Sugarite Canyon State Park — Attraction in New Mexico

An Afternoon Well Spent !!

It has been many years since I've been to the Raton area and typically whenever I was in the area it was just a quick to use the bathroom or get gas. On this visit, it was on a Friday afternoon and I had a few hours to kill and wanted to actually see some of the area. I remembered from years past that there were some lakes up in the mountains that I had always wanted to see and now was my chance. The Park is only about 20 miles from Raton and the roads were not that busy. The drive up is really nice as you see mountains, hills ranches, and some great scenery. On the way to Lake Maloya I stopped at one of the smaller lakes, Lake Alice and spent about half an hour checking it out. There really isn't access to that lake but you can tell its frequented by anglers. It is a nice small scenic lake.

I then made my way up to Lake Maloya which is a reservoir for the area and right on the Colorado border. The lake is magnificent!! On a nice warm summer day, there was a nice breeze and no bugs. There were boaters on the lake, some people canoeing and some campers but it was not that busy at all. I spent a good two hours stopping and driving farther up the lake until I came to the gate that takes you to Dorothy Lake ( for another time). The views are just amazing, I suggest bringing a canoe or kayak and spending a good day there. I'm not sure if there is swimming since I didn't see anyone swimming in the water.

Next up was Sugarite canyon, and when you stop at the main entrance they use the honour system where you pay, so please pay!!! I made my way to the visitors center and got a map of the trails. The canyon is a great place to hike and I saw no one else on the trail and felt like I had the place to myself. I can't describe how nice it was walking through the canyon, and all there is to see. I highly recommend hiking with a buddy since it is in a remote area and I saw a few different animal tracks as I made my way through the trails. In short, this area is worth a visit, you can spend a few hours there or a few days, its truly part of the magnificence that...

Great park, soda pocket campground sites very nice, very clean, spaced fairly well apart from each other, most have good shade, some great shade. We stayed at soda pocket so can’t say a lot about lake Alice campground other than it is the only place that has power and water, don’t believe there is sewer, but they do have a dump station on site. Alice by far has the most shade and are nice and clean but sites are on top of each other. The staff/Camp host seemed nice for the little interaction we had with them. Back to soda pocket, the elevation if I remember correctly is nearly 8000 ft which is nearly 1000 ft higher than Alice. So for the middle of June, highs where about mid 80s and lows, low 60s. We stayed for a week, and essentially you are dry camping at soda pocket, so if you are in a tent or pop up without a shower you will need to go down to the entrance across the street from the information center for the shower house, which is very clean. The information center is very good, nice informative staff, very clean. In soda pocket there are 2 vault restrooms, very clean but that’s all. All sites have a nice camper pad, nice concrete slab with nice picnic table, cover and a bear box. The staff/camp host maybe some of the nicest we have met so far. Now to the trails and lakes. Nice trails, good info about the the old mining town of sugarite, nice trail around Lake Maloya, wildlife in abundance nearly everywhere. As for the fishing, I need to tell y’all we have little to no experience trout fishing, but have lots of warm water fishing experience. Lake Alice was a bust for us, Lake Maloya was a slow start, I believe due to our lack of experience. But God blessed us with a great neighbor up there that showed us what we need to use and how to use it. The last day, in about 2 hours we all nearly caught our limit, the lake was beautiful nestled in among the mountains. We totally recommend this nice little park, it may not be for all be we were certainly blessed by being there. I hope y’all go and visit and I pray each and every one feels...

Nice place to camp, make sure to check out the higher camp ground.

Update one year later and another stay at Sugarite Canyon. (Sugareet) Wife and I stayed here for a week 07/1/19 -07/06/19 we like it so much. Sugarite has had buckets of rain lately so the area is green as can be. Lush forests abound with wildlife. We saw a Black bear on two occasions, both around the same spot about half way up the road to Soda Pocket campground. The second sighting was a Mama bear and 3 little rascals playing and chasing her from behind. Bald Eagles are around, as are Mule and white tail dear. The deer are everywhere including the Soda Pocket Camp ground. I gotta tell Ya, this is the cleanest camping area I have ever seen. Toilets are spotless as are the showers, no mold anywhere. Fire rings and camp sites are cleaned as soon as a camp site is vacated.

Caught two Rainbow Trout while slowly trolling in a Kayak using a Red and White spoon, both about a 1 1/2 pounds and two little Bass that were bait size coming in at about 6" long. Awesome hiking and sight seeing trails, some easy, some hard. The campground Hosts are the best they come, both husband and wife are very friendly. Host does and excellent job keeping the area picked up weed whacked and sites clean as can be. Not even cigarette butts can be seen. The top part of the Soda Pocket campground has spectacular views, The camp sites at the top have no trees for shade and is kinda Barren, however the views are worth the trade off. I recommend going if you have the chance and time, we always end up staying at least one more day...