Heron Lake State Park

Just stayed at Blanco CG for 4 nights starting on Oct 3rd. Large, private sites with lots of bushy junipers and a scattering of ponderosa pines. Very quiet! Lots of stars!

We had electric and water hookups(contrary to website info). Shower house/flush toilets shut due to insufficient water supply. Host said we could use showers at El Vado Lake(which is drained). Didn’t try that since it was 15 or more miles away. Plus the water issue was unclear to me as far as water being dispensed from 4 to 6PM. Lake level low, visitor center only open on weekends (maybe Friday also). Stairway to Chama River from TH closed, only access to river via steep lower dam service road.

Suggest bringing everything you need as there ain’t much in the way of civilization around. Small hamlets, 2 gas stations around Tierra Amarilla. Family Dollar and a hardware store also in the same area.

Great location if you’re looking to ride the Cumbres and Toltec train, as we did. Amazing Fall colors along the highway and especially along the train route!

The place was almost empty. Host left island view the day after we arrived. No water unless you went a mile to the next campground. Beautiful wildlife. Lake is well below its peak this last spring and I was here 30 years ago and it was to its hx levels. We reserved 122 only to discover that reserve America had the dimensions all wrong. Not 40 feet more like 20. We canceled it and were able to move to 115. So beware "reserve America has the whole place screwed up" a volunteer said. It cost us to cancel. 12 plus 5 plus 12 more. Junk fees must stop.

After years of chuckling at those knuckleheads who blindly follow their GPS into a tricky situation, I’m embarrassed to admit that it happened to me trying to get to Heron Lake from Santa Fe. A word of caution to others headed this way: Don’t be me.

I was using a new trip planning app (from the same family of companies that now owns Campendium, in fact) and when I typed in Heron Lake State Park it listed a route directly to Blanco Campground. I tapped that option on my phone, and headed north.

After a beautiful drive up Highway 84 through Abiquiu and the Chama River Valley, I was instructed to turn left on State Route 531 just south of Tierra Amarilla. Everything seemed fine for a bit, as we motored past the new-looking High School. And that’s when my wife started telling me we were going the wrong way. I wasted valuable minutes and miles arguing with her that I knew exactly where we were, but by the time a washed-out river crossing forced us to detour down an increasingly rutted and decreasingly wide dirt path, I knew I’d screwed up.

Fortunately, a friendly contractor working on a home let us turn our truck and trailer around in the circular driveway—just before the so-called “road” disappeared down a steep hill into heaven-knows-what. We bumped our way back to Highway 84 in frosty silence, my wife struggling to hold back a torrent of “I-told-you-so’s.”

Fellow travelers, I implore you to avoid my fate. Take Highway 84 all the way to Highway 95, another 2.5 miles north, before turning west toward Heron Lake. No matter how much your GPS app insists it knows a better way, it is LYING TO YOU, my friends. Resist temptation. Keep your faith. And stay focused on the big picture. The only true path to happiness does NOT run past Escalante High School or along the La Puente Community Ditch (scenic as it may sound).

Our course corrected and our wrong turns behind us, we finally made it the campground at Heron Lake. And it was… fine. Hot and dusty, but the dogs liked swimming in the lake and our cooler kept the beer cold, so all was right in the world.

We camped here at Heron Lake State Park campground in the Blanco Loop at site 44. Our campsite was nearly level, very spacious, with 30 amp hookup, picnic table, and fire ring. The only vault toilet was located near our site, the trash containers were located at the entrance to the loop, however the restrooms and showers were closed. The campground currently has no water due to a water shortage. The dam is currently being repaired due to leaks in the dam wall, repairs are to be completed in the fall of 2023, hopefully the campground will once again have water when the repairs are completed. There are beautiful trails through the campground that lead to the lake. The campground has an abundance of tall pine trees offering plenty of shade and a very peaceful forested atmosphere. We did see deer in the campground, an extra bonus to our wonderful stay here. Overall we really enjoyed this campground and would love to come back when the lake fills with water once again.

We camped here years ago when the lake was full. Although lots has changed over the years, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The trails along the lake was great. Our site was level and very large no problem parking our rig with 4 slides and plenty of room to enjoy the great outdoors. We had recently purchased SUP's and spent three mornings on the lake. The water was not too cold and the weather was very cooperative for us. There is a lot of mud at most waters edges we did find great launch areas around the Rincon Primitive Camping area which took about 20mins to get to from our site. The monsoons had started in New Mexico so we had rain as we arrived which cleared up during our visit then we drove home in the rain. All the camp hosts were very friendly and took great care of the bathrooms. There is a dump station near the entrance of the Blanco Campground and we had water at our 30 amp electrical only site that we did not expect.

We camped here years ago when the lake was full. Although lots has changed over the years, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The trails along the lake was great. Our site was level and very large no problem parking our rig with 4 slides and plenty of room to enjoy the great outdoors. We had recently purchased SUP's and spent three mornings on the lake. The water was not too cold and the weather was very cooperative for us. There is a lot of mud at most waters edges we did find great launch areas around the Rincon Primitive Camping area which took about 20mins to get to from our site. The monsoons had started in New Mexico so we had rain as we arrived which cleared up during our visit then we drove home in the rain. All the camp hosts were very friendly and took great care of the bathrooms. There is a dump station near the entrance of the Blanco Campground and we were surprised to find water at our campsite which we only expected 30 amp electricity.