James Canyon Campground

We stopped here on our way to Cloudcroft when coming from Guadalupe Mountains in Texas. We never knew these kinds of spots existed. We were able to get into this spot with a Nissan Pathfinder without a trailer. Honestly, it wouldn't have mattered if we had a trailer or not as it was super easy to get to. There are several spots there. They have a concrete table/bench and a fire ring. We took one and about 2 hours after we pulled in and set up camp with a huge tent, a full size RV rig took the spot right across from us and they got into theirs no problems.

You are about 150 to 200 yards from the main road so there is a little bit of traffic noise, but there never that many cars driving on that road so it is minimal. I would absolutely stay here again.

One thing to keep in mind though. There are vaulted toilets nearby within walking distance. If you are one of these that doesn't have an issue with using a outhouse that's not cleaned regularly, it will work just fine. If not, I would recommend bringing a portable toilet or some means of going to the bathroom outside with you. Cloudcroft is a few minutes down the road.

We loved our stay and you cannot beat free!

This tiny campground is just off the side of the road. It's small - only 2 drive-in sites and 3 walk-in tent sites. But it was just what we needed as we were driving up from Carlsbad, NM to White Sands National Monument.

The setting was lovely and the walk-in tent sites were the best! Our campsite was level and well-kept, with a very nice picnic table and fire pit.

We camped there on July 19, 2019. We had followed a storm as we climbed into the mountains. The dry creek bed by our campsite even experienced a flash flood as the water came roaring down the creek that afternoon; it ran all evening and dried up in the morning!

The weather was very cool; we had to put on jackets; it dipped into the 40s overnight.

Just gorgeous! I would definitely stop here again. Very good for thru-camping!

To echo another reviewer, this was a convenient find for us between Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands. It’s really small - 2 pull in sites and around 4 walk in tent sites, accessed by a small bridge. There’s a men’s and women’s vault toilet, but both were trashed to near unusability. We got there early evening on a Friday in March and no one was there. But throughout the rest of the day multiple cars pulled in just to use the bathroom. Later in the evening a car pulled into the last available pull in site. It’s right off the road so the sound of cars was a little loud, but I can’t complain for a free site. No Tmobile service. I gave 3 stars because of how gross the bathrooms were and lack of space/distance to the highway. But I would stay here again because it’s not terrible for an area with a limited number of easily accessible, free campgrounds.

A nice little site to stop for the night. I'm really loving this area up here. It feels very secluded yet there's a sense of a connected community. Lots of green which is nice after spending several weeks in the lowlands of New Mexico.

I can get cell service only if I pull out my WeBoost antennae, and even then it's pretty weak. The bathrooms are usable, but not very well maintained (e.g. there's no toilet paper). It's right next to the road so you will hear cars, though they don't go by all that often.

Lots of picnic benches and firepits. There are a couple camping spots for vehicles, but most are across a foot bridge. Luckily it doesn't seem to be heavily used since I'm the only one here on a Saturday.