American Spring Dispersed Camping

First, I need to vent about people who camp and either don't have a rig with a toilet or they don't bring (or know how to use) a shovel. Finding human excrement on the ground just covered with a piece of toilet paper is disgusting. A couple of the camp sites here had this feature. What a bunch of pigs are camping.

Anyway, we did find a nice campsite near the rim, in the trees which was beautiful. Some of the roads in are rough and rutted but our 25' B+ was able to make it by going slow and carefully. We arrived on a Monday and were alone except for one other van pretty far away. By Wednesday evening more people were showing up. Even though we felt secluded, we had a beautiful view at night of the lights of Los Alamos. A different experience! There was also another road that was hardly used where we could walk the dogs without seeing anyone. Bottom line, a really nice place except for the inconsiderate jerks who seem to pop up more and more especially in camping areas that are easier to access.

Overall this was a very nice peaceful spot to stay up in the mountains. We saw coyotes and deer near our spot. We didn't go too far in and parked near the entrance with our 31ft trailer. If you have a smaller vehicle or trailer you can take the road further in to find a spot but beware the road is a bit bumpy. Also! The road coming up the mountain in from Los Alamos/white rock area was steep and can be a little sketchy with tight turns. It was definitely scary going up it at dusk [not intentional] but we made it!!! Also be mindful of the elevation gain. You are at almost 8100ft. We started having issues with our truck and even our RV fridge being that high up. I'd recommend checking out the city and history of Los Alamos, Bandelier Monument and Valles Caldera national Preserve which is all near by.

Beautiful views especially sunrises, endless firewood available, lots of spaces (mostly for 4x4 vehicles) down the road, lots of fire rings, close to town & destinations like valles caldera / bandelier. Probably the most fun ive had at a dispersed camping site! 2 directions possible once you get to the top of the road. I camped all the way at the end of the right side. View of mountains, valley and sunrises. Tough road to get down especially with snow but a high clearance 4x4 vehicle shouldnt have problems. Not the cleanest area around the fire pits some bottles, cans, and trash. Other than that pretty awesome location and site quality, can spread out from others. Also had Tmobile service on the hill, up to 4 bars at some times.

We had driven up from staying at Juniper camp ground the night before and needed a spot to stop after touring Los Alamos for the day. We were traveling north, so this spot was perfect for us. The roads to back areas are way to bumpy for us in a class B van, but we found some just fine closer to the main road. The road sounds were there until dusk...then a really beautiful rest. We also were able to get Verizon signals. We headed out after breakfast.

We are novice RV campers in a rental 28-foot Class C and we took a chance on this place after visiting Bandalier NM on a Tuesday night in July. It's right off a paved road that is lightly but noisily traveled. The access road was in good shape but quickly deteriorated beyond our comfort level after a couple hundred yards off road. That said, there were plenty of choices for us to park the camper for the night and we had a great stay. Would definitely go back here again if we were in the area. Trucks and smaller campers probably have many more options than we did.

We stayed in site fairly close to the entrance and off to the right on the East spur for 6 days in a 36’ motorhome and Cherokee Trailhawk. All of the sites are very well spaced, most being a hundred to several hundred yards apart. Ours was fairly close to the highway, but it was really only noticeable during "rush hour". Only a few other campers while we were here, and most only stayed a day or two. The interior roads are dirt and get pretty rough the further in you go, with some fairly large rocks and deep ruts, some 1’ to 1.5’ deep (see photos). Parts of the ENE spur gets pretty narrow in spots, but we did a small trailer or two back that far. American Springs road, heading off to the NNE, is in a little better shape, with only 2 or 3 bad sections, similar to those on the East and ENE spurs, until about 1.25 miles in, then it gets very rough and I wouldn’t recommend proceeding with anything other than a true 4x4 or OHV, but there are a number of secluded campsites back in there. There are a number of trails/dirt roads in the immediate area to hike, some with nice views of the valley and surrounding mountains. AT&T coverage was fair, with 2 Bars of LTE service and speeds up to 2 MB/s. There are quite a few trees, but we did manage to get DISH coverage to all three western satellites at our site through a gap between a couple of trees. We were also able to get about 50 OTA channels with our fixed omni antenna.

Regarding access to the area from the East of Los Alamos, be aware GPS will route you through Los Alamos onto NM 501, which goes through part of LANL and you have to go through security check points and your vehicle(s) are subject to search. If you have any firearms, you will not be allowed to go through the lab. So, if you have weapons or don’t want to be searched, the alternative is to take West Jemez Road/NM 4 through White Rock instead and save yourself a trip all the way up to Los Alamos, all the way back down, and then back up to the dispersed area.