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Campground suggestions for Cloudcroft

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TGTUMBLEWEED

TGTUMBLEWEED

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ken
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Musgrove
May head there for a few days with my cargo trailer to sleep in. Looking for a nice place to stay with power. Any suggestions?
 
By far the best camping in Cloudcroft is the dispersed free camping in the forest. But if you absolutely have to have electricity, try the Aspendale Baptist Camp in Pierce Canyon. RG from here on the board has stayed there a few times and I think he likes it ok. It is in the forest and about five miles from town. Probably your best option if you have to have electricity.
 
I'm going Thursday, going to tent camp off my Versys 1000. I looked around Cloudcroft and couldn't find anything with a shower (I wanted), that you
could make reservations. Being 4th of July weekend I wanted to reserve a spot. I ended up getting one at The Camp @ Cloudcroft, which is actually in
Mayhill. Looks good.
 
Montejay said:
I'm going Thursday, going to tent camp off my Versys 1000. I looked around Cloudcroft and couldn't find anything with a shower (I wanted), that you
could make reservations. Being 4th of July weekend I wanted to reserve a spot. I ended up getting one at The Camp @ Cloudcroft, which is actually in
Mayhill. Looks good.
Click to expand...
Ken and Monte make sure to make a trip to the Mayhill cafe for lunch good food and plenty of it.
 
Nothing wrong with Mayhill, but it is a big difference temperature-wise than Cloudcroft. CC is 8500 feet, and a bunch of the camping in the forest is closer to 9K. Mayhill is 6500 ft. The biggest attraction in Cloudcroft is the cool temperatures--my thermometer last weekend (I am at 9K almost exactly) never moved past 75 degrees and it was 51 degrees in the morning. It won't be like that in Mayhill.
 
Thanks. Will try the free camping. Don’t really need power. Going that way on the 17th for a long weekend.


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TGTUMBLEWEED said:
Thanks. Will try the free camping. Don’t really need power. Going that way on the 17th for a long weekend.

at
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Click to expand...

I will be there that weekend most likely but may or may not have my 950 with me. Here are a couple camping options for dispersed camping. These are all off of the Sunspot Highway. At the four mile marker, hang a left at Russia Canyon road and then stay immediately left again (up a short hill). There are several camp spots right there or down Upper Russia Canyon road a bit further. Second option is to keep going a few more miles south on Sunspot hwy until Benson Ridge Rd (FR 223) and go left. 223 is a fairly long (10?) miles and there are countless awesome camp spots right off the road. They are spread out so it is nice and quiet.

All the best forest camping is off of Sunspot Highway.
 
Are there any waterfalls in the area


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Johnf3 said:
I will be there that weekend most likely but may or may not have my 950 with me. Here are a couple camping options for dispersed camping. These are all off of the Sunspot Highway. At the four mile marker, hang a left at Russia Canyon road and then stay immediately left again (up a short hill). There are several camp spots right there or down Upper Russia Canyon road a bit further. Second option is to keep going a few more miles south on Sunspot hwy until Benson Ridge Rd (FR 223) and go left. 223 is a fairly long (10?) miles and there are countless awesome camp spots right off the road. They are spread out so it is nice and quiet.

All the best forest camping is off of Sunspot Highway.
Click to expand...

thanks, I may have to run out there in a couple of weeks for a long weekend.
 
TGTUMBLEWEED said:
Are there any waterfalls in the area


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First you have to realize that there is very little surface water anywhere around CC. All the water flows under the ground and emerges in springs--hundreds of springs. That being said, there are two waterfalls in the area. The most popular is Bluff Springs because it is right on a graded county road--Rio Penasco Rd. It is maybe 20 feet high and spring fed. It is crowded on the weekend and people camp all around it. Too many people to recommend it as a camp spot.

The second falls is called Bridal Veil. It is halfway down more in the desert between High Rolls and Las Lunas. It is on a hiking only trail that was part of the old railroad that went to CC from Alamogordo in the very early 20th century.. It is a really nice hike, but for me it is a spring/fall/winter hike. Maybe three miles round trip if you park at the south trailhead and go in and back out. It is also spring fed, not quite as high, but still cool to see. Go early morning in the summer if you are going to hike it this time of year.

Both of these falls are pretty small scale, but both are totally accessible--you can climb up them, go to the bottom, etc.
 
Johnf3 said:
By far the best camping in Cloudcroft is the dispersed free camping in the forest. But if you absolutely have to have electricity, try the Aspendale Baptist Camp in Pierce Canyon. RG from here on the board has stayed there a few times and I think he likes it ok. It is in the forest and about five miles from town. Probably your best option if you have to have electricity.
Click to expand...

I've stayed there twice. Very nice people. They also have cabins and showers.
 

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The Cool Pines RV park is about 1/2 way between Mayhill & Cloudcroft, on the north side of the road, about 10 minutes east of CC. I've never stayed there, but it's a fairly sizable place that will have all amenities. I believe they have a few cabins on the premises also. I haven't tried them because we always stay in one of the NF campgrounds right outside of Cloudcroft. No amenities in the NF campgrounds, but they are quiet, well laid out, paved roads, and 3 or 4 minutes drive into CC.

Waterfalls? This area just isn't known for them. If you drive north of Ruidoso, go west on Bonito Road, and park at the now closed Southfork NF campground, you can pick up the South Fork trail at the end of the road just past the campground. There aren't any breathtaking falls, but you'll find a couple of 30-footers along the South Fork River. Fair warning - you'll probably have to hike in about 3 miles to get there. On the other hand, it's a great trail that parallels a raging creek, so you'll enjoy the walk. Caution: lots of log crossings, and there's been a lot of snow melt this year, so crossings may be a bit wet & tricky. Carry 2 hiking poles - they're great for balance as you cross.
 
Several of us will be at the spruce cabins the last week of this month (29th) with Sanders group.
 
if your group's got up to 6 riders, there's an awesome airbnb house that's right next to spruce cabins that we rented out...corner of Lynx Ave. & Aspen Cir.
It's this one right here:
20170829-193823.jpg


SPlit it 6 ways, it's cheaper, cleaner, & better than Spruce.
 
Correction to my above post. Cool Pines is on the south side of 82. About 1/2 mile closer to Cloudcroft is Lazy Day Cabins & RV Hideaway; that's the one I was thinking of.
 
tshelfer said:
The Cool Pines RV park is about 1/2 way between Mayhill & Cloudcroft, on the north side of the road, about 10 minutes east of CC. I've never stayed there, but it's a fairly sizable place that will have all amenities. I believe they have a few cabins on the premises also. I haven't tried them because we always stay in one of the NF campgrounds right outside of Cloudcroft. No amenities in the NF campgrounds, but they are quiet, well laid out, paved roads, and 3 or 4 minutes drive into CC.

Waterfalls? This area just isn't known for them. If you drive north of Ruidoso, go west on Bonito Road, and park at the now closed Southfork NF campground, you can pick up the South Fork trail at the end of the road just past the campground. There aren't any breathtaking falls, but you'll find a couple of 30-footers along the South Fork River. Fair warning - you'll probably have to hike in about 3 miles to get there. On the other hand, it's a great trail that parallels a raging creek, so you'll enjoy the walk. Caution: lots of log crossings, and there's been a lot of snow melt this year, so crossings may be a bit wet & tricky. Carry 2 hiking poles - they're great for balance as you cross.
Click to expand...

Definitely Cool Pines. Cathie and Jed Dahar are the owners and live on site most of the year. They have full hook up sites for large RVs and pull through sites with elec and water for smaller rigs. We stayed there last August and it was great. They also let me park my Land Cruiser there a couple weeks back while Chris (Mudtaco) and I rode the NMBDR. Check out Mad Jack’s BBQ. Lockhart ex-pat with good bbq and a great story.

‭This is Cathie’s cell: (520) 349-0096‬.


This is us at Cool Pines:
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I missed, a few posts back, that you're leaning toward free camping. There's a National Forest improved campground called James Canyon. It's maybe 3 or 4 miles west of Mayhill on the south side of 82. Each site has a picnic table, a fire pit, and a tent site. And there are pit toilets there. And it's free. Nice little place and I've spent a week there on my VStrom. Usually not crowded when I pass by, except around holidays. It has maybe 7 or 8 campsites. As you come in, there are two to the right that are perfect for what you seem to be looking for. To the left, there are a few more, but you have to cross a footbridge to get to them, so your trailer & bike couldn't be in the campsite.

There's no water there - and that's why it's free - but you'll probably bring a few jerry cans in the trailer. If you get low, you can always drive to the NF service center in Cloudcroft and they'll let you fill up.

Very easy to find on Google Maps.

There are a number of dispersed or remote free areas, and if you call the ranger station, they'll tell you about them. A few I remember are Karr Canyon campground on - no surprise here - Karr Canyon Road. There's supposedly another that breaks off of Sunspot Highway - I think it may be along the road that breaks off to the Sunspot Observatory, but I can't swear to that. And from Mayhill, I was told that if you break off south on 130, there's a meadow area on the east side of the road; I looked, but never found it.
 
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