2 Amazing Camping Locations in New Mexico
Camping at Sunset Reef Campground
Our first boondocking spot in New Mexico was at Sunset Reef Campground. I found this spot on the Campendium app. This campground is about 15 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We drove in at night which always makes me a little nervous since I didn’t know where we were going, but it ended up being a great spot to camp for the night. This is a newer campground and they have about 10 spots for camping.
Cost: You can stay here for FREE up to 5 days.
Amenities: Camping, fire ring, covered pavilions, picnic tables, trash bins, pit toilets, Guadalupe Mountain views. There are no hookups at this campground. Since this is a newer campground the pit toilets were really clean.
It is near the highway and although you can hear the faint highway noise it did not detract from the beauty of this area. This is a great place to view stars at night due to it being so dark. On the other side you are surrounded by the Guadalupe Mountains. When we pulled in at night there were 2 other campers but they were gone by the time we woke up. We then had the place to ourselves.
Directions
To get to this spot you turn off of Hwy 62 onto Washington Ranch Road and take the first right across the cattle guard. There was no sign stating that was the way to the campground but just trust me and keep going down that road and you will run right into the campground. I will definitely stay at this campground again. You will not be disappointed!!
GPS coordinates: 32.11970, -104.42430.
These are the campsites at Sunset Reef campground
This is the cattle guard you cross on your way to the campground
We did take some time to hike the Guadalupe Mountains in the morning. It was very hot and dry so take lots of water! Take a compass if you go hike the land some as you dip down a hill and cannot see your campsite from there.
Guadalupe Mountains
City of Rocks State Park
Our Next camping site was at City of Rocks State Park in Faywood, NM. This spot was so unique. If you look at this location on mapquest and look at it with satellite view it is amazing to see this small area of rocks protruding up in the middle of nowhere! It is about one mile square foot of land in the Chihuahuan desert region. These enormous rocks, protruding about 40 feet high, were formed about 34 million years ago when a volcano erupted. Over the years, erosion formed this area into the large rocks you see today.
Amenities and cost
We arrived at this location about 9:20 pm and it stated they closed at 9:00 pm but luckfully they leave space so you can still drive in after closing time. I booked this reservation online right before we headed there.
Cost: $10 a night plus $4 booking fee online. They also have walkup reservations available. Once we arrived we found our spot, looked around a little and then settled in for the night.
Amenities: 8 spots have water and electric. There are 41 spots without hookups. Available at each spot is a picnic table, fire ring and trashcan. Shade was provided by the many protruding rocks. You can make advanced reservations but they also have walk in spots if available. There is a pay station at the entrance.
Facilities: They have nice warm showers and a small gift shop you can purchase fire wood and ice if needed. The visitor center is open from 10am-2pm. There are several restrooms located throughout the park. They also have water spigots located throughout the park.
We spent two nights here just because we enjoyed walking around and climbing on the rocks. There were flush toilets located throughout the park but the showers were only located at the entrance so we had to drive to it which really wasn’t a big deal.
Our campfire at night. We roasted marshmallows of course :-) Don’t forget your roasting sticks.
During our time here we played games as a family, explored the area by foot and climbed lots of rocks. It was so relaxing. There were only about 6 other people camping in this area when we were there so it was very quiet. I definitely recommend staying at this park if you are in the area.
