Cattlemen Trail

Stopped here on our way to Silver City (even with 31 ft class C with towing car on back). Easy access off highway, spot right off the entrance to the left over the cattle guard is great for large rigs To pull through and pretty flat although there are more stops up the road further and saw some other RVers up there in the morning, Lots of cattle and cattle droppings, but had a great experience for a quiet place to stay the night right along route.

Located in the Gila NF. I suppose it cannot be considered a campground but it does have large and well-spaced nitches carved out by the FS for tents or RVs. The CDT runs right thru it as there are markers. It's about 25 miles NE of Lordsburg. It's 01-01-20 and this will be my second night. Only a couple of hunters around. The elevation means cold nights and there are large patches of snow. There are also coyote and deer tracks, as well as fresh (as in today) black bear tracks a few yards away! I guess the bears aren't hibernating yet due to low snow and too warm temps.

We went to the back of looped road and there was an s curved with overhanging trees. Do not recommend taking large rigs or tall RVs that far back even though it looks like there is a lot of open land. Tree branches will leave deep scratches in the side of you RV even driving carefully. There is an area to your left, right after you pass the cattle grate bridge that could accommodate a large RV. There was only one other camper the night we stayed. Site was very unlevel. The one close to the road appeared more level. Be cautious if there was substantial rainfall, road had areas of washout.

While heading south to escape cold weather we stopped at this location for what we thought might just be an overnight and ended up staying for three nights.

Access is very easy and big rigs will have no problem

The camping areas are not far off the highway but the highway noise is minimal to not even noticeable

If you like off-roadIng there are an abundance of trails and we took our Polaris for a 30 mile drive through the mountains it was fantastic

The continental divide trail passes through this campground and I think there are people leaving water out for illegal immigrants heading north

There are a few cattle around and a few hikers and this is just a fantastic place to stop whether you are in a tent or in a big rig

The others have pretty well said it. There are plenty of spots tucked away shaded or somewhat shaded by the oaks and junipers. I have one gripe about places such as this, and it's nothing to do with the site. It's people who do their business but also leave their toilet paper visible. The thing is to PACK OUT YOUR TOILET PAPER. Poop decomposes fairly quickly but TP does not. Even if you think you buried your cathole, animals can dig it up.

I also policed up various tidbits of litter. If the Campendium community will pitch in and do this, it will help leave out campsites better than we found them

The hike on the CDT Trail affords spectacular views of southwest New Mexico as you climb higher. Note: We could not figure out where the CDT Trail heads south. We saw no signs along the highway.

More info about the CDT Trail. This route is the official, meaning government agencies' route. The Continental Divide Trail Coalition is a private organization that publishes a substantially different route through the southern part of New Mexico. Their route starts south of Deming and works it way up through the Cookes range, 50 miles east or so of the designated route.

We actually got to meet a whole bunch of Continental Divide Trail (CDT) thru-hikers while we stayed here since they all had to walk across the big field we were boondocked at. We even gave one hiker a ride into Silver City when we left.

While a local resident was providing trail magic for the thru-hikers by one of the trailheads, we helped make sure the water jugs were full since it's an extremely dry area without a lot of water refill options - we also offered hikers ice to go with their drinks (anything cold is a big deal!). If we had realized before we got here that we'd see so many thru-hikers, we would've purchased a variety of snacks to add to the existing trail magic.

Keep the CDT thru-hikers in mind if you're staying here mid-April to mid-May. They still have a long way to hike to Canada!

This is a spacious, easy boondocking spot if you're headed to the Gila, or want to stay somewhere near Silver City. There was only one other person camped there when I stayed, and there was space for many more. It's a boondocking spot, so there are no facilities besides the stone fire ring. I did have decent cell service, which is always a nice plus.

It's very close to the road, so there is a little traffic noise, but not much, and it was really quiet at night. During the morning and evening, the main sound to be heard was loud mooing from cows. With a name like Cattlemen Road, I guess I should expect cows wandering through my campsite!

There's a trailhead for the Continental Divide trail right here, and I did a day hike up the trail one day. There were nice views from the trail, though somewhat hazy due to smoke from nearby forest fires. I didn't see a single person on the trail, though did run into quite a few cows!

All in all, I'd be happy to stay here again if I'm passing through the area, but it's not a destination spot.