash out so lots of broke bottles around. Road to get there is potholed but passable by smaller vehicles.
$14/night tent camping. Spent two nights. Thursday night was great. Plenty of site for everybody to spread out. Friday night was much more crowded. Sites are all nice and flat and level for tent camping. Vault toilets are very clean. There is a playground if you have kids. Decent hiking, unfortunately the caves themselves were closed during our stay. Easy access from I-90. Would stay again mid-week or off season, but during prime time I'd prefer a bit more seclusion.
Good road all the way in. About a 15min drive from the highway. Only 5 or 6 sites. Close to the Rio Mario Trail trailhead. Campsite is at elevation over 8,000ft so it can get chilly at night. Worked great for tent camping. Sites have a small horse pen but you would need to make a gate on them. Not good for big LQ horse trailers.
Good roads but many camp spots are subject to road noise from the highway. Has potential to fill quickly as it's pretty close to town. We just needed a place to pull over for the night and get some truck bed sleep, it worked fine for us.
Going 3-star only because it's pretty crowded. Tent platform sites, picnic table sites, various sized cabins. Not many tent sites, although it appears they are adding more. Ranger was very friendly and accommodating to let tent campers use picnic table sites without platforms. Sites are very close to each other. Good water spouts. Lots of hiking trails right out od camp.
Quiet tent/truck camping. Not far from Cedar City (15min). Medium cell signal on T-Mobile. Right off of highway but plenty of tree cover to dampen road noise. Waterfall and creek noise to lull you to sleep. Large dirt parking area. Dispersed tent sites or truck bed/van life in the dirt lot. Go slow going in, pot holes and rocks. Two entrances both from highway. 4-star only because local kids use this as their bonfire/drinking spot and as such tend to make late night noise.