rlm85704

Just what I was looking for. I live in Tucson, so I may go back just to recharge from time to time when it's not full-on summer. As another reviewer noted, be prepared to be completely self-sufficient... there's no water, no nothing other than the wind and sky.

The volunteer staff at the Visitor Center was cordial and informative... they have a picture book of each site, and a sheet with information about access to each.

I was up on a ridge and had excellent Verizon service.

The Border Patrol is everywhere, typical for southern Arizona. Polite and helpful. Those who are concerned about safety issues this close to the border should take comfort in that.

This place is clean, attractive, orderly, and has about everything you might want in a stopover RV park. This is my second time here, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I came back!

Parking spaces are level gravel, separated by generous green lawn areas with a picnic table. There’s an easily visible entrance right off Rte 95; the interior loop road is paved. The office/general store has about anything you might expect, and they even make fresh pizza which they deliver to your site. The two bicyclists who were next to me said it was really good. There’s a post office station if you want to send postcards. Or pay bills.

Bathroom/shower areas are immaculate: so clean they make you want to clean up after yourself so Mom doesn’t yell at you. The laundry room is spacious, light, and clean, and has a nice couch so you can wait in comfort.

There’s water and electric service at every site, and a dump station which can handle two rigs simultaneously. They sell propane if your tank needs topping off. I think the owners live in a residence behind the store/office. There’s a small vegetable garden, just as well-kept as everything else. (I’m sure it’s for the owners, not for us!)

If you can, get a site on the river side of the oval: not only is there a great view of the water, and the soothing sounds of rapids, but there’s more shade if it’s hot.

The camp wifi was reliable and password-protected. Solid Verizon service if you’re near the office; ATT is visible but not useful. (Maybe with a booster?)

There’s no downside. There’s lots to do in the general area. There’s a good playground for kids, and a basketball hoop. David and Sandy Evans are working hard to make this a business to be proud of. They should be. No, I don't know them. Their names are on the web site: http://www.canyonpinesrv.com.

Long preface: There are three camping areas in the Navajo Dam area: this one, Pine, is the biggest: 57 sites with electricity and water, 9 with full hookups, and 88 dry camping spots. Pine has three sub-areas: Main, Pinon Loop, Cedar Loop, and Juniper Loop. Pinon, Cedar, and Juniper are all dry camping sites.

Just below the dam, there is another area along the San Juan River, sensibly called the San Juan River area. One camping area, Cottonwood, has 23 electric sites and 22 non-electric (dry.) This area has some world-class fly-fishing areas; fishing is one of the main attractions here.

So is boating: there's a marina and boat launch facilities near the Pine Main camping area.

The Main sites are arranged in 5 loops, A-E.

Confused yet? Wait: there's more! At the north end of the lake, in Colorado, there's another camping area called Navajo State Park, near Arboles, CO. This is a Colorado state park. My GPS tried to take me there until I wised up and backtracked.

This is based on a few nights at the Pine (Main) area, loop A.

The sites are pretty closely packed in, but trees give more than adequate privacy. The park management calls them level, but make sure you have leveling blocks if this is important to you (as in, refrigerator working right.) As one would expect, there are picnic tables, barbecue grills, and fire pits, The area is pleasant, the views of the lake are expansive, and the camp hosts are helpful. The shower area was clean and well-maintained. There's a dump station near the entrance to the Main area. The kids' playground area looks attractive, in a modern plastic sort of way.

If you want to fish, or want a camping HQ for lake boating, this place is really great! It has everything you might want; the kids will love it.

A previous reviewer referred to this as an "odd" little park. That's being polite. It's dusty, unattractive, confusingly laid-out, poorly signed, poorly maintained. There's some sad-looking museum exhibits which portray the relatively unimportant skirmish between the man who called himself Pancho Villa and American General "Black Jack" Pershing. If you're a history buff, this might appeal to you.

It's easy to find the park once you're in Columbus. Follow signs. If you have a New Mexico annual camping permit the place is dirt cheap. Pun intended.

The main reason to visit Columbus, NM, seems to be a convenient border crossing into Mexico for low-cost prescription drugs and dental work. Other than that, there's not much reason to stay here. I have met full-time RV'ers who shuttle back and forth in 2-week intervals between this park and Rockhound, about an hour north. Rockhound is a delight: well-maintained and attractive. This place is neither.

ATT cell service is by way of Mexico, so be sure to put your phone in airplane mode if you don't want very expensive roaming charges. ATT Signal strength seemed adequate. Didn't test Verizon.

Disclosure: I drove in, found the camp host (no mean feat!) got a map (whose relationship to the territory seemed tenuous,) poked around, and left. I didn't actually stay here.

This park is about 25 miles north of Las Cruces, NM. Coming from the south, once you leave I-10, you wander through pecan groves until you get to Radium Springs.

It's easy to get lost when you get close: my GPS app tried to take me to the day-use area, which is closed and padlocked. I stopped at Fort Selden, just up the road from the day use area, and got directions, which were easy to follow. All on paved roads, but still, better signage would help, New Mexico!

The Visitor Center was closed, with signs advising that you check in with the Camp Host (site 9) if you have questions. The sites in my "neighborhood" (Cactus Patch) all have water and electricity. There's a common holding tank dump station right by the visitor center. I have yet to locate trash cans or a dumpster, but I haven't looked all that hard. It has gangbusters ATT and Verizon cell service.

The big question about this park is why it's here. It's on the way from Las Cruces to Hatch and then on north to Albuquerque. It's not all that attractive -- mostly flat scrub as far as the eye can see, although there is an interesting range of hills off to the east. The actual dam and the Rio Grande isn't visible from the park. It does have a really cool playground for kids, right by the visitor center, and lots of little trails and cactus gardens to explore. I reserved and pre-paid 2 nights here. Knowing what I now know, this place rates a one-night stopover. It makes Rockhound, where I was the last couple of days, look much more attractive. I said I wouldn't stay here again, not because there's anything really wrong, but because Rockhound and City of Rocks are much more attractive options in this part of New Mexico.

This is a great spot. Not spectacular, but pleasant and easy to get to. I was here in mid-February, and the sites with electric service were all full at noon. I claimed the last of the sites with no hookups, but that wasn't a problem. Because I have a NM State Parks annual permit, the net cost was zero. New Mexico state parks are generally well-maintained and pleasant, which is why I invested in an annual permit.

(Edited) I've been back here a few times; this last stay (late March 2016) the place was full; I had a reservation for the first night in a site with electric and water; the next couple of nights I was in a "dry camping" site. In general, dry camping sites are more spacious and quieter than the sites with electric and water. As before, the camp hosts were extremely helpful and pleasant. If you arrive late in the day, they make every effort to find you a spot: typically, they take you to one of the day-use sites for a dry camp. There's also a group camping area, which can be used by anyone if there isn't a group reservation. The slots within this area are very close to each other, and I'd consider this a last-resort option.

There are trash cans at each site, which is pretty convenient. I'm guessing critters aren't an issue. The community showers are clean and well-maintained. There's a dump station and potable water near the shower house.

This is one of a series of Forest Service campsites along AZ 260 east of Payson. They are all now privately managed, which means that they cost a lot more than they used to. The nightly fee is $22; with a federal pass it's half that.

Very quiet. Easy to get to. Paved fairly level sites with picnic tables and fire boxes in open ponderosa pine habitat. 5970' elevation. A very friendly and helpful campground host when I was there. It's bear country, so don't leave food out.

This is the classic "it is what it is." Excellent Verizon, good ATT cell service.

Except for the fact that I had a flat tire, this was a real enjoyable stay.

I've been here before, and I can only echo the remark of a previous reviewer: "This is BLM?" It's a small-ish area, with campsites running along a ridge overlooking the lava flow which gives the area its name. The sites are mostly level, with asphalt parking pads, a sheltered picnic table, fire rings, barbecue grills, and individual trash cans. Many of the sites have both electricity and water. There are tent sites in their own area, with water and toilet facilities nearby.

The rest room/shower facilities are wonderfully clean; there are individual shower stalls separated by tiled walls, with wooden changing benches. The (unnecessary, given that each stall has a door) shower curtains are rumpled, but clean. As is usual in this kind of facility, you push a button and water comes out of a nozzle above you. The water stays on for something like 30-45 seconds and turns off automatically; it takes a few cycles of this to get warm/hot water.

There's a path with interpretive signage and some rest benches which wanders down into the lava flow. Well worth the time, and with smooth secure footing all along.

Good ATT and Verizon signals.

The $18 rate includes electric and water; 50% off with various Federal Passes.

Great sunsets.

Easy to find from the highway heading east out of Carrizozo.

What's not to like?

I'm not sure about this place as a destination. The landscape is pretty much dominated by the tailings pile from a defunct copper mine, and the rest is your basic mesquite scrub desert. It's not pristine, by any means: there's some broken glass to be wary of, and people have left junk behind; other reviewers have documented this.

But it's easy to get to, and if you're on your way through on the way to or from Tucson, it's a good stopover. The turnoff from AZ 85 is plainly marked. The gravel road is well-maintained, and there are numerous turnoffs into sites which are spacious and pretty level. There were rigs of all kinds parked along the road in, from vans to big Class A's. The road goes in for about a mile, to the intersection with Bates Well Road. That may be the last convenient place to turn around if you're in a big rig.

Cell service was passable without a booster for my Verizon Mifi. There's an ATT signal as well, but ATT users should note that this is "Off Network" and you may get hit for extra fees.

There's a fair amount of traffic along the gravel road: I think it's an access road for four-wheeling, and I watched a couple of caravans of jeeps headed in on a Saturday morning and out that evening. There was a little road noise from the highway where I pulled in, but nothing problematic.