The Ranch

You couldn't ask for a nicer group of folks than the people who stay at The Ranch.

This Escapees Co-op RV park is only available to Escapees members, but it's a steal if you already have a membership (ask for their $50/week + electricity rate).

When you first arrive, the office manager will run outside to ring the bell to let everyone know you've arrived. They are full of great advice about things to see in the area, and they'll lead you to your site and help you back in if needed. It's easy to have mail delivered, and the park is very quiet and clean. The sites are HUGE; ours even had a shed we couldn't access, but it did have a covered porch we could use. There is a daily happy hour at 4pm that you'll be graciously invited to attend.

The downside: it's right between Carlsbad (not such a beautiful place) and Artesia (marginally more beautiful), in flat SE New Mexico surrounded by little more than oil fields. There is a nearby state park on a lake we didn't have a chance to visit. This can make for some nice star gazing, but it's a 20+ minute driving commitment to get to much of anything interesting. Or, you know, a grocery store (although the grocery store in Artesia was surprisingly awesome).

Regarding coverage, we use a cell booster, which made Verizon and AT&T usable but nothing spectacular. This is why we ended up moving on after a week rather than the two we were planning.

So come for the friendly folks, the full amenities and the awesome rate. Head on down the road for more spectacular vistas and better coverage.

This is an Escapees Coop Park, and members can stay for a discounted rate. The nightly rate reflects a $50 first time visitors rate for one week, and the normal $125 rate for our second week.

We originally had scheduled one week in this location so that we could see Carlsbad Caverns, but had to rearrange our plans to handle some required doctors visits, and deal with getting new tires on the fifth wheel.

The sites are all quite large, and most have small casitas or sheds on them. This was a very nice park, and was mostly quiet and peaceful, with friendly residents.

This is the most friendliest campground we have ever stayed at. They rang the bell and literally people came running to welcome us to “The Ranch”. We were there over Thanksgiving and had lunch with 70 of our newest friends! They have full hookups with 50amp electric and the entire park was on RO water so that was great! There was free WiFi but you were not supposed to stream/download large files so it was worthless. We ended up just using our hot spot data. AT&T cell coverage was 2-3 bars LTE. There were OTA TV channels out of Carlsbad. They had a great special for 1st timers - $50 for the 1st week plus electric charges ($.10 per kilowatt). This a great location to check out all the sites: Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad and Roswell.

SKP Ranch is again open to visitors. $75 weekly rate for 1st time visitors. Escapees club members only.
The Ranch is a 117 space, Escapees RV Club co-op park located in SE New Mexico. It is one of the oldest co-ops, and was once known as "the friendliest SKP park." The water here is great! Amenities include a coin laundry available by reservation, and a club house with a coin operated pool table. As of 3/16/21 both were closed to visitors for the first two weeks of their stay. Call to see if this has changed.
The majority of the spaces are occupied by older permanent and semi-permanent residents or oil field workers, but there are a handful of spaces available to transients.
Like in the surrounding area, you will feel a red state political vibe. During the pandemic, it was rare to see a resident practicing social distancing or wearing a mask. As of mid March 2021, Trump flags can still be seen within the park. If this is your thing, you'll love it there!

We only stayed one night but attended their happy hour where everyone was extremely friendly. Well spaced sites, level and clean. Quiet to the extreme. Escapee members only.

Arrived late but had called ahead and were greeted at office. Easy back in site. Good electric, water and sewer connections on nice level gravel space. Safe environment and park is in a rural setting. Cell service was good for Verizon and ATT.

Fantastic and lovely members. Community events! Great intro price for a week and reasonable prices even outside of that. Good location to see Carlsbad caverns, Guadeloupe NP, Roswell, and bottomless lakes SP from. Reasonable onsite laundry prices.

Cheap onsite boondocking options available.

Not even going to stop after reading the Rules. Why open a business just to restrict access to everything.