Monticello Point Road Dispersed Camping

This has been one of the nicest out-of-the-way places we've stayed so far. Monticello Point Road is an exit right off I-25, just north of Truth or Consequences. The road is really old asphalt, so it's rough driving but solid. It's too narrow to actually park on the roadside.

Just off the freeway there are two wide spots - wide enough for a large RV with tow to pull in, stay and get out. In the next 3 miles or so there are 4 more actual pull-outs. We stayed in one, there's another decent one, one that's got okay parking but was used as a dump site (old tires and such), and one that has a stripped car. So, two good spots. Just past the stripped car, there's a cattle guard and the road turns to dirt. There may be places to part further on, but we didn't go past there to check things out.

For someone with a smaller RV, Class C or Van, it might be reasonable to pull off and just park in the desert. It's very level, pretty solid and there are areas with little vegetation. The issue would be the ditching on the side of the road, which is deep in some places, but crossable in others.

During the 5 days we were here, we had an average of 2 or 3 vehicles go by per day. It's hunting season, so that's expected, I guess. All the rigs were pretty upscale - and no one stopped or even slowed down.

We did get a visit from a very nice BLM person. She was in uniform and armed, pretty imposing! We had a nice chat. She was totally okay with our being here and complimented us on keeping things so clean around our camp. She said she was going to check out the abandoned car, so maybe it will be removed sometime in the next little while.

The views here are spectacular. Flat desert with low scrubby plants. About 15 miles in each direction are hills/mountains - which were crystal clear most days. We had some rain (with thunder and lightening briefly), but generally it's been clear, warm in the day, clear and cooler at night. Just. Perfect.

Once you turn off the highway onto Monticello Point Road, there are two parking areas very close. We stayed in the one on the left-hand side. It was very easy to pull in and out. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but we did see other rigs coming and going.

There are a few other spots further down the road, but we stayed close to I-25 for the better cell reception. Loved having the full moon while we were there!

1 mile down the access road from exit 92 on rt 25 we found a pull through which matches the coordinates listed here. There were two sites closer to the highway which were occupied when we arrived. We did not travel father down the road, but had noted that it looked like it eventually connected to the state park shore road. The site was easy to access, however it had clearly been used as a dump as there were 6 tractor tires, and a shower stall liner full of bullet holes adjacent to the site. We kept the dog on a very short leash as the site was covered with broken glass. We found the site quiet, and a good distance from the highway. An acceptable site for one night, when we didn’t need electric at the state park, and wanted to enjoy the mountain view we wouldn’t see at the truck stop.

Coordinates N33.327309 W107.269762

BLM land off of Interstate 25, just north of Truth or Consequences. Head east on Monticello Point Rd. Distance from I-25 to our spot was approximately 1-1/2 miles. Our spot was on the right. Road is hard packed dirt and gravel and just a bit rough because of gravel.

You will cross a cattle guard. Ranchers lease this land so it’s important not to leave any garbage around. On your way and you will see sites were somebody dumped tractor tires.

Our site was pretty clean but as I walked around gathering limbs for a campfire, I found areas with broken glass, oil cans, chair frames, beer bottles and cans. I cleaned it up.

You can see hoof prints of cattle. I find any littering is sad and unacceptable. Range animals can step on glass and end up getting an infection and they can ingest garbage. It’s months before the ranchers will see them again.

It’s up to all of us to leave the campsite cleaner than we found it. Slobs who litter, get places like this closed down.

This was a nice, remote boondocking location in the Jornado del Muerto, yet right off I-25. The road was unmaintained black top with some potholes. There were two sites close to I-25. The one on the right had an abandoned truck camper in it, but plenty of space to park on the other side of it with the awning facing south away from the camper. The site on the left was decent. Further down the road, there was a site on the right with abandoned tractor tires. The best site was beyond that, at the coords given in the page header. All four sites were level pull-throughs, and would accomodate large rigs. Beyond that, there was a narrow cattle guard and fence with a back-up turn-around before it, and a small site on the left after the fence. The Benchmark atlas showed that that was still BLM land. I did not explore any further, but the road connects into the north end of Elephant Butte State Park.

I camped at the site on the left. It was large and level. The surface was gravel, with a small amount of broken glass and tire shreds. Although only 1,000 ft from the interstate, it was fairly quiet. That part of I-25 had little traffic, and only a handful of vehicles traveled the BLM road.

Verizon 4G service was excellent, with 5 bars, -78 dB, 25 Mbps down and 18 up.

I would have stayed 14 days, but it turned cold with a forecast no better for the next week, so I left for warmer weather. If I had stayed, I would have gone to Elephant Butte Lake State Park and paid the $8 day fee to get in to fill my water containers and dump my trash.

...but honestly that is all I can say about it. There is trash, graffitied trash and lots of glass. The road is very rough. I went about two miles, just wasn’t feeling it, found a place to turn around and left. As a woman traveling alone, it wasn’t somewhere I felt comfortable staying.

This was a wonderful experience for us. Level, spacious spots right off the highway. Very quiet with limited traffic throughout the day and night. Easy access and short drive to Truth or Consequences, which has a Walmart, free rv dump, and plenty of amenities. TMobile service excellent. Nothing fancy but plenty of room for my kids to run around and play.

Great place to stop over night. We stayed at the second location just off the paved road and exit. More than Plenty of space for my 37ft TT. We quickly found a flat area. It’s seconds off of the highway. Even though the highway is just right there it was still dark enough to see all the stars and the Milky Way.

Flat, open spot with distant views of the mountains! We stayed in the pull through with the tires. Freeway noise wasn’t too bad and the road had fewer than 5 cars travel by during the day. Nearby Truth and Consequences has free dump station and shopping.

We both work remotely (thanks, Covid!) and require amazing reception on both Verizon and AT&T. This place did not disappoint! We both had 4 bars LTE, no booster required. It was super easy to access and we took the first site to the left once the road becomes gravel. The noise from the highway barely registered.

But most importantly, the view was beautiful. The clouds cleared to stunning mountain views. Because it’s all gravel (and level!), the morning rain didn’t make an impact.

I would absolutely stay here again for a longer period!