City of Rocks State Park

The area has nice rocks but there’s no hot water so the showers are kind of worthless. There’s not very many water pumps to get some water. There’s a lot of flies and without the shade Cabana type things the sun just beats down on you relentlessly. Pit toilets are clean and there’s a nice space between each site, but I don’t think I’ll come back.

We saw this state park surfing YouTube adventures from other campers and put it on our list to visit. We were not disappointed. Although we could only book one night passing by, we will be back again. They do have a few sites with elec/water, but were already taken so we elected to boondock for the first time in our 38’ Class A. I did my research from others to confirm maneuverability, leveled sites, etc. and managed just fine. We did unhook our Colorado truck before parking at the campsite (#18 is big) to face the greatest view ever and watch the sunset. Amazing rocks, trails and various types of cactus producing flowers. Best of all was the cool temps and incredible star gazing. Wow! Non-electric sites are spacious and fairly private. Park provides tables and fire rings also. Gravel roads but condition good. Saw lots of Jackrabbits. Generators have quiet time from 10pm-7am. Just opened the windows and it was cool and quiet.

This is a nicely kept park. There is one area for those wanting hookups, but if you want to be nestled near the boulders, the parks are all dry camping. You can wander around the boulders and you'll be amazed by what was created by a volcano centuries ago. Definitely well worth the visit. See photos here! https://landcruisingadventure.blogspot.com/2019/05/city-of-rocks-state-park-new-mexico.html

Easy to get here. No problems with self-pay for camping and there is a visitor center with very helpful and pleasant staff if help is needed. We stayed in 1 of the 10 electrical hook up spots. We rode our bikes around the trails which were well-kept. The only minus that I found was that there is no dump station at this park, but we were told about a free dump station in Deming that is not too far.

We stayed here one night.
This was a very interesting place to camp. There were two areas to camp, one was with full hookups (electric, water and sewer), the others were disbursed with no hookups. The FHU sites were packed neatly into two rows, flat, and compact with no privacy at all. The other sites varied from large to small and randomly nested among huge boulders that were formed from a volcano over 34 million years ago. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring. There were plenty of options to choose from and you’d need to think about choosing your site based on a few things, like close or far from the road or the bathrooms; being in the morning sunlight or the afternoon sunlight; how level a spot your looking for, etc. There is potable water and a shower here, and plenty of other campers. Overall good experience for its uniqueness. A good photographer could get some amazing shots here for sure.
Tip: pick a site that sits back from the dirt road that winds through the grounds to avoid being dusted when vehicles pass by.
4 stars for no dump station, and wind.

Out in the middle of nowhere is a special place. If you enjoy rocks, sunsets, and night skies, you’ll love this place. Vault toilets abound and are clean. The visitor center has flush toilets and hot showers.

Just down the road is Faywood Hot Springs, a funky cool place for soak. Day trips to Silver City are fins as well. ATT service on the north side. We’ll be back!

We opted for Boondocking among the rocks rather than staying in the hook up area! It was amazing. We did have to circle two or three times to find a space that would hold our 33 foot travel trailer. However it was definitely possible to bring in a bigger rig here! The hook up area would have no issues whatsoever with bigger rigs though. Being able to explore the rocks right outside your door is really awesome! Our dogs loved it! The location of the state park is perfect for exploring Silver City and Deming. However the big attraction is the park itself! If that is all you came for, the trip is worth it!

From other users’ reviews I’d only highlight the lack of level spots, which seemed to be actively worked on by staff in our two days there.

Small place but that’s also the charm, the boulders were so much fun to wander around in— and easy too, you could walk every bit of it with your hands in your pockets.

No dump stations so be aware, but great boondocking experience none the less- generators allowed 7a-10p in case you’re needing to charge devices or top off the battery. We’re actually really glad we didn’t get a water/electric spot because those are outside of the sites nestled in the boulders, which each have a unique & incredibly photogenic charm. There are 5 W+E sites in the boulders, but those are reservation only(worth it tbh).

Can’t believe we had great Verizon service the whole time too! We definitely plan to return.

This is an awesome state park with a really confusing site selecting process, maybe the most confusing of any we've visited. Here's a quick summary:

There is one big dirt loop in the park, easily drivable with any size rig, along which there are ~50 dry camping sites. The majority of these sites are not flat, and many of them are rutted or would be difficult for larger rigs. Maybe 15 of them are viable for 30 foot rigs, and maybe 6 or 7 would work for 45 foot monsters like ours. These sites are all numbered, "1" through "49."

There is also a row of nine more traditional side-by-side sites with E+W. These are consistently flat and long enough for any rig. They are numbered "E1" to "E9", although the park map they hand out doesn't even show them, and our park volunteer was confused about the difference between "E6" and the dry camping site "6". (Totally dumb numbering scheme as well, but hey.)

Just three or four of the dry sites are reservable online, and half of the E+W sites are reservable. Everything else is walk-in.

As of today, you can't get a heads-up as to the number of sites available by calling ahead. They don't track it, they don't have the staff to go around and observe it, and registration fees are paid in cash via deposit boxes outside, so there's no technology to help out here. (The staff can advise you on availability of the reservable sites, but there are only ~8 of those as mentioned above, and anyway you can find that info online.)

The good news is that the rocks are neat and it's a great park. You have to be willing to gamble on availability.

We got excellent Verizon LTE (>80Mbps!) on the south side of the formation in site 2.

This campground is so amazing! When we first drove in, we were in awe! We had permanent smiles on our faces the whole time. The boulders are HUGE and surround the campground. I liked our campsite as we were away from the main camp area and had our own little city of rocks. Beautiful landscape views were everywhere. Colorful sunsets. Very quiet. Can see lots of stars. Tons of hiking and biking trails. We hiked Table Mountain Trail, which was a moderate hike. Gives you 360 degree views of where you're at. The hike itself is pretty too. We biked the Hydra Trail. Not sure if it was the elevation change or what but this little bike ride kicked our butt. Great views as well! They also have a Planet Walk through the center of the main campground. They have placards up which explain the different planets and solar system. Very cool!! Vault toilets around, and showers are located adjacent to the visitors center. Kind of odd to be walking out of the showers when people were walking into the visitors center, but hey we all take showers. No biggie. Oh, they also recycle here as well. Liked that!

Will definitely be staying here again if we get the opportunity. Just can't explain the amazing feeling we had here. You have to experience it for yourself. :)