:C
Tucson is a neat city & easy to get around in.
AZ National Forests Off US 191 in Arizona, Canyon de Chelly by Chinle is neat with a Navajo Trip campground. Been there when it was a free campground years ago. Hubbell Trading Post NHS is off 191 as well, maybe a small detour to get to it. Interesting.
Navajo National Monument is located at the end of State Highway 564 off of US Highway 160. Which connects with US 191, north of Chinle. We have not been to this one, but sounds very interesting. Two campgrounds, one open all year, somewhat isolated but no fees are charged.
Navajo Nat'l Mon'tChiricahua National Monument out from Willcox is so very dry at times. The fires they had in 2012 really left it changed as well. Much more barren. Still a neat place to see.
White Mountains by Show Low to Springerville have many higher elevation campgrounds (many Forest Service) and a neat place to find cool tempts in the summer heat.
Apache & Sitgreaves Nat'l Forests Flagstaff Area +:
Coconino Nat'l ForestAZ National Park Campgrounds & CampingNew Mexico has many high elevation campsites as well.
Camping Sites & Sights Santa Fe & Northern New Mexico:
Hiking Santa Fe Nat'l Forest Santa Fe & Bandelier Nat'l Mon't area of New Mexico -A Trip Report 2012. This was in August.
Los Alamos is a very neat small city in itself. Free bus system with very neat buses. Very pretty setting up in the high country. Somewhat of a gated community as well. We only drove through & stopped at a SuperMarket. A nice town.
http://www.visit.losalamos.com/http://www.losalamosnm.us/transit/Pages/default.aspx Between Santa Fe & Taos as well.
More on the Santa Fe Area Expanded & ABQ.
Santa Fe (Eating):
We had very good Asian from
Jinja Bar & Bistro in Santa Fe last summer. Just stumbled onto it in a thunder/rain storm. We did carry out, but it was a very nice restaurant. Went back this summer & ate in the restaurant with our daughter & grandson. All enjoyed the food.
Someone at the AAA office recommended
Tortilla Flats in Santa Fe; it prove to be very good as well.
Normally, we would eat on the Plaza, from Cart Vendors, such as Roque's Carnitas.
Cart Cuisine, but they were not there that week-end. Due to the 'Santa Fe Indian Market', "a 91-year-old Native art market", we didn't find the normal street food venders on the Plaza. We did eat once at one of the 'Indian' vendors, but the lines were extremely long. Also at a roasted corn vendor.
North of Santa Fe, almost into Colorado & on the way to Durango & on to Mesa Verde:
Chama Area. The very neat Cumbres Toltec Steam Train runs from & to Chama & Antonito (Colorado); turns soon after Cumbres Pass Station & head cross country to Antonito. One can do a halfway trip (which we did a few years ago), a 'free' meal at halfway point (price included in tickets). Good food there & plenty of it.
Cumbres Toltec Steam Train Depending on the time of the year, one might be able disperse camp above Cumbres Pass in Nat'l Forest (in Colorado). There is a campground there called:
Trujillo Meadows. Not sure if it will be open when you need it or not.
Or Going North from ABQ toward Mesa Verde: Two neat stops, north of Abiquiu, worth a see would be the Echo Amphitheater, a Natural rock formation, and the Ghost Ranch Piedra Lumbre Education and Visitor Center, located on U.S. Highway 84 just one mile north of the main Ghost Ranch entrance, has exhibits and a gift shop. A very nice museum in "O´Keefe Country." The Echo Amphitheater is past the visitor center some miles.
Hyde Memorial State Park above Santa Fe (most of the state parks have free showers, but none there).
Find a Park Map. NM State Parks: $10 no hookup, $4 for electric, not entry fee on top of camping fee.
Cochiti COE Campground & Tent Rocks Nat'l Park in Northern New Mexico Off I-25:
Near Santa Fe - Very Neat Area. Could be hot in summer.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument neat place to hike:
Hikes and
Ditto New Mexico Scenic ByWaysGeorgia O'Keefe Museum, in Santa Fe. A neat town with lots of arts to see. Not only the O'Keefe Museum will have her work, some of the NM State Museums do as well.
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/As for Indian Art & Culture, The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology is located on Museum Hill, which has The Wheelwright Museum.
https://wheelwright.org/Lot of Indian Vendors on Sidewalk in front of the
Palace of the Governors most of the time. As well of other vendors along many of the streets around the plaza & to it. Not to mention all the galleries & shops.
Hyde Memorial State Park above Santa Fe (most of the state parks have free showers, but none here).
Find a Park Map. NM State Parks: $10 no hookup, $4 for electric, not entry fee on top of camping fee.
More on the Santa Fe Area Expanded & ABQ.
Just minutes north of Albuquerque (off of I-25, exit 242) in Bernalillo, is Coronado State Monument where Francisco Vásquez de Coronado—with 300 soldiers and 800 Indian allies from New Spain—entered the valley while looking for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. Next to it: There is a Bernalillo city campground (used to be a state park) at the entrance to the State Monument. Wasn't a bad site some years ago, haven't been there in some time.
Coronado CampgroundOver by Grants (I-40 W from ABQ): El Morro National Monument is neat to see & has a small campground; there is a private campgound near by as well. Near Grants or can be reached from Gallup. We went from Gallup to Zuni Pueblo then to El Morro (we lingered too long at the Pueblo and didn't get to hike the trial at El Morro, got there too late in the day; its a neat trail too, we had hiked it before). Of course one could go to it from Grants as well.
An old post
Flagstaff - Gallup - Grants- Albuquerque - Santa Fe - PlusThis was a neat place to camp and visit (have not been to in it many years), even with a museum nearby, all close to Gallup at Red Rock/Churchrock just off of I-40 east of town. It was a state park when we used it.
http://www.campingroadtrip.com/campgrounds/campground/campground/11212/new-mexico/red-rock-state-parkBlue Water Lake State Park, by Grants, west of Albu'que on I-40. Bluewater not a bad area, but more of a fishing site. But not at all bad for an overnight, even some hiking trails.
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/bluewaterlakestatepark.html :C El Morro National Monument is neat to see & has a small campground; there is a private campgound near by as well. Near Grants or can be reached from Gallup. We went from Gallup to Zuni Pueblo then to El Morro (we lingered too long at the Pueblo and didn't get to hike the trial at El Morro, got there too late in the day; its a neat trail too, we had hiked it before). Of course one could go to it from Grants as well.
http://www.nps.gov/elmo/index.htm:C More on Santa Fe (Eating):
We had very good Asian from
Jinja Bar & Bistro in Santa Fe. Just stumbled onto it in a thunder/rain storm in 2012. We did carry out, but it was a very nice restaurant. June 2014, we ate there again inside. Very good food.
Someone at the AAA office recommended
Tortilla Flats in Santa Fe; it prove to be very good as well.
Normally, we would eat on the Plaza, from Cart Vendors, such as Roque's Carnitas.
Cart Cuisine, but they were not there that week-end. Due to the 'Santa Fe Indian Market', "a 91-year-old Native art market", we didn't find the normal street food venders on the Plaza. We did eat once at one of the 'Indian' vendors, but the lines were extremely long. Also at a roasted corn vendor. This was in August 2012.
Off I-25,
Sugarite Canyon State Park by Raton is a neat area. And a short drive from Raton is the Capulin Volcano Nat'l Mon't.
A Neat Place. ------
But no CampingBetween Raton & Las Vegas, Not far S of Springer, just off I-25 is
Fort Union Nat'l Mon't.
At Las Vegas (older place than the one in NV)
Storrie Lake State Park, but we have used the Walmart there to do a few overnights. Lot of mountains behind Las Vegas (west) with National Forests campgrounds.
Off I-25 between Santa Fe & Las Vegas,
Villanueva State Park. It is off the 25 a bit. Somewhat off the beaten path. However, one can use NM 3 to cut down to the I-40 from Villanueva. We did that one visit.
Colorado & Utah are not far as well with loads of camping area.
No, it is not like camping in the north east, IMHO it's better. See more distance & big skies. But it takes more driving to get to places, I would guess. But you don't have to stop camping in the winter in AZ.
