Newbie looking for semi-secluded RV camping in NM & TX

[BURSON]

Two months ago we purchased our first RV (24 foot motorhome). Growing up my parents had an RV and we had a favorite place to dry camp in a nice reservation in New Mexico offering secluded camping sites and outstanding trout fishing. I didn’t realize until after our RV purchase, this reservation is closed for a very extended period of time (at least a decade) due to fire and flooding. I was shocked to learn this but had hopes there would be other locations like this available in the mountains of New Mexico.

Since our purchase, I’ve realized state, national and privately owned parks offer a very different type of RV camping. These are not secluded and your neighbors are in very close proximity. My husband works M-F, so we are restricted to weekends with an occasional long weekend.

For our first major outing with the RV, I was able to find a nice location in the Santa Fe National Forest; however, this location does not take reservations, and we were incredibly lucky to find an open spot. Camping neighbors were close, but not too close, and there was a nice sense of community during our stay (there were only 16 camping sites at this location). This location didn’t have the “parking lot” appearance and we felt comfortable in this choice. However, we realize we will not be so lucky venturing to this location in the future and need to find other options. I do realize winter is upon us and many of the parks in the mountains will be closing until Spring.

I’m beginning to regret the purchase of our RV because after long searches on the internet, I can’t seem to find other locations similar to the one mentioned above. I’ve looked for camping locations in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

Does anyone have suggestions on RV camping in New Mexico (or Texas) that may offer the type of RV camping I’m looking for? Thank you to anyone out there who can save me from placing a for sale sign on our new RV.

[trailertraveler]

BURSON wrote:
...Trailertraveler, what a learning experience regarding MVUM. I've downloaded numerous maps since reading your post...

Glad it helped. Pay close attention to the Legend on each map. The distance you can take the RV from the traveled roadway can vary from Forest to Forest and sometimes from area to area within a Forest.

[Heisenberg]

Burson and Captain Happy. The lake called Lake Coleman is not COE. It is North of Coleman. Hords Creek Res. is 10 miles west of Coleman and is COE. Use Google. Been there done that ... nice COE facilities.

[2gypsies1]

For national forests check out this site. We used it all the time for finding our campgrounds with our 40' motorhome. There are definitely many national forest campgrounds that offer excellent site spacing and many are on trout streams, lakes or nearby. The couple who created this site have stayed in the campgrounds. They describe them clearly as to road access, facilities and what size RV would fit.

https://www.forestcamping.com/dow/pictures/pictures.htm

Traveling in the western states it very easy to find sites as you prefer. There is lots of BLM lands and national forest lands. That's where you should concentrate for your desires. Next in line would be national and state parks. There are also excellent city and county parks. Forget about private parks. That's not what you want.

[Graycat]

Great thread! I'd love to find more remote camping spots too. Captain_Happy, could the Lakeside park be the one listed on rvparkreviews as Hords Creek Lake, Lakeside Campground?

[BURSON]

To: Trailertraveler and Captain Happy -- excellent information. Happy, I've bookmarked the site and it's nice! Trailertraveler, what a learning experience regarding MVUM. I've downloaded numerous maps since reading your post.

Thank you so much everyone for your help.

[Bumpyroad]

Passport America used to list a few clothing optional campgrounds. that would be about as secluded as you can get.
bumpy

[Captain_Happy]

Lake Coleman, west of Coleman, Texas has a really nice Corp of Engineer park, I think it's called Lakeside Park just west of the Dam. Site right on the water and well spaced apart. Even has shade trees (Big Live Oaks). When I live closer I when there a lot. Get yourself a COE senior pass if your old enough. Half price.

[trailertraveler]

Secluded is a subjective term. I would not consider any public or private campground secluded. Those that accept reservations generally do so because they are popular and the management wants to give opportunity to all. New Mexico State Park campgrounds are generally not parking lots, but I would not consider them secluded. As mentioned, some NM State Parks like Elephant Butte and Caballo have primitive camping areas where you may be able to get away from other campers. Some New Mexico Wildlife Management Areas allow camping. You can find National Forest Campgrounds in New Mexico on the website in the link.

The term dispersed camping is often used by RVers to describe what agencies often consider car/vehicle camping which can only be done in areas open to vehicle traffic while dispersed camping/back packing can be done in areas closed to vehicle traffic. On National Forests, areas open to car/vehicle camping are shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) or Travel Maps. These areas can change as often as every year and are not marked on the ground, so you need the maps. Maps can be obtained from the Forest Service Ranger Stations and many are available on line. Search for MVUM or the individual Forest's websites.

BLM lands have been mentioned. Be aware that some BLM areas like the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument along the Rio Grande River restrict car/RV camping to developed campgrounds only.

[frizzen]

Check out the New Mexico State Parks website.

[RE_Todd]

Also check into Lake Sumner, based on your location. If trout fishing is your goal, I know there are places off of the 285 in southern Colorado, but kind of far for a 2 day weekend.

[doxiemom11]

The freecampgrounds.net does have camping on BLM areas, national forest, corp of engineer and many small city /county parks that are free or low cost. It's a very useful site. Create and account so that you will be able to see pictures that some reviewers post after they have stayed somewhere.

[Lwiddis]

If you can’t find a secluded camping site in New Mexico....oh my goodness!

[BURSON]

Thank you NMDriver! I'll check out your BLM link as well. And thank you for suggesting spots with fishing :-)!

[NMDriver]

For winter camping look at Brantley Lake, Caballo Lake, Percha Lake, Leasburg Dam, and Elephant Butte if fishing is one of your goals. Elephant Butte hook up sites are pretty close together but many people dry camp around the lake shore. Caballo has two campgrounds one above the dam and one below and the lower campground is fairly dispersed. Percha Lake and Leasburg are have pretty good spacing in the hook up sites. All of the lakes will be crowded on weekends with pic-nickers but are sparsely used during the week.

If you are looking for weekend only dry camping then there is a lot of BLM land available. Check this link for more info link