Lower Scorpion Campground

IMPORTANT: Do not tow ANYTHING up the 15 out of Silver City! At times there is no center line and it is windy and steep (per a white-knuckled gal we met in Gila Hot Springs). All larger vehicles should take the 35 out of Mimbres. There is really good Verizon cell service in town that fades out about eight miles north of town. The 152 from Mimbres to the 25 is hairy and dotted with white crosses. It is a well-made road, but dangerous nonetheless and can overheat your transmission. An alternative route is to go through Deming, then go north. Seemingly, everything up here is part of the Geronimo Scenic Trail.

This campground has a good location for exploring the Gila (HEE-la) Cliff Dwellings, hot springs and hiking; however, location of the campground is right along the main road so you will get plenty of road noise.

The campground consists of a parking lot, right along the road, with picnic tables and fire pits dotted about under the trees. There is no designated separation of campsites or vegetative barrier for privacy. Upper Scorpion has a bigger parking lot.

You could easily fit a motorhome in this campground, yet it is a gamble since there are no reservations and you would need a long, continuous space. The campground host in Lower Scorpion was in a motorhome about 35-feet-long.

The road here is not for newbie RVers. Watch for road dips and dragging out a tongue jack or rear stabilizing jacks.

I imagine people would like to picnic here too. Scenic area; not a scenic campground.

There are toilets on the right side of the campground. The camp host is on the left end.

Nearby, a quick hike to petroglyphs.

Got into the valley late and wanted to go to the cliff dwellings in the morning so this campground was just fine. There is room for 2-3 rv's depending on how many tent campers there are and where they are parked. On Friday of a 3 day weekend in January it was empty. It's really just a semi level parking lot with places for tents (with picnic tables and fire pits). Same goes for the upper campground but it is less level.
Do take the short hike to the Petroglyphs and small cliff dwellings.
For longer stays, go to forks or the hot springs camp (which is amazing!).

Both Upper and Lower Scorpion were open as of April 2017, after a major road repair necessitated by a washout.

I didn't actually stay in Lower Scorpion - it's much more uneven than it's neighbor Upper Scorpion. Both are set up for tents, not rigs, but the park staff are more than happy to accommodate campers in the lot.

For more info, read my review for Upper Scorpion.

There are no actual sites, per se. Parking is in the small lot which is quite uneven. However, there are vault toilets and a series of picnic tables, fire rings and BBQ grills throughout the areas beside the parking lot. There is an "upper" and "lower" Scorpion campground. The upper is a bit bigger. Super close to the Gila Cliff Dwellings which are a must-see. Free dump station and potable water available at the nearby Visitor Centre. Steep ride into the Forest. Our brakes got a workout on the way down. No cell service of any kind.