Upper Scorpion Campground

Camped at Upper Scorpion for one night in April 2017. Both campgrounds are open again after a major road repair following a washout.

The campground is set up for tents, but they are cool with campers setting up in the lot. The lot isn't particularly level, but it's workable. I'd say there is decent room for large rigs, but large rigs aren't recommended on the roads to get to the Gila Cliff Dwellings so it's a moot point.

Water and dump station is available at the Visitor Center, a couple of miles down the road.

The site isn't incredible, but hey...it's in a national monument and it's free.

If Upper or Lower Scorpion isn't your thing, there is a ton (and I mean a ton) of boondocking available in campsites and dispersed between Gila Hot Springs and Silver City.

There is zero service at this campground - the closest service you'll get is at least an hour down the road in Silver City.

The park ranger told us we could stay overnight at any of the parking lots in the national monument. We chose to stay at the parking lot at the cliff dwelling trailhead (which wasn't an issue because it wasn't busy during the day time). It was the perfect place to stay for several nights while we checked out the cliff dwellings themselves and went backpacking.

It's recommended that large(r) rigs do not drive up Hwy 15 from Silver City, but instead take Hwy 35 to Hwy 15. Supposedly Hwy 15 from Silver City to the Hwy 35 intersection is narrow and has a lot of hairpin turns. You may make it up in a large(r) rig, but it'll take you a longer time and you'll probably piss off all the drivers behind you (we were told there aren't many pull-out areas).

Also, the visitor center no longer has a dump station available - but they do still have a fresh water fill station (you'll need a water thief to use it).

(My stars are for Upper Scorpion Campground.)

IMPORTANT: Do not tow ANYTHING up the 15 out of Silver City! At times there is no center line and it is windy and steep (per a white-knuckled gal we met in Gila Hot Springs). All larger vehicles should take the 35 out of Mimbres. There is really good Verizon cell service in town that fades out about eight miles north of town. The 152 from Mimbres to the 25 is hairy and dotted with white crosses. It is a well-made road, but dangerous nonetheless and can overheat your transmission. An alternative route is to go through Deming, then go north. Seemingly, everything up here is part of the Geronimo Scenic Trail.

This campground has a good location for exploring the Gila (HEE-la) Cliff Dwellings, hot springs and hiking; however, location of the campground is right along the main road so you will get plenty of road noise.

The campground consists of a parking lot, right along the road, with picnic tables and fire pits dotted about under the trees. There is no designated separation of campsites or vegetative barrier for privacy. Lower Scorpion provides more privacy with a smaller parking lot.

The toilets are in the middle of the parking lot. There is a handicapped accessible campsite to the far right. If someone is parked at that corner in an RV or car, it may be difficult to impossible to access the campsite from the parking lot. You would hope people would have some common sense and not block it.

You could easily fit a motorhome in this campground, yet it is a gamble since there are no reservations and you would need a long, continuous space. The campground host in Lower Scorpion was in a motorhome about 35-feet-long.

I imagine people would like to picnic here too. Scenic area. The road out is beautiful.

The only bad thing about this campground is that the lot is a bit unlevel.

Water wad turned on in January and the camp host at Lower Scorpion was very friendly.

Our 32 ft 5th wheel fit nicely and we were just able to get level. Tons of hiking and saw quite a few Javalina.

No cellular service but we used Starlink.