Update:Southern New Mexico and Big Bend

[Floridafrances]

Hi again. Thanks for all the help given in my original thread.

I know for some this will seem like we're moving a lot, but we rarely stay in the same campground for more than 3-4 days unless there is a ton to do close by. We prefer moving the RV a 100 or so miles, to driving the Jeep that far for more than 1 day to do things. We spend a lot of time on unpaved roads, which can make for a long day.
So, with that in mind, I'd love your thoughts. And especially need suggestions for places I've not made reservations yet.

Here's what I've got:

Oct. 20 - Leave Mineral Wells SP, TX and spend 2 nights somewhere between Roswell and Oliver Lee SP. (Would like to just make a long day of it and push on down to Oliver Lee but no open spots. Option would be to see if we could push our dates at Mineral Wells to the 20th and 21st and add 2 days elsewhere in the trip.)
Oct 20 & 21 - overnight ??? maybe near Ruidoso and go to Sunspot from there rather than from Oliver Lee (?)
Oct 22-24 Oliver Lee SP
Oct 25-28 - Leasburg Dam SP Doing stuff in all directions from here.
Oct 29-Nov 1 - City of Rocks SP (non-electric site) There's a lot we want to do in the Gila NF and Wilderness. Would we better off to get a hook-up site in Silver City?
Nov 2-4 Several places to go/things to do between Socorro and Datil areas but have no idea where to stay. (Valley of Fires is farther than we want to drive every day in addition to the other driving we'll be doing - mostly slow-going on unpaved roads.)
Nov 5 - Valley of Fires SP
Nov 6 - Brantley Lake SP Have been to Carlsbad, so not going there. Staying here to go to Sitting Bull Falls and drive Guadalupe Backcountry By-way.
Nov 7 & 8 - Guadalupe Mountains NP (if we can get a spot)
Nov 9 & 10 Davis Mt. SP
Nov 11-13 (or 14) Study Butte area for that side of Big Bend NP and Big Bend Ranch SP
Nov 14-17 (or 15-17) Rio Grande Village
Nov 18 - start for home (Nov 20th if we cut out the 2 days between Mineral Wells and Oliver Lee. They'll go somewhere after City of Rocks. Suggestions?)


I know this long, so thanks in advance to those who have gotten this far. 🙂
Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

[2gypsies1]

Big Bend and staying at Rio Grande Village in November is awesome.... yellow cottonwoods against a blue sky!!

Check the closing date but Mesa campground in Gila Nat'l Forest is great for touring Gila Cliff Dwellings. Has some hookups and some big sites. Take 35 to get there.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gila/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=1986&actid=50

[jolooote]

When at Big Bend, make sure to do a day trip to the 'ghost town' of Terlingua. Walk thru the amazing old cemetery and doo the Neato-Keeno tourist souvenir shop near by.

[doxiemom11]

I was also going to suggest the BLM campground Dantil Wells just outside of Dantil for your overnight you are looking for.

[huachuca]

Consider staying at the Dog Canyon CG in Guadalupe Mtn NP rather than Pine Springs. I can almost guarantee you won't have any trouble finding a spot. The sites themselves are nothing special; just find a spot somewhere around the horse corral but the box canyon location is awesome. The tenters are in a separate area and I've never seen another RV when we were there. Potable water in the corral and clean flush johns. Its also fairly close to to Sitting Bull Falls.

Lots of great FS roads for the jeep in nearby Lincon NF. Its open range and suicidal mule deer in the road at night.

[Floridafrances]

Thanks for the replies so far.
Trying to keep my first post shorter, I omitted that we're doing some of the things you've all mentioned. We're going to White Sands, for both a sunset and the ranger-led full-moon hike (last one of the year). And we're going to the Star Party at McDonald Observatory. And doing a tour of the VLA. Unfortunately they've cut the Trinity site visits to only twice a year and so we'll miss it.
Thanks for the advice about places to stay. Should have realized that City of Rocks was such a long drive - timewise - from the Gila Cliff dwellings considering the roads. Have to re-think that. I'll look into all the other suggestions about places to stay. We prefer to not make so many advance reservations, but with few options in some of the places we'll be, I feel like I have to.
trailertraveler, :S That's what I get for rushing. We've been to Valley of Fire in Nev. That was in pre-retirement days so it was late June. We didn't do much hiking. Would love to go back in cooler weather and really explore.
Thanks again.

[patperry2766]

McDonald Observatory near Ft Davis has star watching parties. Super cool thing to do. Check to see if they're having the event on the days you're gonna be out that way.

[NMDriver2]

Fort Stanton Snowy River Conservation area https://www.blm.gov/visit/fort-stanton-snowy-river-cave-nca is a good stop between Roswell and Oliver Lee and if you go over to US 54 and south towards Tularosa there is Three Rivers Petrologlph https://www.blm.gov/visit/three-rivers-petroglyph-site. Both are BlM sites with RV sites available.

City of Rocks is remote but about half way (time wise) between Rock Hound State Park (near Deming) and Fort Bayard Nat. Cemetary (near Silver City) and within an easy drive to Poncho Villa State Park (in Columbus).

I would consider Silver City if you plan to go to Gila Cliff Dwellings. From City of Rocks it is about a 2 hr drive and from Silver about 90 min.

There are a couple of RV parks in Magdalena west of Socorro.

[trailertraveler]

Floridafrances wrote:
...Oct 20 & 21 - overnight ??? maybe near Ruidoso and go to Sunspot from there rather than from Oliver Lee (?)
Oct 29-Nov 1 - City of Rocks SP (non-electric site) There's a lot we want to do in the Gila NF and Wilderness. Would we better off to get a hook-up site in Silver City?
Nov 2-4 Several places to go/things to do between Socorro and Datil areas but have no idea where to stay. (Valley of Fires is farther than we want to drive every day in addition to the other driving we'll be doing - mostly slow-going on unpaved roads.)
Nov 5 - Valley of Fires SP...

Depending on whether you go through Ruidoso or Cloudcroft, there are RV parks and campgrounds in both areas. I seem to remember some electric sites at City of Rocks. There is a BLM campground at Datil Well and two commercial parks in Magdalena. Not sure if the Very Large Array allows overnights. Valley of Fires State Park is in Nevada, the Valley of Fires BLM campground is near Carrizozo, NM.

[rbtglove]

You will be close to Alamogordo and White Sands. There is a good Aerospace Museum in town and if you havn't been to White Sands it's worth a stop. Also the Trinity sight is open for tours (or least was)once a month. There is a State park south of town and campgrounds in Cloudcroft not far away. Easy drive up to Ruidoso.

[magnusfide]

Looks like you've covered all the places we'd go.