Hyde Memorial State Park — Attraction in Santa Fe

Dates of stay: 6-8 July 17: No water. Apparently there has not been water for quite sometime, but the only thing it currently mentions on the state park website is that there isn't water to the RV Dump Station. It should read "NO WATER THROUGHOUT ALL CAMPING AREAS". Nice park/area...heavily wooded. The main camping area is on the right just after the Hyde Park Visitor Center (as you are traveling 475 N). The RV loop is down a bit more on the left. RV Loop has power, paved spots, and concrete picnic tables (these sites are all reserved via the website). The park closely parallels NM-475. You will hear and see vehicles, but it's not extensive by any means. The sign at the entrance to the main campground does not recommend RVs 35 feet or bigger. I'd have to agree with that. The spots aren't really set up to easily drive past and back into a spot. Although Spot 6 would fit a large 35 ft RV it's almost impossible to drive past the spot and back in even with a 12-18 ft travel trailer. Spot 8 and 29 are easy to back in with a trailer trailer. Spot 26 is a nice pull through. The main road through the campground is one-way. The website states 50 Developed Sites, but several areas were not open (the loop that has Spots 1-4, the area with Spots 34-36 and the overflow were closed). The loop that has spots 11-17 is very tight for a travel trailer...I'm actually quite surprised it is not restricted just to tent camping. A large 5th wheel (if it wasn't 35 ft it wasn't too far from that length) got stuck on that loop (see pics). I believe the driver stopped on the incline just before the very tight turn at the top of the loop and could not get going again (kept spinning tires...4wd too!) The Rangers tried helping with a front end loader/backhoe, but it was too much. The next morning a large wrecker truck spent 3 hours getting the rig freed. There are two pay stations, one at the beginning of the main road and one about half-way through the park. The vault toilets are not cared for as well as the other SPs I've stayed at. The two by Group Site #2 in particular needed attention (one had no toilet paper and the other had no lock on the door) Nice hiking trails throughout the park. West Circle Trail (2.2 miles) was a good workout...(steep and rocky in areas, loose rock/dirt, etc). Waterfall trail nice, but the waterfall was more like a water-trickle. You can get a good idea if the waterfall is in full effect because the trail up to the fall parallels the creek that the waterfall feeds...if no water in creek, no water at the waterfall. Still a nice little hike and nice rock face. No cell service...I have Verizon and there was no service at the park...if you drive 3-4 miles in either direction on NM-475 you start picking up service. Santa Fe Ski Area is about 6 miles...

We went through a national forest to get to Hyde Memorial state park. We went to the rv loop that had electric. The loop was very small as their were only 7 electric sites. Once backed in try and get yourself leveled as best as possible because they will all have varying degrees of pitch. We are on a side of a mountain. You do what you can do. Once in it is awsome like all their state parks. No cell signal(T-Mobile).The electrical boxes were in great shape and so were the outlets. Their is no spigots on site but their is 1 community water halfway down the hill. The host pulled up and was very helpful. He informed us this is a memorial and must be kept pristine. This means no glass outside. You can be fined. You break glass they would want you to clean it up fast or you will be fined! There were many places to explore including a ski area just 10 miles up the road (Ski Santa Fe?) This would be 5 star but my wife and I both got sick. I had a really bad night. For about 4 hours it was touch and go. We were about to start making plans on how they were going to get out of here without me. I informed my wife it was rude to count the many different colors i turned. lol. By morning I was feeling a little better and as i looked out my window their was a gentleman trying to back up. I grabbed my jacket and ran up the hill. He approached and i asked if he needed help. He said yes and we got him ln. We met his wife and they were real nice. They want to take us fly fishing (awsome!) The host also informed us of the animals that were spotted within the last 4 months. A bear ( big enough to stand and reach into the back of a pickup truck. A mountain lion and a bobcat. I said to myself i wonder if jack will be ok because when he is lying on his sofa he kinda looks like a giant sausage. I asked the host what do they feed on? He said skunks and other rodents. He said that jack would be ok. I immediately exited knowing that my pet skunk was in danger. We saw the bear at the market with cooking utensils and barbeque sauce. But by the time he got back we were already negotiating with the mountain lion. We settled on $5 a pound. My wife whispered"this is the only way we could get rid of him". (You could here my mom in the background shouting "$5 a pound,are you kidding me!")The bobcat went incognito and is now bill. Note: no bears,lions,billcats,dogs,skunks or sausages we harmed in the making of this review. Update: With permission from the Forest Rangers and Mountain Lion Association, We installed a tracking chip (very humane) So we could give him and other lions...

Do Not Rent this Place – They Are Dishonest and Exploitative Our experience with this rental was extremely disappointing and frustrating. From the start, we were misled and taken advantage of in multiple ways. The staff constantly tried to nickel and dime us, and their treatment of us was nothing short of disrespectful. They spoke to us as if we were children, showing a complete lack of professionalism and courtesy. The rules they enforce in person are completely different from what is stated online, creating confusion and frustration. Despite the unfortunate weather—where it rained throughout our entire event, we still managed to enjoy ourselves. However, after the event, we took the time to clean up thoroughly and return everything to its original condition, as we were instructed to do. Despite this, they informed us that they would be keeping our deposit due to water puddles caused by the rain—something completely beyond our control. Adding insult to injury, they also refused to return the extra cash we had given them because they didn’t have change for a $20 bill. This felt like another tactic to squeeze more money out of us. When it was time to leave, we knocked on the door of the cabin to notify them, but no one answered, and all the lights were off. Yet, they later claimed that we left without notifying them, using this yet another excuse to withhold our deposit. While the space itself is beautiful, it is not worth the gross mistreatment we received from the staff. I strongly advise against renting this place. Save yourself the headache and look elsewhere.

SO...