Bear Canyon Reservoir — Attraction in New Mexico

Love this place to fish and camp. There are no improved camping sites.

We camped mid-week setup on a Tuesday. I was quite surprised by the number of campers and vans that might have called this place home for the night had we not taken their place earlier in the day.

There is no potable (fresh drinking) water. We did dishes with boiling lake water. We toted in 5 gallons of fresh drinkable water.

There are vault toilets that are in a real need of repair. Windows and toilet seats are broken making even the quickest go a bit more uncomfortable then necessary.

If you have a camper you should be fine. If camping with a tent, beware that the ground is covered with compressed rock beds, very hard to stake in your tent.

Be diligent about where you put your tent also, coyotes, wolves and bear are known to occupy these woods near the resevoir.

Also connected to the lake is a cattle ranch, we awoke to steer not more 50 yards from the tent. 0400 mooing is not the most pleasant thing to awaken to.

There is an area that is flat on the farthest end of the lake, very hard ground quite a ways up (steep hill) from the lake. Be careful here the banks are slick and hard to manuever if loaded down with fishing gear. 81-year-old Father-in-law fell into the lake slipping on the wet dew covered moss and grass.

Great place to fish for pan fish such as bluegills and crappies as well as winter fishing in stocked rainbow trout.

Found the evening visitors a bit annoying, youngsters with loud music and lots of marijuana seemingly unable to keep their voices down in an area where everything echos. It's a canyon after all. If these locals were quieter or more respectful of others I would like this place even better.

Have fun, great place for fishing and relaxing in nature. Would qualify for 5 stars if the ammenities which are few and far between actually were in good...

Beautiful..serene spot. Easy roads to and from area, nothing a car can't handle, and roads to area are well paved. Great for fishing and taking a spin in a boat. Not the best place for swimming - there is an abundance of algae as well as a soft clay bottom- which is easy to get stuck in and lose shoes in. I don't suggest swimming in this area. However it's great for a scenic walk and exploring and...

I love this lake especially for fishing. The facilities only consist of vault toilets. There are campsites per se. There definitely no improved sites. Hopefully the toilets will be fixed soon, some are missing windows and a couple have broken toilet seats which makes the go more uncomfortable than necessary. I would give this place more stars if the toilets were actually more...