Juniper Family Campground

This campground had been the highlight of my trip so far. It is clean, quiet, and spacious and the weather was perfect during my stay (mid September). While the visitor center in the canyon is closed due to covid, the hike to see the Pueblo Cliff dwellings was great. Many of the sites in the campground are short and slopy, but some larger rigs are able to still find spots.

We lucked out by getting one of the largest pull through sites in the A (Aberts Squirrel) Loop, site #9, and we still had trouble navigating out of the spot. Our 25' trailer and truck would probably only fit in 3-4 of the sites on the entire A Loop, and most of those were too shady to allow solar generation. The B Loop is basically only suitable for tent camping. Sites are pretty tight here -- we thought some would literally be too small for our truck alone, and most sites are extremely unlevel even though the campground was repaved two days before our visit. Bigger rigs should stay at the White Rock Visitor Center in the electric sites in the parking lot.

That being said, since we scored a great site with open sky, we really enjoyed our stay. Most nights the campground was barely occupied, we enjoyed good stargazing despite some glow from Albuquerque/Santa Fe, and the Frey Trail from the campground area down to the canyon floor is one of the best in the park. Note that access to the canyon floor is by shuttle bus only during the spring/summer/fall between 9 and 3; there is a shuttle stop just outside the campground for those who don't want to hike in.

The road in to the park (NM 4) is pretty washboarded for a paved road but it is lightly traveled so we were able to go very slow.

Internet service on AT&T was (1) roaming, so check your plan for data roaming charges, and (2) wildly inconsistent. Sometimes we had 2 bars LTE (roaming) and sometimes we had no service at all at our site.

We stayed here for a week and a half in the middle of June 2019. We are a 30 ft travel trailer with a Ram 2500. I’d say between all three loops, there were probably 8-10 sites where we would fit. Some of those spots were taken when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon, but we were able to snag spot #9 on the Abert’s Squirrel loop. It was one of the few pull through sites. Not the easiest site to navigate or level, but we made it work and had plenty of room to park the truck in front. The campground was a little tight for us so I’d think anything much bigger (40’ is probably pushing it) than us will have some trouble getting around. Some of sites were questionable as far as level as well. No hook-ups at any of the spots but there is a dump station near the entrance with potable water. There are also potable water spigots throughout the campground. Conveniently, there was a spigot right by us. Very easy to fill jugs. There are shower houses and toilets, but never went to see how nice they were. The campground was about half full most of the time we were there. Very quiet and everyone respected quiet hours. You pay for sites at a self-pay station with credit card only. We tried to book for 11 nights and it wouldn’t take it, so apparently the self-pay is only good for a charge less than $100. If you want to extend your stay, you can either wait until noon (some things said 11:00 so not sure which is correct) and pay at the kiosk (it must be completed after check-out) or you can write a note that you are extending and pay later. Sites are $12/night unless you have a national park senior or access pass then they are $6/night. It is $25 to enter the park (7-day pass), but we have the annual park pass. There is a camp host on Abert’s Squirrel loop, but we didn’t interact with them so can’t say how friendly they were. Our spot #9 was perfect for solar, no obstructions at all. Most of the other sites we saw at least had some potential for shade. The Coyote Loop seemed to have the most potential for shade; although, the other loops had shady spots as well. Even if you stay at the campground, Bandelier is only accessible by shuttle from 9am-3pm. However, there is a hiking trail that will take you from the campground to the ruins. We did that then hiked the trails down there. You can also hike back up to the campground, but we opted to take the shuttle instead. The last shuttle leaves the visitor center at 5pm. There are other things to do in the area as well. The towns, White Rock and Los Alamos, are nearby and both have services should you need them. The road up to the campground (Hwy 4) is bumpy! First paved road we have ever been on that was washboard. Nothing major, just annoying. The portion of the road to Los Alamos and Jemez Springs was nice. We figure the road damage is due to the shuttles. Weather is a bit unpredictable; rain clouds move in fast, but they move out fast too. We had several TV channels so were able to stay up to date with the weather. AT&T signal was not good with only 1 bar LTE without the booster and not much better with it. It was enough to WIFI call and do some light searching, but uploading photos was too slow. Verizon was good with about 2-3 4G LTE without the booster, and 4 bars with it. I was able to work remotely with the Verizon hotspot. Overall, it was a great place to stay and we would stay again.

This campground is just lovely, situated amongst the trees. I arrived on a Sunday and had a good choice of sites so I picked one with no neighbors, trees around for privacy and a gorgeous view onto a meadow with rocks behind.

Unfortunately while I was off on a hike neighbors arrived who don’t know how to use their camping voices and instead talked like they were inside their house with walls to muffle noise. And I mean talked! Constantly. I know what they ate for every meal, their favorite tv shows, what they did every minute and even got to hear heated arguments between husband and wife about child rearing. The campground was so quiet otherwise, I guess bc they couldn’t hear anyone else talking they assumed no one could hear them.

I complain about noise in all my reviews. Sorry about that! Tent camping is hard bc you hear everything!!!!

Anyway... other than blabbing neighbors the place is absolutely fantastic!! The park has stunning hikes which can be accessed directly from the campground, the bathroom is not too scary and there are plenty of them, and they have dishwashing sinks. Most sites have bear boxes which is very helpful. I didn’t get any cell service at my site but if I just walked over to the trailheads I could get a few bars of T-Mobile and Verizon. The park has a shuttle that stops in town (White Sands), at the campground, and at the visitor center down in the canyon. I rode it to town and the grocery store is across the street- I picked up ice and groceries and took the shuttle back! Also the town shuttle stop is at a visitor center with WiFi and bathrooms. Super handy!

Bandelier is amazing but if you stay a few days you can drive to nearby sites too. I was blown away by Valle Caldera National Preserve. I also visited the hot springs at Jemez Springs. Note that the drive is over curvy mountain roads at higher elevations so watch the weather.

Oh and btw 2 different rangers told me the campground was completely full. It was probably full earlier during the weekend but it was 1/3 full when they actually said this to me. So maybe check for yourself.

We LOVE this place!! Typical National Park campground; dry camping only, no hookups. Sites are small, geared more toward tent camping. I think we snagged the only available site that could accommodate our 30' Airstream. Lots of Juniper Trees, thus lots of shade, but we were able to get enough sun to charge our solar system. Dump station near campground entrance with potable water, water pumps also available throughout campground. Central building with flush toilets and sinks available. Ranger programs almost every night. Opera on the Rocks was held in the campground amphitheater while there. Self pay kiosk. Awesome Ancestral Pueblo archeological sites and hiking trails!! Be sure to visit Los Alamos - Manhattan Project National Historic Park and the Bradbury Science Museum. No AT&T coverage, heard that Verizon was available.

We stayed here in April 2018, site #17 in A loop. Check-in is by an automated kiosk machine - credit and debit cards only - no cash. To pay by cash, you must drive 2 miles to the visitor center during their open hours. Previous review said vault toilets, but the two restrooms have flush toilets and sinks with work water (rare for NPS campgrounds.) As the campground name implies, the sites are sheltered by Juniper bushes / trees.

Lots of things to do near here...

Native American ruins are very interesting to visit, nice hiking with lots of ladders to climb, if you wish.
Los Alamos is a neat town with interesting museums relating to the Manhattan Project.
Santa Fe is about 45 minutes away with lots of interesting things to see.

My only criticism has to do with the automated registration machine. We initially paid for two days. The second morning we decided to extend our stay for two more days. The machine will not allow additional days to be added until after check out time. (It tells you that the campsite is occupied). As a result we had to choose between hanging around the campground until 11 am, or leaving for the day's activities and paying on our return in the afternoon - meanwhile hoping that we would not be cited by an overly enthusiastic ranger. We chose the latter and all was well. This is kind of a bug in the software. There should be an option for "extend my stay."

The campsite has 3 loops- we opted to stay in the B loop and found a spot that had some great hammock trees and good sun for the solar panels. There were trailheads walking distance from the campground. The spots are primitive with no hook ups but there is potable water and vault toilets throughout the campground as well as a dump station. Dogs are allowed in the campground but not on any of the trails in the park- the visitor center did give us a nice map of dog friendly trails in the area though

We stayed here first part of October 6th weather was great now that I'm older (AARP) age finding out October is a great time for traveling less people to enjoy our time but did find things were filling up at campground by 6:00 pm. Camp ground is part of the Bandelier Park and located at the entrance they have a self check in that takes cash or credit card there are three loops A is out in the open witch is great for star gazing some pull through, B seem to be more for tent camping and smaller RVs 30 foot with tow vehicles but more shady then loop C was more for 5th wheelers and large RVs no hook up's at camp ground they do have water at toilet for washing dishes and water for filling jugs. Some road noise from highway but not bad 4 to 5 cars the night we stayed. They also have a play ground, hiking trails and Cliff dwellings to see. Camp host has fire wood for sale and helps keep things in order.

Bandelier National Monument is a great place to camp. We have stayed here in tents as well as in our popup. So far we have stayed in loop B. Loop A has a little less shade and cover. Loop B a little more - mostly junipers and scattered ponderosa. Loop C is the best for shade with thicker ponderosa coverage - and as such it seems to fill up first.. Each loop has restrooms with running water and flush toilets. There are no hookups at Juniper CG, but there is potable water available at spots in each loop. Firewood is available through the camp host, located in loop B. Attached at the end of this review is a link to a video of our last trip there with a CG review included.

One of our favorite things about staying here is the hike from the CG down into the Frijoles canyon. It is easy going down, but coming back up it is steep and can be quite hot in summer months. We like to hike down and ride back to the campground on the shuttle service provided by the park.

Bandelier has a very nice visitors center in the canyon with a small snack shop and gift shop. Access to the puebloan ruins is excellent.

https://youtu.be/-t8KVj8HNAk