If you're in the area and they have availability, it's hard to beat Ghost Ranch for value. RV spots with hookups are $45 a night!
Most guests stay in housing/lodging, so the ranch has a dining hall that serves three meals a day. $16 per person per meal but $30 for three meals on a "meal plan" whe you book, and kids eat for free! All in all we got three meals for our family of 4 and a nights stay while we hiked around trails on the property for less than $100 all in, and the food (upscale summer camp type) was very good.
Georgia O'Keefe lived in the property for a while, so there's a lot of history about her, and there's a small dinosaur and anthropology museum on site.
Chimney Rock hike is not to be missed!
We had been boondocking for a few nights and "needed" hookups and showers for a night of relative luxury. This place is a little outside town but not too bad. We checked in late and our electric didn't work, but the park was half empty - I just grabbed another site and everything was fine - good showers and bathrooms.
I've seen other reviewers say the place is a bit dated and while I'll echo that, my kids really enjoyed the "OG" type playground - much steeper/faster/FUNNER slide than the new stuff they're used to.
Little $ relative to what you get, but a lot of that is just location/Santa Fe IMO.
This KOA is in a seemingly not ideal part of town, next to an interstate and that has A LOT more asphalt than trees… And my kids loved every second of it!
Jump pad, play ground, mini golf and a really nice pool (that stays opens until 9 am) were the highlights. Clean, modern and convenient showers were pluses for Mom and Dad.
15 minutes from the Sandia Air tram, 20 minutes from the airport. Friendly staff. Wind was pretty intense at night on our visit so I'd recommend pulling your awnings in when you go to bed. Interstate noise could be an issue if you're not running ac/fan.
So the info on Dyrt and the parks website in inaccurate. There are 35+ first come first serve tent spots (none of which have water as of May 2024) and 10 ish RV spots on a separate loop, only 2 of which are first come first serve and electric only - all the rest are reservation only…
The tent spots aren't accessible with anything bigger than a regular car/SUV - class B with an experienced driver and short wheel base might be able to fit, no way a class C would. No way a trailer (even a teardrop) would fit in the parking spots for tent spots if you strike out on the RV spots.
The drive up is GORGEOUS and almost worth it regardless of camping, and super convenient to downtown Santa Fe, but if you're in a RV have your water straight and HAVE A RESERVATION! We ended up just parking in a trailhead parking lot (that said no camping) and rolled the dice (successfully).
You can reserve a few van/RV spots but most are first come first serve. Don't worry about the check in time - all hookups and bathrooms/shower are unlocked. If you get a reserved spot you can pay online, otherwise self pay AT the campground, not at the gate (just in case they're full). Showers are good. Ok playground for little kids (4-5 age). Every site has a covered picnic table with stationary grill.
Convenient to Carlsbad, 30- 40ish minutes? north of the caverns, little over an hour south of Roswell.
Absolutely fantastic KOA! Either is brand new or redone/crazily well kept up! Tent spots, covered tent spots, RV spots with 120/30A/50A and water, dump station - shower house has better showers than most hotels, bathrooms are big and clean.
Really nice pool (that closes at 7 😢), basketball court, corn hole, play ground.
Pretty cool view of Las Cruces at night.
Super convenient (maybe 4 minutes) to White Sands National Park, the "lake" is reclaimed waste water from the nearby Air Force base and the whole area can kinda intermittently smell like stale farts. Fairly decent amount of flat space for RV's, but turning around might be tricky based on congestion.