Clayton Lake State Park Campground

Dark skies park

Gorgeous park with lots of space for camping. Only stayed the night, so no time for Dino footprints or hiking but the stay was great.

Quiet, clean and has hot water showers

Well off the main road and down below the hills, This campsite offers tranquility and beauty. Clean restrooms, showers and the bonus feature of prehistoric artifacts

Hauntingly Beautiful... prairie landscape with mesas in the distance. Suddenly you come to the very pretty little lake which seems like an oasis. Night we were there storms rolled across the mesas and afterwards the stars were bright and numerous. Saw large herd of Pronghorns. Very friendly staff and campers. Well worth the 20 minute drive off the beaten path as alternative to commercial overnight park.

ATT is great but Verizon non-existent.

We camped at Clayton during FCFS season and managed to snag one of the 7 water/30 amp electric sites ($14), which all filled up during both nights of our mid-week stay. The CG also offers a variety of shapes and sizes for dry sites overlooking the scenic lake, and we likely could have found a few of those that would fit a large RV. The electric sites are all large enough for larger RVs, but it’s hard to get into any of them. The narrow road on a steep hill that leads to the sites shows the scratches and dents from RVs trying to make the hard turns needed to park. Once we were in our site, there was no leveling necessary, but again, upon exit, we used the oversized lot to get turned around rather than try for a hard left turn up a narrow hill.
The CG is pretty and quiet, and offers lots of site spacing (more in the dry sites), but there is no Verizon service and no dump station. This CG is also really off the beaten path. When I saw that it was about 10 miles up the road from Clayton, I didn’t think much of it, but the road to the lake is in rough condition, hilly, and winds its way out into very rural country. Overall, the trip was worth the quiet respite, but I don’t know if we’d make the drive for a single overnight.

We had a really good time here. I am adult woman who loves dinosaurs, loved the tracks and the lake view. My partner loved that he had cell/data access. :) Will definitely be back.

Clayton Lake State Park near Clayton, New Mexico turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It is a small state park with several small campgrounds spread around the reservoir which is popular for fishing. Our campground had about a half dozen sites overlooking the lake. The opportunity to see dinasaur tracks and attend star parties make this park unique. The campground host is an amateur astronomer who regularly hosts very well-attendedstar parties. Water and electric were available at our campsite, but the park does not have a dump station.

We stopped here in March on our way from CO to TX. Campsites were not reservable this time of year, but plenty of sites available. This is a nice state park campground, level sites, picnic tables, fire ring, etc. Bathhouse was locked but pit toilets were open.

Very nice park 12 mi north of Clayton. No dump station on site but in town at Love's truck stop you can dump for $5. Minimal cell service on top of dam.