Reservations in October in southwest--AZ, TX, OK, NM?

[GPs]

We're planning our first trip to the southwest--TX, OK, especially AZ & NM. We've made park reservations for a portion of time for balloon festival at Albuquerque and at Grand Canyon but wondering if the other popular places will require advance reservations? Our typical plan is to make reservations at national parks and special events but just call ahead on day of travel or day before expected arrival for most. Will that work in October in these states? Also appreciate any suggestions for those areas at that time.

[cinharover]

That link to the Ultimate US Campgrounds goes to a Ultimate Grounds Keeping Service. Must have gotten a bad link there.

[GPs]

More helpful information! Thanks!

[wxtoad]

Last year we arrived in NM in time for the Balloon Fiesta, for which we did have reservations at the mass lot south of the balloon field. After that we spend the months of Oct and Nov wandering all around NM without reservations anywhere and we never had a problem getting a site.

The same applies to our trip west from New England.

Here is a journal of our meandering trip, which includes comments, photos, and links to all the campgrounds at which we stayed.

In Jan and Feb we moved to TX for warmer weather, again we did fine without reservations.

We pretty much always stay at public campgrounds (BLM, USFS, State Parks, etc) and have the Federal Golden Geezer pass which makes staying at federal locations an excellent deal.

Also note that NM has the best Annual Parks Pass of any state in the country: Their pass is $225. It waives entrance fees, gives you free camping without hookups or if you want electric hookup, it's only $4 dollars. With hookup, it pays for itself in three weeks! Even less if you dry camp.

There are lots of places to boondock in UT and NM, all for free. How do we find them? We have found The Ultimate US Public Campground Project to be the most comprehensive source for public campgrounds, especially the smaller and out-of-way locations.

That's a wonderful part of the country to explore - have a great trip!

Ted H.

[Sooner_Schooner]

In SW Oklahoma you should visit the Wichita Mountains by Lawton, there is the beautiful Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. There is no charge for park entrance and you can stay at Camp Doris in the refuge or Lake Lawtonka for about $12 per night.

[GPs]

Thanks for all the information, which is really helpful. We plan generally and then will be flexible according to weather and other factors, like finding something which makes us want to explore more or just take a day to rest and do laundry, so it looks like we'll be ok not to make reservations in advance.

[eubank]

Yes, October snow is possible in the higher country (though pretty unusual for Santa Fe, which isn't that high). But those storms are basically harmless. You get up the next morning to see some white stuff, and by afternoon it's history except for in the pictures you took of it.

By late November and early December, things are pretty different in the high country, though. You get up the next morning to see some white stuff, and it's still there in the following April. That's why we prefer places like Santa Fe or Taos, where the snow comes, but it also goes away. It's really refreshing for us in the winter to drive down to Taos out of the higher terrain. It revives your faith in life to see dirt and rocks and bushes and grasses and weeds and trees instead of just white, white, white, and more white.

🙂
Lynn

timandsusan wrote:
All the comments are correct--in late September and into October the weather at higher altitudes like Santa Fe and Taos can change quickly. We were in Gallup in mid October and planned to move east to Santa Fe until the weather report was for high temp of 36 and SNOW! Time to head south! In West Texas--check out Big Bend NP, Fort Davis and the Davis Mountains State Park. Continue east from Big Bend toward San Antonio--fall is great for the Alamo, great Mexican food, golf and then to the Gulf Coast--Rockport it will be great and wonderful seafood. Write if you have any specific questions.

[tatest]

October in Oklahoma.

So long as you don't show up at the time of special events (State Fair, a county fair, fall festivals, Pelican Festival (end of September at Grand Lake), horse race running dates or somebody's marathon race, the commercial RV parks should not need reservations, COE parks should be mostly empty during the week (still fill some on weekends) and state parks don't take reservations.

Some facilities, COE particularly, will start scaling back what campgrounds remain open, as their volunteer workers start leaving for winter destinations. The one I use most closes about 90% of the spaces on October 31st. Then the other lower cost CGs (like state parks and tribal parks) will fill up with the full timers who were living in the COE parks and hopping space to space every 14 days. We saw the impact of this last year when the sequester closed all the Federal campgrounds earlier than these people usually head south.

I personally tend to make reservations for a week at a time att my favorite COE, even off season, because there are particular campsites I like at different times of the year. But that I can do this also shows me just how unused these facilities become after the children are back in school and families don't have time to go camping.

[timandsusan]

All the comments are correct--in late September and into October the weather at higher altitudes like Santa Fe and Taos can change quickly. We were in Gallup in mid October and planned to move east to Santa Fe until the weather report was for high temp of 36 and SNOW! Time to head south! In West Texas--check out Big Bend NP, Fort Davis and the Davis Mountains State Park. Continue east from Big Bend toward San Antonio--fall is great for the Alamo, great Mexican food, golf and then to the Gulf Coast--Rockport it will be great and wonderful seafood. Write if you have any specific questions.

[Earl_E]

As long as you are planning to visit the lower, warmer areas you should have no need for reservations in any of those states. The snowbirds don't start arriving in mass until Dec or Jan so every place we know of has sites available. As Lynn said, the high mountain areas may be closed by then.

[eubank]

In the higher mountains and smaller communities, you may find that some campgrounds will already be closed for the season, but it depends on just how much business the town gets at the particular time you're there. But if you're sticking to larger towns like Santa Fe, Taos, ABQ, and the like, you should be ok in this regard.
🙂
Lynn