Rio Pueblo Primitive Campground

My girlfriend and I camped here for a night and would definitely do so again. Primitive campgrounds were clean and well maintained. Our site was super quiet, near the camp host, and in close proximity to the Rio Grande.

The only trouble we had was driving our Honda Fit into the canyon from the south. I'd suggest driving in from Taos through Pilar for an easy, paved drive. Ours was pretty challenging!

This primitive campground is the last one on the 570 along the Rio Grande. It's tucked back into the canyon on the dirt road extension of 570 and the sites are mostly surrounded by brush. It's a bit unclear which pullouts are sites and which are just parking spots for hikers or randoms. As far as I could tell the actual camp sites were not along the river but I did see a few folks camped in what I thought were just pullouts.

There is a camphost on site at least sometimes and restrooms near their site.

The area is great if you want to sit by the river, go on hikes or launch your boat for a float.

The big negative for me is absolutely zero cell service in the canyon on T-mobile or Verizon, but with a booster/antenna you might have more luck.

We stayed during Christmas 2022 dry camping. We came prepared for the cold nights and thoroughly enjoyed our 5 day stay. The campground host, Dan, was so very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. You must hike the slide trail located on one side of the campground. Lots of other trails in every direction. We saw lots of wildlife including Big Horn Sheep, Cottontail rabbits, coyotes (non threatening), otters, ducks, geese, and more. Hubby did some trout fishing just a short walk down to the Rio Grande from our campsite. We found lots of petroglyphs from the ancient Pueblo Natives and from the Spanish 1500’s.- two just steps from our campsite! Couldn’t have asked for a better experience at the Rio Grande Gorge National Monument and at this campground! Please keep this place clean and beautiful. It’s sacred, rare, and precious. No service but it’s better that way!