Aguirre Spring Campground

Wow what a great place and amazing views. Very tough road to get to the campground but still easy to get to go. No big rig can get here

NEVER GO HERE ON A FRIDAY SATURDAY OR SUNDAY because of the locals who come and enjoy the park. They fill up the campsites and then leave at in the evening. So go here when the locals are busy at work.

We stayed on a Sunday and it was packed at 2 and nearly empty by 8.

This campground blew my socks off. Still my favorite stop throughout our month of traveling the country. The road there is long and winding and not built for long trailers, but we had no problem in our van. Even though it’s a climb, the whole thing is paved and not that scary if you’re driving slowly. We arrived on a Saturday night in March and it was busy but I’d say a good third of the sites were still available. Some sites are more level than others. If you get a really good spot like we did, the picnic table pavillion at your campsite is built into a rocky ledge with a totally unobstructed view of the mountains. Seriously, I was giddy when we pulled in at how beautiful it was. There are several vault toilets scattered throughout the park, clean enough, but some were out of toilet paper. There were lots of large groups partying, playing music, children running around. It was the weekend so I’m not mad, though it did extend late into the night, well past quiet hours. We had only planned on staying 1 night but the view was so incredible we decided we had to stay for another. We did the Pine Loop Trail, it’s four miles of hiking up and down the Organ Mountains. We’re new to hiking so it was challenging but super scenic, took us 3 hours. The trail is not as clearly marked when you get really deep into the forest and we got lost for a small stretch. But we finished it! It’s my understanding that this is BLM land, but there was a nightly rate of $7. However, there is a discount for National Park Pass holders, so we got half off.

So, as others have said, getting here is a bit difficult (scroll down and read Bill&Joy's really helpful review), but it was worth the effort. We navigated the road ok with our 25 foot trailer and 19 foot truck. Finding any campsite that was anywhere near level was not ever going to happen...but with 3 legos, we are sort of level. Site 25 fit us without having to unhook. 5 stars if the sites were level. The camp host did not come out of his trailer and talked to us hidden from his window. But he did tell us it wasn't very busy up in the campground. We feel lucky we got here early or we probably wouldn't have been able to find a site. The hiking is fantastic.

We stayed at this campground while traveling west from Alamogordo heading towards Arizona. We chose this campground based on the positive reviews and five-star rating on campendium. It did not disappoint. The campground is perched on the eastern slopes of the Organ Mountains near Baylor pass just east of Las Cruces. The road leading to the campground was very curvy, but paved the whole way. It was an easy slog for our 24 ft. Class C. We stayed in site 28 which was relatively flat. There were sites that were a bit more level, and many others that were unlevel or small enough to only accommodate tents. The views were amazing with the towering Organ Mountains to the west and the beautiful desert valley to the east. The weather seems to be at least a few degrees cooler than the valley below so it would be a nice place to escape the heat. There are a couple hiking trails nearby, one was closed due to a recent fire. We hiked the trail closest to the campground which offered more of the same spectacular views witnessed from the campground. The trail loosely followed a small stream (I would guess it's seasonal, it was barely a trickle in early March). The price of $7 per night is a phenomenal bargain. Each site has a garbage can, a covered picnic table, a charcoal grill, and a fire pit.

We hadn’t planned on staying here - we missed the turn to Leasburg SP and couldn’t find a place to turn around, so I quickly pulled up Campendium and we put together a Plan B as we drove. We have a 23’ TT so we knew this would be tight, but all of the high reviews made it seem like it’d be worth it.

After pulling up the long hill from Las Cruces to the top of the Organ Mountains (which was QUITE the hill!) we took a right and started down the windiest road you can possibly imagine. Up, down, sideways, and all of it on a road that would make a mountain goat nervous. My husband (who is a self-professed “grandpa” when it comes to driving at the ripe old age of 38) was white-knuckling it the whole way. We weren’t entirely sure we weren’t going to go pitching off the side of the mountain.

Once we got up here, though, we realized what all of the reviews are so excited about. The scenery! ❤️

Be aware: there are only a few sites that a larger rig would fit into. We lucked out and one of those spots was open when we got here. But if you’re in anything longer than an R-pod or truck camper, make sure you’re not coming up here on the weekends. There most likely won’t be a spot for you if you do.

Anyway, this is a GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS area. The Organ Mountains, the sweeping views of the valley below, the huge rocks, the trees, the birds...love, love, love.

We did pick an...interesting time to camp here, lol. We didn’t check the weather while frantically searching for a new campsite after missing the turn into Leasburg, and we learned our lesson from that. We lived through a massive snowstorm yesterday, with gusts that shook the whole trailer and scared all of us spitless. I was quite sure we’d end up at the bottom of the mountain by morning, but somehow, we made it through. We ran our propane heater and didn’t have any problems with frozen pipes, so that was nice.

As mentioned in other reviews, these are the cleanest vault toilets I’ve ever seen in my life. Kudos to the company that cleans them. There’s also trash cans every five feet, haha, along with fire pits and picnic tables.

I personally would NOT recommend a longer vehicle try to get up here. As I told my husband, this place is an advertisement for truck campers, lol. I’m certainly glad that we’re not any larger than we are.

I’d love to come back when the weather is warmer, and hike the trails, etc. As it was, I enjoyed the scenery out the window of my TT. 😀

There were only a few people here when I stayed, so I didn’t have any noise issues. However, during busy times so can see how it might be an issue—the sites are close together. But it’s worth it for the views and the stars. Watch where you step as there is a lot of Scat about. I wrote a post with some photos, here:

http://odysseycamper.com/trips-in-the-odyssey-van-camper/aguirre-spring-campground/

My blog covers travel in a Honda Odyssey minivan camper conversion

The road driving in is very curvy but paved. The campground was well taken care of. When we were driving in it seemed to take forever but was worth the time. We got there early Friday morning and in the two trees next to our site was about five or six hummingbirds. This site was close to the bathrooms. There are other sites further down the winding road and we will probably stay in one of those next time.

Tucked back in a canyon with amazing views of the valley and mountains.
Lots of bird watching amongst the scrub pine and oak trees.
Not at all crowded during our mid-week stay in mid-April.
A good variety of sites for trailers, car campers and tents. Site 25 was very level - we just pulled in and were ready to go.
One of the cleanest restrooms I’ve seen at a campground!

We had done quite a bit of research on the campground because we knew the road up was a bit unique.

Thanks to all the other Campendium users who posted reviews, their reviews gave us confidence we could get our 31' trailer up the road to the campground.

As an added measure of saftey, we stopped at the Camp Host trailer (located at the bottom of the entrance) to fill up with water and ask his opinion. He was VERY helpful and friendly. He suggested that if we took our time, the access road should be no issue. The only issue he said was that we might not find a site big enough for our trailer as this was a busy time of year for them (March).

He suggested we could unhook the trailer and drive up in the truck to scout it out or take our chances and try and find a site pulling the trailer. He also said that we could park in the group camping parking lot until Friday as there were no reservations until then.

My wife and I discussed it and we thought we would take a chance on finding a site. The road up was slow and a bit dicey, but very do able. I suspect even a trailer a few feet longer than 31' could make it.

We found a site (#28) and it was well worth the trip up! Fantastic views and great hiking trails.

The campground was fairly clean, sites were sort of level (at least ours was). Vault toilets nearby, trash cans (on each site), fire pits, a BBQ and covered picnic table. Lots of trees, and fairly secluded sites.

We were there on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Only one campsite was loud and they were shut down pretty quick.

If you are in the area, this is a place to visit in our opinion.