Capulin Mountain National Monument-- NM

All it is (Capulin) is a drive around and around a big volcano until you get to the top. It's a good place to stretch your legs. I don't recall how far off the interstate it is but once you get there it's maybe 90 minutes if you take in the super view.

Great Sand Dunes is well worth a stop but really needs a half day. You will want to walk out into the dunes, everyone does. Ah never mind you are camping there. I've been there but never camped onsite but I bet the sunset and especially the sunrise are spectacular photo ops.

There is a 4WD road going north, it's very sandy.

I stopped by Capulin a couple years ago, and discovered that trailers are not permitted on the drive to the peak. I didn't feel like unhooking my 16' TT in the lot at the (rather modest) visitor center and re-hooking afterward just to see the view from the top, so I left. My advice is to skip it. High views are plentiful in NM and CO.

It depends on how interested you are on things that are slightly offbeat. Capulin NM is only a few minutes off US 64/87, and you don't need to spend hours there; a few minutes will do. If you can't climb to the top of Mt. Rainier or Mt. Hood, you will at least have acquired bragging rights to say that you have been to the top of a volcano!

We passed it several times a year "commuting" between Dallas and Estes Park. About ten years ago we we had some time to burn and decided to take the detour up to Capulin. Nice view from the top but not really worth it especially considering you have to unhitch.

Thunder Mountain wrote:
We passed it several times a year "commuting" between Dallas and Estes Park. About ten years ago we we had some time to burn and decided to take the detour up to Capulin. Nice view from the top but not really worth it especially considering you have to unhitch.

Can you see down into the volcano? Is the inside the same as the outside?

This volcano is inactive, no lava lakes in other words.

I guess opinions vary. I do not think Great Sand Dune is worth a stop, especially if you are pressed for time. Capulin depends on what your interests are and the time of year. I would not expect this time of year to be a good time for Capulin everything is still brown. Google Maps has some good photos from both places, so you can decide.

We stopped there a few years ago. Stayed one night. Drove to the top. Got out & walked to the very top. Enjoyed the fabulous view. Spent some time in the visitors center which was well done. Thought the whole thing was well worth the time.

We had time. If you are trying to do a months worth of travel in two weeks maybe better to pass it by for another time.

Capulin is the only complete standalone cinder cone from a volcano that I'm aware of with a road to the top, and a walk down into the crater, at least in the US.

I found it extremely interesting, especially since it is so very different from any of the 'big' volcanic mountians. Well worth a few hours, I'd even like to spend a whole day if we are traveling past it again some time.

But I'm interested in learning the history and how the volcano was created. A lot of 'see the sights' RVers only want to stop for an interesting view and move on quickly.

However, I wouldn't go out of my way for a special trip. If traveling along US-64, we will stop. If on I-25, not worth the side trip unless I have time to kill.

As mentioned - Trailers and large RVs are not allowed on the road to the top.

There is a small, nice RV park in the town of Capulin if you want to spend the night. A couple years ago when we were there, there is not anyplace in Capulin to eat, so if you wanted to go out to dinner, it is about 30 miles to Raton.

The next time we visit Capulin will probably be while camping at New Mexico's Sugarite Canyon SP just outside Raton.

Agree with PawPaw_n_ Gram that it is a very worthwhile side trip if you are traveling on US 87 between Clayton and Raton. Otherwise, it is quite a way off the Interstate and probably not worth the extra miles. But I am a geologist and it is therefore a very interesting example of a small, but nearly perfect, cinder-cone type of volcano. And, since we meet family from Amarillo at Sugarite Canyon SP every summer, Capulin is very convenient for us to visit.

Just FYI, Sugarite Canyon is one of our favorite SPs in New Mexico, so I would highly recommend it as at least an overnight campground if your do visit Capulin. However, it is very popular in the summer, so you will need reservations and it is probably already full for every weekend this summer.