Santa Fe National Forest | Wild Camping

May 1st, 2024 by f.wernlein

Well developed pull off from NM Rt.4 near mile marker 48. Well marked with sign as SFNF land and no "no overnighting" restrictions. The road that runs to the right leads to many well isolated campsites. Quiet and only a handful of other campers.

May 29th, 2023 by emmarollett1

Went left on the forest road and all the spots were taken. Went back to the entrance and turned right and it was open with dozens of spots. This area is beautiful, we stayed one night but you could easily stay more. 20 minutes from Bandelier.

April 17th, 2023 by elizabethrori444

Great spot! Gorgeous surroundings, super quiet, many large camp spots with fire pits.
When you enter, to the right and follow the dirt road down, along both sides of the dirt road are multiple campsites.
It’s my second day here, only one other camper in sight. I’m shocked there’s not more! This place is a gem! Super clean, slim to none trash spotting.

I have been getting full 5G t-mobile service.

If you take the road to the left, it becomes much more difficult, lots of rocks and 4x4 advised, also, not many if any sites down that way. I went down there with my 2W van and carefully turned around. Don’t go left unless you’re brave enough to do so!

Safe travels!

January 12th, 2023 by mckennasmilesblog

almost everything north of Spence hot springs is buried under a few feet of snow. you can chance it and camp in “day-use only” spots like picnic areas and trailheads but that’s up to you.

between Santa Fe and the hot springs there’s basically nowhere dry to camp for free. i had to head up to Cuba for a good spot with service.

very tricky to camp near the hot springs in winter!

October 20th, 2022 by earthsguide

Beautiful spot, little further up the road. Will pass another road off right which goes to yet another beauty spot.
Worth it

January 29th, 2022 by patty.phan

It’s quiet dirt road with a sign at the entrance. We made it snow with a 4x4 sprinter.

November 2nd, 2021 by taylorabney.adventures

GPS routed us just shy of the entrance. Headed up the mountain it’s further up on the right. There is a trail map at the entrance. A right takes you to a lot of camp spots. It’s a pretty open ponderosa forest with a ridge. Big rigs should park near the entrance. We reconed the area and found a small camper could get back on the ridge, but be careful of ruts further on. We have a 4Runner and cleared with camper with some maneuvering.

If you go straight there are spots great for a RTT or van, but the road is much further and gets tighter. Would not recommend a camper that way. But beautiful spots all around.

Leave no trace! Not trying to be a Karen, but we removed a full trash bag of litter. Continuous littering is what gets spots shut down. Also, this is a no burn area… we saw fires at near camps. One spark and this forest would light right up. Be smart peeps

July 26th, 2021 by farketmez320

Cool spot with a dozen or so sites that have nice views, especially if your rig can go all the way to the end of the ridge. Entry is about half a mile to the west of where google directions end. The checkpoint is only if you take the 501/502 through the military base of Los Alamos. Stick to the 4 and you won’t have to bother with that part. Good cell service and plenty of firewood to burn.

April 27th, 2020 by mosemancr

First off, fires are NOT allowed here, as in illegal! Been tons of traffic lately, people basically camping on top of one another. If you’re looking for peace, quiet, solitude, not your spot. Please, pack your trash out and bury feces.

August 14th, 2019 by mabertozzi

Fantastic sites! Very beautiful and surrounded by forest. The check-in from Santa Fe takes only a few minutes, they just check ID and tell you not to record anything. The campsites are definitely accessible to all cars, the road gets trickier as it continues so if in a small car or 2WD take first spots you see. The views are incredible, would definitely come back!! Good Verizon and AT&T

June 6th, 2019 by rhysandnatalia

beautiful, flat and quiet spot. there were a few other vans around but the area is quite big so everyone gets their own space. lots of deer roaming around.
the road we used to get in is a little bit past where the gps coordinates were (on the right). where the gps told us to go there was no road at all.
also be aware that you have to pass through a security checkpoint to get here from santa fe. we were really confused because it looked like toll collection booths but they just check your license, ask you a few questions and tell you to not record anything or make any left turns.

June 22nd, 2018 by mattsbaumgartner

dispersed camping off of highway 4 in the Valles Caldera preserve. Beautiful sites with fire rings and a view. Dirt road is rutted but had no problems with my Honda Accord

July 3rd, 2017 by Uphill Zen

I stayed right near the turnoff for American Spring Road. There are a bunch of little roads and boondocking sites in this area. Where I stayed was easy access, others had rougher roads to get to.

There was only one other person camped here while I was here in July 2017, even though it was a holiday long weekend. You can do some hiking right from the campsite, and I had fast T-Mobile cell service, too. Some views down to Los Alamos were pretty at night.

No facilities, just a stone fire ring.

May 27th, 2017 by contato

A good place to spend one night after or before visit the NP Bandalie! Free, no facilite! very quiet and nice

April 6th, 2016 by silverstarontour

mehrere Plätze mit Feuerstellen im National Forest in der Nähe vom Bandelier National Monument und Los Alamos