Spring trip to New Mexico?

[ILBill]

Hi all!

My wife an I bought a 29 foot Durango 5'er this past summer (woo hoo!)and are thinking about a trip to New Mexico this coming spring.
Neither of us have been to New Mexico before so we are starting from scratch.
We are thinking of 7 to 10 days in the Santa Fe/Taos area but really know nothing about the area other than pics on the interweb.
We prefer COE/National Forest/State Park campgrounds rather than commercial KOA types and also prefer forests to desert but do want to keep an open mind.

For those of you with experience in New Mexico is this the area you would choose as first timers?

How is the weather in April or May? Are those crowded times?

Which national forest/state park campgrounds did you enjoy most?

What do you think are the must see and must do things in the area?

We really appreciate your thoughts and time! Thank you.

Bill and Leslie

[brooks379]

It can snow in NM, the wind can blow, there is a small chance it might rain but most days are blue skies and sunny !!

[ppine]

The opening and closing dates of public campgrounds should give a good clue. I would either plan to be at lower elevations most of the time, or go later. You can camp at say 6,000 feet and then do some day trips up the mountains at higher elevations.

[fanrgs]

Chaco is a premier dark skies park and often visited by the Albuquerque Astronomy Club. Don't miss it, but don't take the RV because one part of the road is terrible (the part through a corner of the Navajo Reservation).

We have also stayed at Santa Fe Skies and Taos Valley rv parks, but much prefer Lake Cochiti and Abiquiu Lake, which are both COE campgrounds (1/2 price with Fed Sr. pass). Heron Lake SP, mentioned earlier, is one of our favorite NM state parks. We have stayed multiple times at Sugarite Canyon SP near Raton and at least once at many others. Can't beat $14 for W/E sites and $18 for FHU sites including daily park pass, dump, and heated shower rooms.

Others have mentioned spring winds. I saw a blown-over semi blocking both lanes of I-25 at Las Vegas, NM, and I-40 closed at the NM-AZ border for two days due to high wind warning. Gallup was so full of truckers that every motel had no vacancy signs by noon! Both wind events were in April, as was a snowstorm on I-40 in the Sandias just east of Albuquerque. Spring in most of the Rockies comes in May more often than April!

[dedmiston]

dedmiston wrote:
Hey Bill - You could literally throw a dart at the map of NM and find someplace magical.

It's weird to quote oneself, but whatever...

I hadn't thought of this before, but many years ago when two of our kids still lived at home, we were trying to find a destination for their spring break trip. We didn't exactly throw a dart at the map of NM, but pretty close.

My wife was flipping through Sunset Magazine and came across a beautiful shot identified as the "Bisti Badlands" (BISTI Badlands / De-na-zin Wilderness). We couldn't find any info on it other than a location on Google Maps, but it seemed cool enough and we decided to make that the destination for our week.

We think we found the place, but there wasn't really any "there" there. It probably would have been amazing, if only we'd been able to find some info on where to actually go and what to see. We found an entrance in the fence and hiked around all day before taking off. We never found any grand points of interest, but the day was amazing nevertheless.

At one point we were hiking through a narrow twisty slot canyon. My wife and I were together and the two kids were around a bend behind us. At one point we startled a huge owl who more than startled us. The owl jumped up and flew away right over our heads. Seconds later we heard the reaction as it tried to land in the canyon behind us and got startled again by our kids and flew away.

It was a great day, but definitely not the highlight of the trip. We had a blast just improvising our way around the state. There's so much to see.

[dedmiston]

ppine wrote:
Chaco is right up there with Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelley as one of the most important arch sites in North America.

It almost feels even more special than those two because it's so much more work to get to. You have to really want to get there, to get there. It's so worth it though.

[ppine]

Chaco Canyon is one of the great celestial and ceremonial sites in North America. The whole complex is oritented towards the sun and its movement through the year. The closer you look, the more amazing it becomes.

Puebloan culture there was most successful around 1,000 to 1,300 AD. The site has been extensively documented by using tree ring analysis from the vigas (timbers) used to construct the roof of the dwellings. Ponderosa pine logs were harvested up to 50 or 70 miles away and brought to the site. Chaco is right up there with Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelley asone of the most important arch sites in North America.

[4runnerguy]

A little late to the game here but I've been out playing too much.

Places to see:

Chaco Culture. Not near Santa Fe or Taos, but definitely something to put on one's life bucket list. Way out in the middle of nowhere. There is a CG there, but the dirt road discourages most from dragging their units out there. We hope to go back there again this summer.

El Morro NM. Also not near SF, but a stop that totally surprised me. For both of these, we stayed at McGaffey NFS CG SE of Gallup and did day trips. The McGaffey CG has six or seven sites with electricity and sewer, kind of unusual for NFS CGs.

As previously mentioned, Bandelier NM has a CG but no hookups. It is in the desert but higher up in elevation. Further up NM 4 there are more NFS CG's that are more in the trees. A bit of a commute down to the SF/Taos area, but nice setting.

NE of Santa Fe up NM 475 there are several NFS CGs plus Hyde Memorial SP. Good access down to SF.

There are several NFS CG's above Taos. Never been past them so can't comment on them. Do check into whether any were impacted by the fires last summer.

So much to see and do in Santa Fe. One thing we found is that if you visit on the weekend, you can park for free in the big lot across Santa Fe Trail from the capital. (Hey, I'm frugal not cheap!).

I would point out that they are predicting a wetter than normal winter for NM this year (whew!), so snow might be an issue at higher elevations until you get into May. Note that many NFS CG's don't open until mid-May.

[vermilye]

If you do decide to spend the earlier part of the trip in southern NM, check out City of Rocks State Park near Deming. While they have a hook up section, most of the nicest sites are dry and tucked among the rocks.



While there, make a day trip to Gila Cliff Dwellers National Monument

[dedmiston]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Chaco Culture yet.

Also, something to spice up any Southwest trip is listening to Tony Hillerman audiobooks while you drive. The stories are great, he gives a lot of background to the local tribal life, and you'll recognize a lot of the settings as you travel around.

[Roy_Lynne]

That would be a perfect place to go. Make sure you check out the Ghost Ranch, Abiquiui Lake (there is a BLM campground), Bandelier National Forest, (also has a campground) There are also some forest campgrounds, Pilar, Rio Bravo and Arroyo Hondo closer to Taos, and if you have the time check out Chama and if its open take the awesome train ride.
OH if your dark sky lovers. Plan to spend a couple nights at El Vado Lake State Park, which is closer to Chama but not far from Santa Fe. It is noted for its night skys and beautiful sunsets as is a sister state park, Heron Lake.

[JKJavelin]

I had heard of Rusty's earlier this year and it sounded like an interesting and nice, uncrowded place to visit, so we recently booked a few nights for early Feb. for the start of our mid-winter mini-snowbirding trip. I've heard nothing but good things about the place. And... she takes Passport America.
JK

[dedmiston]

profdant139 wrote:
Dave, thanks for that tip about Rusty's. We are dark sky fanatics, so it would be great to find an RV park without bright lights. Boondocking is wonderful, but there are times when hookups can be a very welcome change!

If you go down to Rusty's, I would strongly recommend the day trip over to Chiricahua in AZ. We had never heard of it before that trip, but I think it's as beautiful as Utah's Bryce Canyon. Its only drawback is that it's so remote.

As for the dark sky, it would be interesting to check the lunar phase before you head down there. A full moon would kind of kill the experience.

[profdant139]

Dave, thanks for that tip about Rusty's. We are dark sky fanatics, so it would be great to find an RV park without bright lights. Boondocking is wonderful, but there are times when hookups can be a very welcome change!

[dedmiston]

Hey Bill - You could literally throw a dart at the map of NM and find someplace magical.

We stopped someplace really offbeat last winter and absolutely loved it. It was Rusty's RV Ranch down in the panhandle north or Rodeo.

I picked this place kind of by mistake, because we were looking for someplace to camp near Chiricahua National Monument. Chiricahua is in Arizona, but there's noplace to stay anywhere nearby. This spot in New Mexico looked close on the map, but there was a big mountain range in the way. Did you ever see the movie Rat Race where Cathy Bates told Whoopi Goldberg she "Should have bought a squirrel"? We had a similar experience with the woman who ran Rusty's. She gave us a hand drawn map with the "shortcut" to Chiracahua. She described all of the landmarks and told us we'd pass a sign that said "road closed for winter" and to just ignore it. The pavement ended and this so-called road turned into a narrow dirt fire road that was covered in snow in many spots. I don't switch my dually over into 4WD very often, but we needed it for the snow.

Chiracahua was incredible though and we had a great day. At the end of our hike there was no way I was driving over that mountain shortcut again, so we took the highway around and it was about fifteen minutes shorter.

Rusty's RV Ranch was a hoot. When we checked in, she mentioned to me that their camp was "light pollution free" and that we couldn't use any exterior lights on our RV. She had a basket full of loaner red flashlights if we wanted one. It turned out to be a big draw for amateur astronomers. Some of the spaces even had special pads poured for people to set up their large telescopes.

Each of the spaces were about 30' x 100' pull through. They were massive. It was like having our own yard. Even if the place had been full, we wouldn't have been anywhere near our neighbors.

There was a big communal hot tub that was the size of a regular residential swimming pool, but it was above ground and hot. That was a fun nightly outing. And as promised, the view of the night sky was incredible.

Add that to your list of interesting destinations. I would definitely go back. Skip the shortcut to Chiricahua though.