New Mexico boondocking recommendations (in March)?

ChanW

Hey all.

What are some recommendations for good 'backcountry' areas to check out in New Mexico, for hiking & boondocking (BLM?) for a week or two?

March is a possibility. Not sure yet. ;-)

DurangoTaB

March can be iffy weather...north or south NM?  Chaco is cool, Carlsbad down south, Santa Fe environs, Ojo Caliente, Taos...just off the top of my head!

Nomad

Haven't been through in March but the temps in the upper half of the state were below freezing at night the whole month of Nov. Didn't dare to go north of Albuquerque or to higher elevations.
New Mexico has a great deal in State Parks - Self serve, full hookups, $14/night.
Just west of Carrizozo there's the Valley of Fire (BLM) campground - real nice and good high-speed wifi (as long as you're fairly close to the info center and bathrooms).
East of Carrizozo is Fort Sumter and Billy the Kid areas. There was boo docking & hiking etc. in those areas. Temps were above freezing there at night.

ChanW

Yeah, that was a broad question...

Good suggestions, it gets the planning juices flowing.

I suppose the weather ought to be the first consideration. But that's when our time is the most flexible...

Durango, you say "iffy weather". Actual snowstorms, or snow that's likely to melt away during the day's sunshine?

We'll be "starting" out of Albuquerque, so we can really head in any direction. I'm thinking heading south, along the Rio Grande might be neat, with some potential for sightseeing the history of that river. Will look for potential hikes into the hills along there.

It seems that the areas up higher toward Taos would be likely to have snow in March, yes?

We're not so concerned about night temps, what with the cuddly-ness of the T@b, but we'll be doing day hikes, with the pooch.

It looks like we'll need our warm clothes for the day hikes, but I think we can forego the snow boots.  I think we'll be staying out of the higher altitudes.

Needless to say, we haven't been to NM at all. The closest we've been lately was Mesa Verde in mid-September a few years ago for a day trip.

DurangoTaB

Chan...yep, the high country (anything north of Santa Fe) could easily have snow.  Besides fickle weather, March/April are known for being windy.  It's been an odd year; we haven't gotten much snow, but NM has.  So your best bet is to stay south of ABQ (although if you haven't been to Santa Fe it might be worth the hour drive north; there's a nice RV campground on the south end of Cerillos).  II'll be the first to admit I don't know that part of the state very well...TorC and Silver City are on our list:
http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/0502_RoadTrip_NM,3406/
http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/southern-new-mexico/activities

ChanW

Good to know. I confess, I'm hoping to avoid the snow for a bit. No shoveling please!

I realized, after browsing a bit, that NM is a big place.... and calls for much more time than we can give it this trip...

hmmm. how to pretend we're 'retired', with unlimited time?

DurangoTaB

II know what you mean!  The West is vast inddeed; it's a 25 hour drive from here to Portland, OR for our trip in May, so we plan to  take 5 days to get there (and a lot of less than scenic driving through Nevada).  I presume you've been to canyon country in Utah/Arizona?  Bryce/Ziion aren't far at all from CA...

Nomad

NE section of New Mexico (along the OK/TX border) is pretty barren - I went for 100+ miles (that I noticed) with absolutely no Verizon signal and only one radio station. I was shooting in a little semi-ghost town and the nearest full-fledged grocery store was 70 miles away - The next option with more than one store was 110 miles away.

ChanW

Yes, I saw that same pattern with the AT&T signal map around the NE part of the state.

We've just changed to AT&T with our cell/broadband. I'll be interested to see what the AT&T 'national' coverage is like...

OTOH it might be good to 'remember what it's like' to be out of touch here and there! Dang cell phones - I love em and hate em.

Lisa33

I've had really great luck finding amazing boondocking spots by stopping at ranger stations and just asking.  I don't have any specific suggestions for New Mexico, but here are a few BLM links that might help.  I wouldn't hesitate to call the field offices and ask.  They may be able to give you GPS coordinates or other directions.  I've also had pretty good luck with Http://www.freecampsites.net.  

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/guidelines_and_information.html

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation.html

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/info/directory.html

ChanW

Thanks Lisa, that's great. I've wondered "where to call", when I'd remembered seeing people mention it.

Michigan_Mike

You could go back into the Gila National Forest and there are all kinds of sites available on the backroads.....  One place I'd visit down in southern NM is City of Rocks State Park.  There are many secluded sites back in the park along the rocks and it's just a neat place to stop off at, visit and camp a night or two.  They do have nice facilities and it reminds you of the old west.....  Very cool spot for sure!  

Nomad

That was on my agenda but it was below freezing and I think there was snow up there when I went by in Nov. so just stayed on 10 at Deming and went over and south to the Cochise area - Next year

leenscottfl

East or north east of Demming is Hatch, the chili capital of the world. North of there are a couple of campgrounds that we like to stay at. Caballo Dam I think is the name of one of them. It is on the Rio Grande south of Truth or Consequences.

Verna

Yup, it was too cold in early January and I chose to pass the City of Rocks. It was on my list, but I'll catch it next time.

Nomad

Oops -I went by late Dec - had snow in Tucson New Year's Eve as I passed thru.

Wanderoo

Rockhound State Park in Deming, New Mexico is a GEM!  Loved it.   It's outside of town a little bit, but well worth the 14-mile trip from the Interstate.  I was there on April 5th of this year and it was 70 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night.  There are a lot of hiking trails right out of the campground.  I had a great site with water and electric for only $14/night.  Super deal.

Nomad

Mike - That looks very similar to Lone Pine, CA where they shot a lot of the western movies and TV shows - Managed to tuck the T@B up high in the rocks like you have. It's on my yearl list now.

There's a nice campground just west of Carizozo, NM - Valley of Fire. Only national campground with wifi I've been in. East of town you get into Billy the Kid territory and Ft. Sumpter and some boondocking/hiking areas.

Wanderoo

PxLated -- A silver truck/silver T@B passed me going 70 mph and waved on my way to New Mexico on April 5th.  Truck had a Texas license plate.  Was that you?

Nomad

Nope - Black Jeep with good old retired guy SD plates :-)
Think I was still in NE AZ back on the 5th - Not having a schedule to hold to I lose track of time/dates.

Nomad

Boondocking is usually out on govt. land - there's just a ton of federal land (forest service, BLM, etc) where you can just pull off, find a spot and camp. You have to provide everything yourself. It's definitely not campgrounds of any kind. But, it's not necessarily that you are all by yourself - In the winter tens of thousands descend on Quartzsite, AZ and camp outside of town on the BLM land.
This pic is my campsite south of town.