City of Rocks

We loved this campground. It was our very first New Mexico State Park, and after staying at quite a few others I can say with confidence that it is our favorite. Giant, smooth rocks, perfect for climbing and playing around, make up the bulk of the campground. The sites are arranged around the rocks allowing ample opportunity for some awesome photos and hours of fun.

There is a flat, grid like section of sites with hook ups, but if you can I would recommend finding a site among the rocks instead. Much more fun. Most of the sites are not very level, and if you want a strong cell signal you're out of luck, but all that is forgotten when you're camped among a really, really cool massive rock garden!

We enjoyed the trails around the park and up to Table Top Mountain. We also enjoyed the visitor center where you can learn all about how the landscape around the park was formed.

* Our price of $0 is the result of the New Mexico State Park camping pass. With the pass you get $10 off per night, and since the price for dry camping was only $10, we paid nothing to stay there beyond the fee for our state park pass. If you plan to spend more than 22 days in New Mexico over the course of a year, I would highly recommend getting the pass.

I loved it here. You are driving and driving and don't see any rocks, then all of a sudden, this beautiful park comes into view.

I stayed (Feb 2015) over on the west side which is all dry camping. I really liked most of the sites on the west side as many of them were spread pretty far apart or between rocks so you really had the feeling you were alone with just the rocks. The east side has dry camping and electric sites (the E sites are all grouped together). There are some hiking trails that are fairly exposed and could be hot. The trails thru the rocks are short but just plain fun. Also the short trail thru the Botanical Garden was interesting. Some of the most beautiful sites are out in Pegasus North area. They are all reservable but you can stay there for one night if not reserved. These sites offered great views. I rated the sites as great because as far as the scenery and such, they are excellent, however many of the sites will require extensive leveling, #38 comes to mind but I would probably still stay in this site. #28 is a nice pull thru site but might be limited in solar charge.

NO DUMP STATION at this park.

This is a seriously unique camping experience. It really is.. a city of rocks! The dry camping area is scattered throughout the rocks, and it can be a bit confusing upon arrival to pick your site with so many little turns. For larger rigs, the dry camping options are limited - only a few sites can fit them, and leveling is a real challenge.

If you're solar powered, the rocks create even more of a challenge.

There is an electric section, which looked decent enough. Ironically, in an ideal solar area. But if you need the hook-ups, it is an option that will give you a great view of the rock city.

We really enjoyed the abundant hiking in the area - both around the park, and through the rocks.

During our stay, we had some high winds and even snow flurries. Between that and limited solar areas, we only stayed 2 days. But overall, this was a really fun experience!

Caution: If you're arriving from the east and tempted to take Hwy 152 in - it is absolutely gorgeous. But far more curvy than we were anticipating (even after research!) on somewhat narrow roads. And there are two 12'8" low clearance bridges along the way. The grades however were a nice steady 6-7 degrees up and down.

We just finished four nights at C of R (February 23 - 26, 2016), and it ranks at the top of our list of camping experiences. The park is maintained impeccably— employees even scrub the inside of the vault toilets each day (and by that I mean the INSIDE of what is usually a poo explosion). Each site has its own trashcan, too, and it's emptied daily.

New Mexico State Parks are extraordinarily inexpensive ($10) compared to what we've paid in Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. Triple bonus points were mentally awarded when we discovered, at the END of the third day, that there were showers in the rear of the restrooms at the Visitor's Center. I didn't see these mentioned on older Campendium reviews, and you really wouldn't know they're there unless you look. The shower heads are frustrating, but better than nothing!

We hiked up to Table Mountain, an 4.5 mile out-and-back trek up to the top of the mesa on the east side. We also hiked the Hydra trail which winds along the outskirts of the park. We spotted a kit fox, a coyote, dozens of jack rabbits, and hundreds of cottontails. We even had a great horned owl perch directly above our spot on the last night (#21).

Each site is very unique (part of the charm of C or R) and may take some scouting to find one that suits your rig. We had little difficulty with our 22-foot long van.

Minor ding for the distance between restrooms. We had a pretty long hike each time, but as long as you know that going in, you can plan accordingly. The electric spots up front were the least attractive to us because they are isolated away from the rocks and grouped tightly together. Even though the first night dipped down to 21 degrees (it was very windy too), we are glad we didn't pay for an electric hookup. Instead, we moved the van 20 feet further to capture the sun as it came up and the temp rose inside to 70 degrees in 15 minutes.

It's about a 50 minute drive from Silver City, which we enjoyed enormously. Fab beer and food at Little Toad Brewing in the historic downtown area. What a cool city! Make a point to get off the main drags and explore it. Also don't miss the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument to the north (a solid 2-3 hour challenging drive each way).

We'll be back for sure, maybe even for a week. We had 3-4 bars of Verizon LTE (wish Campendium would add that rating to your scale.)

Don't forget to check out the visitor's center when you're there. It's a stunning bit of architecture, and the displays are better than expected. Lovely hand-painted murals adorn each of the walls. Along with the granite signage throughout the park and the celestial-theme to the site names, someone clearly has made sure this is a special place.

We enjoyed our stay at City of Rocks campground. We chose a non-electric site. Our campsite had shade over our solar panels until about 10am each morning. It wasn't too bad. There were a couple of days of high winds during our stay. We were told that New Mexico gets some strong winds during the spring, so I guess it's not so unusual. We had to pull in one of our slides to ride it out.

One disappointing thing about the campground is there is no dump station. We drove out there from boondocking and didn't realize it. After a couple of days stay we needed to drive in to Deming about 30 miles south to the Valero Gas & Travel Center to dump and get water. The dump is free and they have fresh water. You can fill up your water bottles at City of Rocks though as there are some pumps scattered throughout the park. I didn't like the taste of it though - blah!

If you listen in the evening, you'll hear some Great Horned Owls in the park. We saw a few on top of the rocks after sunset. We also saw a fox and lots of rabbits. There are some nice trails to hike and of course you could climb on the rocks. It would be a fun place for families with kids. Mike hiked to the top of Table Mountain in the park to get a geocache.

During our stay we drove out to Silver City and enjoyed the local art and shops. This is a nice historical town. It's about 35 miles NW.

We also enjoyed a day trip to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Wow, what a great place to visit! This was the highlight of our trip. A must see if you are staying at City of Rocks.

Verizon was good but our AT&T had zero bars. My in-laws stay in this park every year during their snowbird season and they said they have always had strong AT&T but this year they didn't have any. We pulled out our AT&T to test and sure enough, zero bars.

The park has a nice visitor center with hot showers and flush toilets nearby. There are vault toilets throughout the park.

I'd probably give this park 5 stars if it weren't for the sites aren't that level. We were told the sites are much better now than in the past. I guess they are working on leveling out the sites better.

What an amazing place to stay. As you come over the rise and first see the State Park, your jaw will drop.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. It was August, which means it was hot. But it wasn't too bad, especially since we were dry camping and didn't want to run the generator for the A/C. I would check the weather first if you are in a similar situation. There are electric/water sites, but they are all close together.

Arrival was a little confusing. I went ahead in our car to scope things out. The camp office was closed due to lack of staffing (mostly volunteer run I think). I had to back tracked and found the entry road kiosk a payment envelope and a map. The right side of the entry road is blocked off with orange cones at the kiosk to force you to divert off the road onto a dirt bypass and pay attention to the kiosk. Our rig is 40 feet long and there was no way we were going to get around the kiosk easily in this dirt pull off. I told my husband to drive on the wrong side of the road to get past the orange cones and skip the kiosk since I already had the map and payment envelope.

If your rig is big, park the RV at the visitors center and scope out the sites in your car. Others have mentioned that finding a level site is tough. That is true. We found one that we could fit on, but had to use blocks under our jacks to get level. Also, if you are relying on solar panels, pick your spot wisely. There are reservable sites at the back of the park. They are marked if they are reserved for that night. If they are not, you are allow to take one of these sites, but only for 1 night (according to the signs).

After that, we have nothing but good things to say. Sunrise and sunset were magnificent. There is a little geocaching in the area. We drove to the top of the observation hill and watched a thunderstorm roll in. Basically, this is a place to chill, hike, read a book, whatever.

Verizon worked very well. OTA television was no problem, I picked up a good number of stations.

We were very pleasantly surprised by this small campground and very glad we scheduled the time here even with the “shower situation” and the lack of ATT signal.

First, CORSP is very easy to get to from I-10 since you exit at Deming, head north for 24 miles and then east for another few until in the middle of the plain you are in an otherworldly collection of rocks. Formed after a volcanic eruption millions of years ago that left a huge hardened chunk of lava, the rocks gradually broke apart leaving boulders and columns of all shapes and sizes that arise from the ground. Scattered among these are campsites for all types-which are non-electric and off to the side-10 electric ones. Several of these seem to be occupied by volunteers though so the actual number available may be closer to 7 or 8. The electric sites are mostly level while the others vary. But we saw truck campers, tenters, small trailers, larger 5th wheels and two 40’ class A’s all within the campground-and all except the larger ones are tucked right up against the rocks. Several campers had set up within the rocks and their sites looked wonderful. There are two group areas as well. The electric sites and numbers to the low 20s face east but the ones in the 30s and 40s face west so will have the sun all day long. (Be aware also that there are frequent dust storms to the west and although we saw no evidence that they come this far east some of the dust may travel over.

There are trash barrels at each site-electric and non- with heavy covers that are emptied daily. We saw no recycling. Additionally there are nice clean ramadas at the each of the electric sites with a concrete floor and metal table.

Payment is at the time of reservation (if you have an Annual Camping Pass for NM then the electric sites cost $4/night and non-elec are “free”) otherwise it’s $14 (elec) and $10 (non-elec))OR at the payment kiosk outside the visitor center. BEFORE you get to the visitor center there is also a kiosk for payment but I believe it is only for day use. If you plan to camp pass that kiosk and pay at the visitor center (it’s around the back on the campground side) The sites are well marked, there is a planetary system trail with information markers for each of the planets and set out “to scale” which is both fun and informative. The Visitor Center has a quite old fil that tells how COR was formed but there are a number of pamphlets and one has a very well written description. The staff is both volunteer and SP ranger and all we spoke to were helpful and courteous.

The bathrooms...well, they are clean but the showers..well the showers leave a bit to be desired. Clean, very much so. Very spacious as well and if you are in the handicapped shower in either men’s or women’s you are in luck-sort of. The shower nozzle is one that it like a hose attachment but the pressure is good. Problem is the push button. The handicapped shower gives about 1 minute of water but the other? 2 seconds. (And the staff said they have had them fixed a number of times and cannot get any more than that.) Well, I am here to tell you that when you are hot and sweaty after a long drive and desperate for a shower and you find the handicapped one is occupied and you get stuck in the other...well, you might get frustrated and jab that button repeatedly (as if pumping it) and you might just get 15 seconds at a time. These are not the buttons you can hold in for a long stream of water but if you keep up that pumping action (until the other shower is vacated or you are smart enough to wait for it) you will get clean. Of course, you can just take a shower in your rig if you have one but for tenters and others without them forewarned is forearmed.

Cell reception-on the east and even along the west side there is virtually no ATT signal. You might get a bar or two from time to time, but if you stand at the south west or northwest corners (The Botanical Garden or Pegasus Loop) you should get 3 bars. Verizon is better with a steady 2 bars, sometimes 3, everywhere within the campground (except perhaps right up against the east side of the rocks.) In any case it is no more than a 5 minute walk to an area with reception and a fellow camper told us her TracFone (with StraightTalk) had perfect reception everywhere.

There are several trails-some of them all use others only hiking and all are great giving great views and exercise. BUT, don’t miss roping through the rocks. Kids will have a great time (after a few safety lessons about hands that should not be stuck in holes) climbing through, around and over them and will likely spot a number of wildlife-bunnies and jackrabbits about, there are numerous birds and many sing their morning and evening songs from the trees and yucca throughout the sites. There is an owl who hoot hooted each evening and at dawn but we only heard coyotes once. If walking the Hydra trail especially be prepared for a number of grasshoppers including the horse lubbers who are plain black at rest and display brilliant red under their wings while flying. CORSP is within the Chihuahuan Desert which had the largest variety of cacti and you will see many of them there, except the saguaro.

If you will need groceries or to do laundry you should be prepared for a good 30-35 minute drive to Silver City which is north of CORSP. Walmart and Albertson’s as well as another local grocery are there. The XXXXXX***** laundromat is spotless, has a number of machines and dryers ALL working AND has free high speed WiFi (unsecured). Wash is $2.50/load in 20 lb. washers and they work well. Dryers are large and $0.25 for 8 min. There is a car wash right next to the laundromat as well.

One last thing-regardless of the time of year the sun/moonrise over the mountains to the east and the sunset over the ones to the west is spectacular and should not be missed. Our stay coincided with the week around, including, the full moon so the CG was “lit” at night and we did not see any but the brightest stars but imagine this places is as glorious when there are only stars overhead as when the moon is shining brightly.

Visited the COR SP, New Mexico in late September. First time there for us. Located about 30 miles north of I-10 @ Deming, NM off US highway 180 via SR 61. Nice visitor facility with flush toilets and showers (However, the water heater was out the two nights we were there, so the tent campers were out of luck for a nice hot shower...). The center has a small museum / display showing off the critters found in the area (including some snakey types you may not WANT to see). Volunteer hosts & rangers very friendly and helpful.

We found the rock formations very interesting, and there are some petroglyphs (semi-ancient native American drawings) to find and see. Easier if you ask for a "cheat sheet" at the visitor center. Check out the pics for a sample. Still pretty toasty most of the day around this part of the southwest, so be sure to take a wide brim hat and/or sunscreen, especially for the afternoons, when you are out for a stroll.

One odd thing (to me, at least) was the park has 10 electric and fresh water hookups available, but no way to dump holding tanks on site. I suspect they ran out of money prior to completion of same, and are awaiting funding to continue. There were 4 slots with connection to the septic system, but all were marked for "Campground Host" with RVs parked in them, although two units appeared unoccupied when we were there. Maybe the hosts swap out periodically?

So, if ya go, be sure your black and grey tanks are empty! Note there is a Valero truck stop just outside Deming on the way to the park that offers free dumps. We did not have a problem the 2 nights / 3 days we were there, but if you have a longer stay in mind, it is something to keep in mind. BTW, state road 61 turnoff from US 180 has rough pavement, reminded me of driving with mud/snow tires. Knocked off one access star for that.

We stumbled across this place a couple of days after Christmas. We were heading west and needed a place to stay for the night. It was dark when we arrived and could make no sense of where we were parking. We woke up in the morning surrounded by the big stone columns. We liked it some much we stayed here for 5 days. There is hiking and biking nearby. The campsites are unique. There are sites for RVs with water and power. As our rig has solar panels, we didn't really need to plug in and stayed in a site with no services. The park gets a fair bit of day use and our only neighbors were families who'd come in and have lunch and leave. We've recommended the COR to any number of friends, all of whom have enjoyed staying there.

The City of Rocks is a pretty place. The rock formations don't cover a huge area, but are super cool to walk thru and climb on. There are a few hikes to do in this area, I did all of them in one day on my bike. Don't think I would stay as long here next time due to having to pay and not a ton to see and do. The camp sites are very cool, right in the rock formations and good privacy at some of them, you might want to tour the camp to choose your spot. We reserved our site online and got charged a $12 reservation fee. This can be avoided by paying for your site daily, but you might have to move sites if someone reserved your site. This spot is worth the $10, there is water, bathrooms, and pretty nice showers. You can pay $14 and get a plug in site, but these sites kinda suck. They are not in the rock formations like the other sites and they are right on top of each other. We chose this spot to explore the Gila Cliff Dwellings, which was about a hour and a half north of this camp, which are closed until further notice due to a road washing out. Call the park before you go to make sure the cliff dwelling trail is open. The area was still worth visiting even if it is not. The cell service was good here, and that's why we stayed here even though we were far from the cliff dwellings, but the City of Rocks can be its own location to visit. There is very little dirt road to drive and it is well maintained, easy access for any size rig. Only reason its not 5 star is due to the price.