Mauriel O.

The Dyrt Pro

Petaluma, CA

Joined September 2018

Vanlifer and Surfer taking it one day at a time

Free, Picturesque, and a bit muddy

This is BLM Land outside of Mesa Verde National Park. Has quite a few different sites that are all free and have fairly easy access to. The one downside (for us) was that it had just rained and the sites and road are clay which we ended up sinking into and getting stuck in. Luckily a few other campers nearby got up to watch the show and see us dig to get out (eventually they all helped push us out). There's a little road noise from the highway but it didn't bother us.

Each site has a little rock ringed fire pit and a flat area for a tent that we saw.

So if you want a free spot for up to 14 nights and want to check out Mesa Verde (highly recommend it), this is a pretty nice little spot.

Pretty Nice little spot

Found this Campground to be pretty nice overall! Mainly RV's and Campers, in fact I didn't see a single tent or tent site during our stay. The Lots are fairly close together and all have a little covered picnic table area next to the drive through RV slots. Bathrooms and showers worked just fine, though my girlfriend said the womens shower would turn itself off every 30 seconds or so (the mens worked just fine).

It's about 20 minutes north of albuquerque which is nice since you're far enough away to be out of the hustle and bustle but close enough to explore the city. We went for the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta and we could see the balloons from the campgrounds early in the morning.

There's also a Bad Ass Coffee down the street which is one of my favorites!

Good in a pinch!

Stayed here one night in our camper van. Not a lot of rv spaces (completely full when we showed up late on a Saturday night) so we opted for a tent site which was cheaper anyways and they had plenty of open slots for a Saturday. It probably helped that it was rainy for the tent sites.

Good location, about 5 minutes down the road from Zion's east entrance. And zion is just amazing! Highly recommend taking a few days here!

The grounds have nice showers and restrooms along with coin-op laundry and foosball tables. Decent wifi (writing this review here) and nice couches in lounge area.

And the view is amazing to wake up too here! See photos.

Bring a camper, not a tent

Came here last minute on a surf trip to Santa cruz so its partially our fault, but this place is not the best for tent camping in my opinion. They had a small plot to the side of the rest of the rv slots with a little grass to pitch a tent. Not secluded at all from the hustle and bustle which to me is a major part of the allure for camping. Otherwise the place was nice and looked great for rvs

Lovely Campsite

Nice campsite right on the beach with a little point break surf spot just at the end of the cove. Came down here to surf Rincon and ended up surfing this little point for most of the trip.

The site was pretty nice, but boy can it get windy! In the middle of the night our tent got completely blown over with us in it! More funny than anything else, but a little maddening in the middle of the night.

Fun Surf Spot

Nice little campground right on the beach. Nice long beach that's great for walking, surfing (if there's swell), and just relaxing in general. Tends to have a bit of a breeze at night with not a whole lot of natural protection for tent camping in my experience.

Just Wonderful

We took our camper here in february and had the campground almost to ourselves. I think there were maybe 3 other campsites filled for the 2 nights we stayed. The site was very clean and spacious with a nice meadow behind us.

It's also a very short walk across the street to sand dollar beach. We got lucky with the weather and had crystal clear blue water and sunny skies with a light drizzle at night (perfect to sleep to by our standards). Can't really beat Big Sur area to get away from it all!

Beautiful!

Our site was inside a redwood tree circle and was nice an isolated feeling from the other sites. We had a few perfectly clear nights and the stars through the silhouette of the trees was unforgettable.

There are also miles upon miles of trails to hike and explore on through the redwoods and around some waterfalls. Absolutely stunning.

Great campground away from the hustle and bustle

Nice lots on a cliff above the beach protected from the wind by some doug firs and eucalyptus. Beach is long and expansive with very few people on an average day. Nice place to take a stroll and relax. Not far from Santa Cruz, maybe 25-30 minutes depending on traffic. Sometimes there's a decent sandbar for surfing. Always had a good time at this campground.