Whirlpool Dispersed Camping Area

This area is a bit of an oddity, a USFS-designated "Dispersed Camping Area". What that means is that it has a pit toilet and has had some gravel laid down on the entrance drive, but no other improvements. The "campsites" are informal and have no picnic tables, grills, or other amenities besides rock campfire rings.

But it's a beautiful spot, with several sites right on the banks of the Rio Chama. Peaceful doesn't begin to describe it. Midweek in October, it was all but deserted - we saw one other party in the four nights we stayed. And it was one of the cleanest USFS dispersed sites we've seen, with virtually none of the litter that is unfortunately a common hallmark of these areas. We'd happily camp here again the next time we're in the vicinity.

One other note: If you're not driving a high-clearance vehicle, stick to the left when the track branches near the toilet. The right branch gets... interesting.

Truly a beautiful place until the rains come. I have been stuck up to my axles in mud on this road. A popular day trip on the Rio Chama a beautiful wild scenic river. Large Trailers and Rvs really don't belong on this road you might make it in but road conditions change overnight and you will have to wait until the road hardens up to get out or call for a tow truck out of Espanola. Christ in the Desert monastery is at the end of the road. Visitors welcome.

We stayed here in June of 2017. The service road leading to the camping area is dirt but was well packed and easy to travel (in a van). The camping area is to your right to about 6 miles down SR 151, just past Deep Eddy Take Out. The road to the sites themselves are a little soft but not too rutted, we stayed to the left of the (very clean) pit toilets as the other review suggested!

There are several spread out, very private river front sites with fire rings - we had a beautiful view of the moon rising over the Rio Chama River! Only one other neighbor. No traffic noise, just the sound of the rushing water. If your vehicle is short enough (ours was) you will be able to pull under a tree for a nice and shaded spot.

A light afternoon thunder storm rolled through around 4PM both days - not enough rain to make us worry about the roads but just enough to cool the temperatures off for the evening.

We had lunch at the Abiquiu Inn and went to Lake Abiquiu for a refreshing swim (both within a 15 minute drive and highly recommended!) You can refill your water and pick up any necessities at the local general store, Bode's.

We weren't able to make it to the Monesary but heard it was a worthwhile visit. We would definitely camp here again!

Good spot to stay on the way to CO. The dirt road was well maintained and as long as there isn’t much rain the road is solid. Beautiful sites on the water. If in a rig stay to the left of the porta John when going to the sites. We have a 25’ sprinter van and was able to handle the roads just fine. One other couple there super nice spot!

We live about 1.5 hours away on our way to Durango, CO. It was a great spot and was amazing waking up right by the river. We saw people kayaking and our dog loved the water. We would definitely stay again when we head back to Durango. Road was a bit washboard but our Travato did just fine and there was little rain.

Site is closed.

Road is rough at times and can get flooded easily in spots. High clearance vehicle with 4-wheel recommended.

We found a neat little spot near Rio Chama. We had the fortune of trees as well to hang hammocks and to have the refuge of shade.

Another huge plus is there are bathrooms! Pretty clean, minus the bazillion flies.

It was very quiet during the two days & nights we spent here. Only a handful of cars passed by as we camped, although I can see this being a very popular spot during a holiday.

The only bummer about this place are the people who leave behind trash! LNT people! We pick up what we come across, and I hope others follow suit.

Take a dip in the river! Spa day, mud bath treatment 👌

A gem. I dreamt of this place. I mean, I literally dreamt of this place! It was surreal.

I will preface this with that we have a 24' 5th wheel. The road getting into this place is a bit tricky to say the least. It is a 1 lane road with turn outs and is quite heavily trafficked. So bigger rigs are going to have a very tough time getting in here, and anything bigger than what we have I would highly suggest avoiding this campsite. There are also some very tight corners on the road that would be tricky for anything larger than what we drive. The road in though was very easy with no washouts or ruts. Just some standard washboards in a some places. Once to the dispersed camping area there are really only 1 or 2 spots that you could fit any sort of trailer into.

Now with that said this is a van or other super small rigs dream site. Right on the river. Plenty of places to camp and lots of shade. It was pushing 100 degrees when we were there and shade was a must. The trees really help break up the sites as well, you might have neighbors right next to you and not even know it.

The river is amazing to swim in during these super hot days and we spent pretty much all day in it. We were there in the middle of July and the water was perfectly cool and wasn't running super strong. I will say this area was surprisingly busy with how hot out it was. I think a lot of the locals though use this area to cool off when temps start rising. We saw tons of kayakers using the river as well.

We may revisit this site later in the fall when the temperatures calm down a little bit. It was a little rough in an rv even with the AC.