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If you are just passing through and need a place to stay for a night or a week, this is a great spot. It has all the usual amenities, i.e. showers, toilets, fresh water, & dump station. Plus it has a huge shore line open to primitive camping.
That's not what I was going for, so my experience was different. We ended up changing plans several times, but finally found a happy place.
Plan A: We reserved Electric Site #4 for a spontaneous 3 day get-away. Upon arrival, it was clear why #4 was available on short notice. It was the most barren and uninviting site among all the other barren, uninviting electric sites. The camp design engineers had plenty of room at their disposal to develop an appealing campground. They chose a different approach. My guess is the cost of running copper cable dictated the site design. So plan on hearing your neighbors snore and good luck trying to take a leak outside.
Then the vicious, flesh-eating insects came out. (Chiggers?)
Plan B: After one night, we searched for - and found several very nice non-electric sites. Problem was that all those that could accommodate a travel trailer were reserved. The dinky sites were "walkups".
Plan C: We moved to the primitive, lakeside camping. Screw it. No one around; no one to object to a generator. Nice view. Strong winds and lots of bugs (flies & midges), but none of the nasty, biting, burrowing things.
PROS: Low price Many sites with nice views Lots of lakeside primitive camping Easy access from I-40 Fishing is supposed to be good Very safe Clean showers and toilets Chiggers are most prevalent after a rare wet springs. DEET is your friend
CONS: Extremely vicious biting insects... (chiggers, no-see-ums??) Electric sites are barren, ugly, and cramped Limited services nearby - if you forgot something, plan on driving to Grants Strong gusty winds Can't keep the fish you catch (min 40" length) Chiggers can be repelled with DEET and they are most prevalent after wet springs - which...
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Would have given this a 5 because the Park itself was beautiful. It's a real shame that there is no one around to maintain it. Visitor Center was closed because of manpower so they may have lost sales there. Since I was a non-resident, New Mexico State Parks charged me more to camp. Discouraging low income tourists I guess. And for my additional money, I got to furnish my own toilet paper as well. I was there on May 8 and the vault toilet hadn't been serviced since April 30. And the one trail that I really wanted to experience on their brochure was inaccessible unless I wanted to wade in thigh high waters to get across the creek. You would think that if they are going to advertise a trail with a water crossing, they would put in a permanent way to get across, even if it's just large stepping stones. Saw one employee in 24 hours there and it was a Ranger who stated that "we are around". Didn't appear to have any volunteers or Camp Hosts either. I imagine that staffing or money are issues here. The tell is the lack of information because of business ads in their brochure. Making money however they can and it's a real shame, because the Park itself...
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We recently stayed at Bluewater State Park, and unfortunately, it did not meet our expectations. Fires were not allowed due to forest fire risk, which is understandable. However, the park is not well maintained. The grass is very long, making it potentially dangerous due to the risk of snakes and fire ants.
We tried walking one of their paths, but it wasn’t well marked, and the long grass made it difficult to walk. Additionally, the trail requires you to cross the river by foot as there is no bridge, so we had to turn around. The deer flies were biting, which made the stay even worse.
We did not see any animals during our stay, but the views are pretty. The bathrooms were clean, but they close at 9 PM, which was inconvenient. The showers were fine, but the park only provides electricity, no water or sewer, which is a hassle when staying in an RV.
A major inconvenience was the park gates closing at 8 PM. If you arrive after that, you won't be able to get in as they do not provide a code. Additionally, there is no internet in the park—not just no free WiFi, but no cell service at all.
Overall, we were quite disappointed and will not stay at...
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