“Home to tons of wildlife and much to do!”
The unique lakes at this park are sinkholes, ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. This amazing place provides a range of activities including swimming, fishing, camping, wildlife viewing and birding.
Reviews of Lea Lake Campground
79 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 44 users | Last reported on March 14, 2024AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 28 users | Last reported on July 06, 2023T-Mobile 4G/5G
Confirmed by 10 users | Last reported on October 16, 2023There are A LOT of mosquitoes here, which makes it a very unpleasant camping situation. The big lake is a fun place to swim and relax during the day though. They have paddle boat and paddle board rentals. It's a popular spot for families.
Took a quick swim here on my way north. Picnic tables, swing set and a beautiful blue late in the middle of a desert wetlands. Informative, peaceful and beautiful. Hit it up!
We love New Mexico State Parks, and Bottomless Lakes is no exception. It is a well run park with a friendly host on site, nice level sites with covered picnic tables, a great walking path, and even a lake to swim in! The area around Bottomless Lakes is not very exciting, but the lakes (actually sink holes) are really pretty, and the largest one is great for swimming. Other perks are free WiFi that for once is fast enough to use, a crazy cheap price of $14/night for electric & water hook-ups, and an onsite visitor center with interesting exhibits all about the area. The only downsides are a plethora of bugs at certain times of year, and the fact that besides the small town of Roswell 30 minutes away, there is really nothing to see outside of the park.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 12
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
Bottomless Lakes State Park - Roswell, NM
If you are planning a trip to the Roswell area, skip the RV parks and Wal-Mart in town. Head east about 13 miles to Bottomless Lakes State Park. Comprised of multiple sink holes that are below the water table, this beautiful area offers hiking, fishing, biking, and swimming. There is a visitor’s center that does not have adequate parking for an RV, but two miles down the road is a campground at Lea Lake.
The campground has a handful of full hook-up sites for $18 per night, but must be reserved in advanced. Primitive camping for $10 is listed on the bulletin board; however, we did not see where these sites were located. The remaining sites are $14 per night and include electricity and water, plus a nicely covered picnic bench area. The sites are very spacious and an easy walk to the swimming beach.
Free showers and bathrooms are offered, though they are the misting type, so much of the shower feels cold even though the water is warm and the building is heated. You have to push a button for more water every 15 seconds, and the only bench is outside the shower stall. Todd recommends using the handicap stall for the best hot water, though the woman’s handicap stall had a broken water nozzle during our stay.
On the other side of the lake is a day-use area with picnic benches and a well-maintained playground that is shaded. There is also a trailhead for a mile-long jaunt to some of the other sink holes in the area.
A dump station is available and trash cans are strategically placed throughout the campground. Though simple, we greatly enjoyed our stay here and wished we had spent more time exploring the area.
Don't recall our cell phone service situation. Their WiFi was actually pretty decent, but I wouldn't plan to stream NetFlix.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: -
We chose to reserve ahead of time and the spot we had was perfect for us. It was right across from the campground beach and where the scuba divers go in, according to the campground host. The site was level and the covered concrete picnic table was perfect for working outside. We did end up putting the screen tent over it to keep out the bugs, but they weren't too bad. The accompanying charcoal grill also got some use.
The water is always in the mid 60s, but we saw a lot of people swimming while we were there. Personally, I found it a little chilly in my wet suit when I stopped moving. The other sink holes are fun to look out and Roswell isn't too far away to go and explore.
We had a water and electric site for $14, but there is a $12 use fee when reserving. The bathrooms are decent, but you do have to continuously push the button on the shower for hot water. Someone came into clean them as I was leaving. They weren't horrible, but I definitely thought the shower could use a wipe down.
FYI: It is a long (5 mile), curvy drive on the way in.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 25
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
Cool little campground with swimming, a couple of well kept walking trails, lots of bugs. rustling night-critters, and a great night sky with very little light pollution. We reserved a spot in advance so that we could grab up some full-hookups as we were coming from 2 weeks of dry camping. It is probably a good idea to fork out the extra few bucks for the online reservation fee if you are a big rig, as there didn't appear to be many spots (maybe 1 or 2) that could accommodate a 40'er in the 'walk-in' section (we watched several rigs drive in, drive a few laps, then leave). Also, might want to chat with the campground host if you do arrive without reservations and can't fine a space in the 'walk-in' section, as the spot next to us was big enough for a 40'er but was unoccupied for several days in a row. Primitive sites are available ~2 miles down the road (near welcome center). Appeared to be 1 or 2 that could accommodate smaller rigs/tows and the rest were laid out for tents. Sites at the hook-up area are decently spaced with covered picnic tables and grills at each site. Also, free wi-fi that was decent during the day (but predictably slow at night when everyone was streaming 'Keeping up the the Kardashians'). Bugs got a little rough, but that's to be expected near water in a desert. In the evenings, raccoons raided the trashcans so that was entertainment.
We recommend staying at Bottomless Lakes if you are coming to Roswell, even though it's a 25 minute drive to town, as it is literally one of the 2 attractions the area has to offer (the other being 'aliens'). We did get lucky and caught the end of the 'Eastern New Mexico State Fair' while we were in town.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 6
Site Number: 6
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
There's no alcohol allowed at this park, but the rowdy down home local crowd that were in the park while we were there were jamming tunes pretty hard to believe the rule is enforced. I also did my usual drinking with no issue.
Fires are allowed in fire pits only. There are no fire pits from what I saw.
Quite a beautiful place though. Not a fan of nearby Roswell at all. Pretty wild to stay in a state park that offers WiFi which also worked well.
Oh and if you are coming from Roswell and pass the state park sign (the one pointing right to enter the park) and take the next right, it's a shorter less bumpy road to the RV sites.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 12
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
This is a fine small state campground with typically roomy sites. All utilities worked fine. We were able to stream HD video over our Verizon hotspot. The toilet/shower buildings are old and could have been kept in better condition. The campground and surrounding areas are pretty stark as is typical for eastern New Mexico. There are no mountain vista views to be had near here.
There is a small lake/sinkhole adjacent to the campground that is set up for day use. I suspect that in the summer the day use area is hopping. When we were here (early April) hardly anyone used it, even on the weekend.
We did note a number of little "no-see-um type" of bugs, probably due to the proximity of the water.
The campground is about a 20 minute drive from Roswell, NM which has a couple of good food stores for stocking up including a pretty good Albertsons. There is not a lot "going on" in Roswell. Try the Cowboy Cafe for an honest small town diner breakfast (it was actually quite good.) The claim to fame in these parts is the "Roswell Incident" of UFO fame which occurred in 1946. There is a "UFO Museum and Research Center" in downtown Roswell which you might as well visit since that's probably why you would come to this area (the other being to visit a relative.) Other than that, bring a book or two.
The campground is convenient to the major east/west road (NM 380) and as such makes a good overnight stopping place.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: 17
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Springtime winds in New Mexico and the Texas panhandle can get pretty fierce. High winds in the 50mph range were forecasted so I decided to spend the afternoon and night at a campground to ride it out. Bottomless Lakes was a perfect place! The park sits on the west edge of a long, mostly north-south bluff. The campground is tucked in such a way that it provides pretty good wind protection from any winds coming from the north or east. Perfect! There was a nice little hiking trail connecting some of the pothole lakes to the campground, and a CCC-era shelter/picnic area around a nice swimming beach. Nothing else going on in the surrounding areas, so this won't be an ideal place for extended stays, but for a simple stopover, the pull-thru electric campsite here was perfect for my needs.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Could use some better signage at the entrance. Where the sign points to the right for the park takes you on a fairly rough, narrow road to the campground. Ignore the sign and go straight; you end up in the same place, but on a much better road.
The camp host was really helpful getting us situated.
There is free Wi-Fi, but without a booster, it was intermittent.
The architecture of the place is pretty cool; rock buildings from the WPA. We loved the scenery.
On the downside, the restrooms weren't as clean as other state parks we're stayed in.
Nightly Rate: $14.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 25
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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Lea Lake Campground
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 7:00 am - 9:00 pm
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Last Nightly Rate
- 14.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 45.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 4.0
- Max Length
- 40 ft
- Max Stay
- 14
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Swimming Pool
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Paved Sites
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Rec Facilities
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Pull Through
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Tent Sites
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Open Seasonally
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Age Restricted
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Boondock
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Cabin Sites
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Dispersed Sites
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Firewood
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Fulltime Residents
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Group Tent Sites
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Laundry
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Mobile Homes
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Permit Required
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Potable Water
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Propane
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Public Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Showers
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Standard Tent Sites
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Water Hookup
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Outdoor Seating
Campground, Parking, Dining, Restrooms
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