Paliza Family Campground

Nice National Forest campground. No hookups, but clean level sites with tables, fire ring and bbq. Nice spacing, tall ponderosa , small creek and clean pit toilets. Campground host, Dillion, was super nice and helpful. He took pride in his work. We stayed in the back loop where generators were not allowed.

We stayed the weekend and were looking for a place close to home. We were Two families, 4 adults, 4 teens, 3 ATVs and we all fit in one site with two very large tents. The bathrooms actually smelled good, never in my life have I been to a camp bathroom that clean. The grounds were very well maintained and the staff/hosts were very friendly and knowledgeable.
Not at all crowded. We got there on a Friday at 4pm and still had plenty of spots to pick from.
We have Verizon cell service and were able to get texts and calls and able to call out. WiFi was in/out. The other family we went with have Teen mobile and had zero cell service. You can take your ATVs/UTVs just drive slow 5mph in the camp sites and be respectful, can drive the dirt roads off camp for more fun. They fought to get us all ATV access so don’t ruin it. Have fun!

Although there are no hook-ups and currently, you can't reserve spots in advance, this campsite is absolutely worth the effort to secure a space. It is relatively small but it is VERY peaceful. About an hour from Albuquerque, but it feels worlds away. While some of the sites are a bit close together, most are quite large. We stayed at one of the "medium" sized spaces and there was room for our rig (30 ft) our tow vehicle and 2 large tents (our adult kids), plus a great fire pit, grill and sturdy picnic table. Our space (#16) backed up against the forest, so we had huge amounts of room and privacy.

Cell coverage is VERY spotty. While you can make phone calls almost anytime, expect a garbled experience. As far as data...it popped in occasionally, based on the sudden arrival of hours worth of emails, but do NOT expect to stay here and enjoy those advantages of "modern life." You will be largely disconnected. Forget about surfing the web.

The lots are relatively level. Some back up against a very nice stream (these are grabbed up first, of course). There are toilet facilities (vault toilets) throughout the grounds and the camp hosts do a remarkable job of keeping them clean and the odors at a minimum. 3 of the sites have wooden shelters, built in the 1930's. These feature chimneys!

You're also quite close to the start of Paliza trail, which is a roughly 4 mile roundtrip, and ends at "Goblin Village", a rather amazing collection of hoodoos. This ought to be a more major site, in my opinion, but when we hiked there on a Saturday noon-time, we had the entire amazing place to ourselves. That was a great experience. The little village of Ponderosa is just a couple of miles away, and it contains Ponderosa Winery, a small winery with a modest tasting room, but you can buy a bottle and sit out on their grounds and enjoy the views.

We had a GREAT 3 nights here, and look forward to coming again. Certainly recommend this spot!