Heron Lake State Park
New Mexico State Park
Write a Review Highway 95 Los Ojos, NM 87551 575-588-7470 Official WebsiteGPS: 36.694, -106.657
Overview of Heron Lake State Park
Last Price Paid: $18
Reported by Tinlizzy on 8/8/2024
Longest RV Reported: 36 feet
Reported by MT50 on 6/28/2022
Number of Sites 300
Reservations yes
Elevation 7,217 ft / 2,199 m
Max Length 40 ft
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Heron Lake State Park
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 575-588-7470
ImperfectAlki asked on 7/8/2023
Anyone stayed in one of the primitive sites? Curious if it’s a hike in only situation or if there are roads to drive,...
Reviews of Heron Lake State Park 26 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 15 Users
Last reported 10/12/2023
Confirmed by 9 Users
Last reported 8/8/2024
Confirmed by 3 Users
Last reported 10/5/2023
“Basic but nice campgrounds ”
Reviewed 5/17/2019
| Nightly rate: | $8 |
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| Days stayed: | 10 |
| Site Number: | 2 |
| RV Length: | 35' (Fifth Wheel) |
Overall Rating
We got a full site for 10 days and with nm park pass only $8 a night. All gravel sites and roads thru campground, with sites of all shapes, sizes and various hook ups. We liked this park for the wildlife viewing....deer, elk, and several birds to watch. The park rangers were knowledgable and very friendly. However, the lake level i... more
We got a full site for 10 days and with nm park pass only $8 a night. All gravel sites and roads thru campground, with sites of all shapes, sizes and various hook ups. We liked this park for the wildlife viewing....deer, elk, and several birds to watch. The park rangers were knowledgable and very friendly. However, the lake level is low and there are restrictions on boating, so check on those before coming with your boat.
Restroom looked clean and well maintained, but we didn't use them much with fhu at site. There is a dump station as well. Camp hosts arrived 3 days before we left, they seemed very nice and eager to start their new assignment.
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AT&T 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great Location”
Reviewed 2/1/2019
| Nightly rate: | $18 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 5 |
| Site Number: | 24 |
| RV Length: | 16' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
We based our northern NM visit at this campground. Great variety of campsites, some directly on Lake Heron. Carefully study this area as there are two State Parks and numerous campgrounds. Plenty of fishing in the lake and on the river. We did not have a good hiking map with us, and headquarters did not have TOPO maps. So, buy one ... more
We based our northern NM visit at this campground. Great variety of campsites, some directly on Lake Heron. Carefully study this area as there are two State Parks and numerous campgrounds. Plenty of fishing in the lake and on the river. We did not have a good hiking map with us, and headquarters did not have TOPO maps. So, buy one beforehand. There is a lot of hiking we missed out on, because we don't hike without a map. We went in the June, weather was beautiful. Check lake levels if you are interested in fishing. You can also swim, but in June we found it chilly! The wildlife was incredible.
Campgrounds were not full midweek and were quiet, bathrooms were clean. The CHARMING town of Chama was about 30 minutes away. We went for the Historic Toltec Chama railroad trip. Don't miss this, too much fun and a wide price range.
In Chama we found a FLUFF & FOLD. A laundry where you can drop off your dirty stuff and pick it up later.. Perfect for the middle of a two week trip. We stripped linens and dropped it all off and went on our train ride. We picked up the laundry on our way back!
Restaurants, shops, etc were in this small tourist town. The River runs through it and we stopped at one hotel to ask directions and they told us to go out back and fish!
LMLong would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“No one wants to hear your dog bark for hours, not even you”
Reviewed 9/29/2018
| Nightly rate: | $4 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 4 |
| Site Number: | 15 |
| RV Length: | 23' |
Overall Rating
I should start by saying that I’m an absolute animal lover. I pet and love on animals of all shapes and sizes. But barking for hours on end...it’s enough to make a person go crazy. We haven’t had this problem anywhere else (at least not yet) but right now, out of the four campsites around us, all four have barking dogs in them. Not... more
I should start by saying that I’m an absolute animal lover. I pet and love on animals of all shapes and sizes.
But barking for hours on end...it’s enough to make a person go crazy. We haven’t had this problem anywhere else (at least not yet) but right now, out of the four campsites around us, all four have barking dogs in them. Not my idea of fun.
That’s aside, this is a fairly nice campground. I’m docking a star off my rating not because of the barking dogs (totally not the fault of Heron Lake Campground) but because everything is closed up or is being closed up. It’s not announced on the NM State Parks website, either. According to it, everything is open and running. But the bathrooms with the hot showers have been closed for the season (despite it still being September), leaving only vault toilets open according to the signage, although I have yet to spot said toilets. (ETA: I found one vault toilet last night in the Blanco Campground and it was all locked up...?? So I'm not sure where these open vault toilets are to be found).
Anyway, I had wanted to take a nice hot shower while here without filling my gray tank, so having the regular bathrooms shut down was an unwelcome surprise.
Also, there are two campgrounds up here, and Blanco is closing in just a couple of days, leaving only Willow open. Again, no signage coming into the Heron Lake campground – just what we learned while checking in. (ETA: We did find a sign last night going into the Blanco campground, but you had to actually be pulling into that particular campground itself before you saw it. It isn't on the main sign coming into Heron Lake, nor is it on the state website).
Negatives aside, this is a WONDERFUL campground. The sites are generous-sized, especially after Pine Campgrounds over at Navajo Lake, where the sites were really squishy. The sites here are also extraordinarily level – this is the first time setting up our trailer that we didn’t have to use any leveling blocks at all. We are staying in the Willow campground but we walked through Blanco campground last night and found it to be just as lovely. If I were in a large rig (Class A or something) I think Blanco would be better suited; the road around the loop is a little wider than it is in Willow. Otherwise, both campgrounds are truly nice.
The lake is horribly low – if you look at the pics I posted, you’ll see that the drought here has been horrendous. This has really affected the fishing, which is part of the reason why we’re here. :(
The internet has been...interesting. Sprint is an absolute no-go – even with the booster, we got zero bars.
Verizon has been great, if weirdly spotty. This morning, holding my phone perfectly still, it went from extended 1x to 3G to LTE to 3G again. I literally didn’t move it an inch. There have been the occasional hiccups where it wouldn’t work at all, but it’s mostly been great. I just ignore what signal strength my phone says it has and just use it, lol.
AT&T has also been great – two to three bars with 4G-LTE data, without the booster. I was worried about being able to work while here; turns out, I had no reason to worry. Just to put other’s minds at ease. :)
Chama, a nearby town, is a lot of fun to explore. We went into Fina’s Diner and had the most amazing breakfast EVER. We went grocery shopping at Lowe’s and the prices weren’t as terrible as I was expecting. :-p We went to the train area and explored around. It’s neat what they’ve done there. It's definitely worth a trip into town to explore a little.
As for fishing, my husband says that there appears to be long-term neglect happening. Places were closed and had been for a long time; places were also closed for the season. We didn’t expect everything to shut down so early. :( The long-term neglect is most worrisome, though. If a day-use area has been shut down for years for "maintenance," that tells me that the parks are underfunded. As someone who pays for the NM State Parks pass for $225 a year, I know that I'd be willing to pay more if doing so meant that they could do some repairs to the parks.
Anyway, the night temps have been getting low; we had to run our heater last night to stay warm because it's getting down into the 40s. But daytime temps have been great (70s) and the weather has been pretty darn perfect overall. It has been a little windy at times, but nothing too terrible.
There is a *very* short nature trail here in Willow Campground; at a leisurely pace and stopping to take pictures, I still completed it in ten minutes. So it’s good for young children; pretty flat and lots of views. It's not wheelchair accessible only because it's too narrow; otherwise, a wheelchair would have no problem with it. There's a little brochure that they've put together that goes along with the trail. (See my pics for more info).
Overall, don’t expect the state website to give you accurate info about the closures in this park; any time after mid-September, I’d expect things to be shut down, and plan accordingly.
We’ll definitely be back. Hopefully there will be more water in the lake and less barking dogs that time. :-p
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
WanderWithTheWorkmans would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Deserted campground”
Reviewed 2/9/2018
| Nightly rate: | $14 |
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| Days stayed: | 1 |
| Site Number: | 17 |
Overall Rating
We arrived at this campground in early Feb so there was absolutely no one around! We also had snow for a few hours of the day. We chose site 17 in the Willow Creek campground that had views of the Lake below. (This is the only available campground with hookups available out of season). It had electric/water hookups with a separate du... more
We arrived at this campground in early Feb so there was absolutely no one around! We also had snow for a few hours of the day.
We chose site 17 in the Willow Creek campground that had views of the Lake below. (This is the only available campground with hookups available out of season). It had electric/water hookups with a separate dump station at the entrance of the grounds.
Other campsites that provided just water were located overlooking the lake but was super windy.
Terrain was quite muddy or it had very loose soft dirt which sank under weight.
They are currently working on the water pipes, so we didn't have water until nightfall.
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T-Mobile
Aleisha would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“The views during fall!”
Reviewed 10/18/2017
| Nightly rate: | $10 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 4 |
| Site Number: | 42 and 5 |
| RV Length: | 20' |
Overall Rating
This is a great area in general with Chama up the road which has a great coin laundromat, hardware store + grocery, restaurants, gas station and a train which is a major tourist attraction for the town and the Lake below Heron (El Vado Lake State Park) there is something for everyone who is trying to get away for awhile. Campsites at H... more
This is a great area in general with Chama up the road which has a great coin laundromat, hardware store + grocery, restaurants, gas station and a train which is a major tourist attraction for the town and the Lake below Heron (El Vado Lake State Park) there is something for everyone who is trying to get away for awhile. Campsites at Heron range from full hookups, electric+water and dry camping. The upper campground has flush toilets and the lower has vaults + flush, but during October it was vault only. Clean restrooms and camp sites + helpful staff. There were some early risers making general pulling out noise during my last stay but overall very quiet and pet friendly with miles of trails all over the lake. Mobile signal was spotty but without a booster a walk on one of the trails or to the dumpster was good enough to send txts, emails and upload a few pictures. From what I understand fishing is very good at Heron and other lakes with plenty of hunting opportunity near by.
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T-Mobile 4G
4D would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great Value for a State Park”
Reviewed 8/9/2015
| Nightly rate: | $10 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 3 |
| Site Number: | 11 |
| RV Length: | 19' (Fifth Wheel) |
Overall Rating
New Mexico State Parks are a great value at $10 dry, $14 with 30 amp electric. That price hasn't changed in the last six years. Knowing I was coming through the area on a weekend, I wanted a reservation in hand. Of course, ReserveAmerica took their excessive bite, but that's a whole different story. Turns out, the vast majority of the ... more
New Mexico State Parks are a great value at $10 dry, $14 with 30 amp electric. That price hasn't changed in the last six years. Knowing I was coming through the area on a weekend, I wanted a reservation in hand. Of course, ReserveAmerica took their excessive bite, but that's a whole different story. Turns out, the vast majority of the sites at the park are first come, first serve and a reservation wouldn't have been necessary.
The park has over 250 sites scattered through about seven campground loops scattered along Heron Reservoir. The Willow Creek loop is the closest to the park entrance. The water level has been very low for several years so the campgrounds are not as full as normal.
There are flush toilets at each of the major campground loops, and some of them have showers as well. There aren't many showers but there didn't seem to be much competition for them. Free, warm water as long as you keep pushing the button!
Sites are gravel, with steel fire pit and cast concrete tables. Site size varies, but the reservation description seems to be conservative. I was surprised to discover my site was a pull-through on the wrong side of the road when the map showed it as a back-in on the other side of the road. My combination was short enough that I could enter the put-through from the far end, getting my door (and solar) to face the right direction.
This was a great spot to hole up for the weekend. I'm hoping it pays off and there will be open dispersed sites near Los Alamos on Monday...
I sometimes had a couple bars of AT&T with very slow data near the park entrance. I was able to boost my Verizon MiFi to 3 bars of 4G with the antenna and amplifier, but couldn't connect to Verizon at all without the amplifier.
John & BJ would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
Page 3 of 3
1 review not included in the overall rating
The reviews below are not up to Campendium's standards for quality and reliability and therefore are not counted toward the overall star rating. Please see our FAQ page for more information.
Reviewed 5/31/2019
| Days stayed: | 2 |
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Overall Rating
The stay is amazing. But if you want some really old people to follow you around and complain about the most random things, then this is perfect for you! Everyone here is extremely old, they nonstop complain about the smallest things and you really can’t do much around the site. The service is nonexistent, not that I really need it, bu... more
The stay is amazing. But if you want some really old people to follow you around and complain about the most random things, then this is perfect for you! Everyone here is extremely old, they nonstop complain about the smallest things and you really can’t do much around the site. The service is nonexistent, not that I really need it, but it’s a factor for some.
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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15 reviews
Land Cruising Adventure: Heron Lake State Park | New Mexico
Ospreys are in the southwest as well as places like Florida - I was surprised to find them here. I found a nest that I was able to photograph, after waiting patiently. She then "flew the coo...
163 reviews
Just Finding Our Way: Heron Lake State Park & Environs
I could have stayed in Silverton longer, but I needed to do some housekeeping. The disadvantage was that I'd need to reposition on a weekend. With that in mind, I made reservations at Heron Lake Sta...
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Amenities
Hookups
- 20 Amp
- water
- Partial Hookups
Facilities
- restrooms: flush
- water available
Pets
- pets
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