Electric Loop Campground

I arrived Saturday afternoon in a rain storm in late September and found an electric site with lots of open space (camp side) and the showers were a few hundred yards away. The lake was close as well as the hiking trails but the trail to the canyon was not easy to follow. They need better signage and we did see a rattlesnake on the trail so keep your dog on a leash. Some elk skat on the trail too and it was very rocky. The top trail around the top parking lot is great but be careful as its a long fall down the cliff only inches away.

Booked this place as our base camp for exploring El Morro and El Malpais National Monuments. It's not too far and isn't too hard to get to after a long day exploring the lava beds, cliffs, and caves. There is some lakeside camping available that we saw down at the lake but this was mid-July of 2023 which was shaping up to be the hottest summer on record ever so we wanted reliable power for the AC! It did cool down at night and we spent a considerable time outside after sunset watching the stars and Milky Way. To our great surprise, around 10pm, all four of us in our party thought we were watching UFOs flyby Prewitt as a long train of lights moved west to east in the night sky. A quick google search yielded the answers though: it was the Starlink satellite train that was making its way across the night sky. Still, it was pretty cool to see, along with the astonishing colors of the Milky Way clouds in the southeast night sky. It's so dark in the park at night that you easily spot satellites and shooting stars, which accounted for our extended nighttime viewing pleasure. It's a great place to stay just for the stargazing alone!

My site the disabled accessible site but needed a little help leveling. The pit bathroom close by was clean but had no TP. There is a big playground nearby and cornhole too but BYO bags. Lots of horse poop around but nothing too fresh. I liked this place and would stay here again when I come back to El Malpais in the future. T-Mobile worked but wasn't great, but acceptable.

Bluewater Lake State Park is a well-kept facility, mainly a fishing/boating/kayak destination. We stayed three nights in mid-May on the Electric Loop at site 5 - a challenge for leveling, but most sites were more consistently level. Good spacing, water/electric were fine. Our internet was sporadically effective, texts generally okay. Facilities (showers. rest rooms) were on par for a good state park.

The lake itself is very pretty, most of the campgrounds are non-electric with community water spigots. A pleasant surprise was the Canyonside Trail, a two-mile excursion into the canyon cut by Bluewater Creek. We walked the trail on a Saturday and only saw three other visitors - folks don't come to Bluewater Lake to hike!

The park is semi-secluded and was a great place to relax for a couple days. Recommended!

Bluewater Lake State Park is a well-kept facility, mainly a fishing/boating/kayak destination. We stayed three nights in mid-May on the Electric Loop at site 5 - a challenge for leveling, but most sites were more consistently level. Good spacing, water/electric were fine. Our internet was sporadically effective, texts generally okay. Facilities (showers. rest rooms) were on par for a good state park.

The lake itself is very pretty, most of the campgrounds are non-electric with community water spigots. A pleasant surprise was the Canyonside Trail, a two-mile excursion into the canyon cut by Bluewater Creek. We walked the trail on a Saturday and only saw three other visitors - folks don't come to Bluewater Lake to hike!

The park is semi-secluded, and was a great place to relax for a couple days. Recommended!

Although I am camped in the North point campground I’m commenting here because these are all part of blue water lake state park near Grants and Thoreau,NM.
North point is behind the same gate as upper electric loop, canyon side campground, lakeside campground, and Pinion cliffs campground. The difference is the pricing because different places have different offerings; some have electricity and are reservable , others without electricity but are also reservable.
I am here on November 30 so there is hardly anybody else here. I walked through the entire campgrounds and along one of the trails and it’s a lovely place. The campsites have picnic tables, are mostly level, and have fire pits. There are also vault toilets as well as a small visitor center. The visitor center is currently closed. But it also looks like there are showers that might be available during the summer season.
It’s important to note that from November through March the gate hours are 7 AM to 5 PM. So definitely get here before the gate closes if it’s during those months. The exit gate is open 24 hours.