South Monticello Campground

This is a lovely park with spacious sites. Very quiet and peaceful with full on sunshine almost every day. A big draw for me was the 12 mile trail through the entirety of the park, but unfortunately I didn’t realize it was gravel, which can make for some precarious bike riding due to lack of traction. I did use it for walking though. Bathrooms were clean and a bit dated but nothing to take away from the park. Dump station was left messy by previous dumpers, again doesn’t detract from the park overall. Be aware that coyotes come quite close in to the campground if you have pets. I have a medium sized dog and while hiking came across a pack of four watching us from a nearby hillside and we were only about a mile out. Do NOT let you dog off leash! I saw a couple with two terriers who let their dogs run unleashed and all I can say is it’s not the brightest thing to do. With a little common sense you will love this park!

The sites have water and electric. The picnic tables are covered and sitting on a concrete slab. The sites are level, the gravel is raked flat. You have 360 views of the mountains and our host was very nice. Loved my stay here and would definitely come back. I have to assume it’s hot as blazes in the summer. My visit was in mid October and day time temps were in the 80s, dropping to the 50s at night. Beautiful night skies!!
They charge an extra $10 for a second vehicle.

Yes, there is a small dispersed undeveloped camping area at the end of the dirt road near the outhouse (another reviewer called it an "abandoned shack"- heh, she missed her chance to see a vintage yellow '70's plastic outhouse. And it's not abandoned!) You get a nice view of the river/lake (depends on lake level) and it's great for birding, especially with a scope. The restrooms in the campground are the nicest at EBSP. This camp host actually cares (that's unusual!) and keeps the grounds impeccable, besides being friendly and informative. Very quiet! Clean. The sunsets are often extraordinary and the night sky is dark and starry. Great data reception, but turn your phone off. You'll fall asleep to the sounds of all sorts of wildlife near the river/lake below, but you'll also wake up to the sound of frequent gunshots during duck season.The biggest negatives are no shade and the wind- it can get tent pole-breaking hairy at times. Coyotes live in the area, so watch your dogs. It's also a little out of the way, but that's a good thing at EBSP. When the lake level is down, the boat launch is dry and you must drag your kayak/canoe to the river and it's shallow. But there's no jet skis and party boats when it's that low, either 😀

First time here - and was nervous about having decent cell coverage (I have an online business), but while it isn't fabulous, it works well enough (about 3 bars on T-Mobile with only occasional buffering). The campground is clean with beautiful views of the lake and best of all, it's inexpensive. Lots of availability which I was surprised to find. There is a dump station, you get water and power at your site with a structure over your picnic table. Rabbits and quail frolic around, town is minutes away. The only thing negative I can say is that it's blazing hot here (which is not the fault of the state park).

We stayed in pull-through site #5 for 5 nights recently and really enjoyed our visit. All sites have a lot of space, no problem fitting our 40’ RV and tow car. Water and 50-Amp hookup in that spot. Some of the sites in the campground have 30-Amp so be sure to pay attention to that when making your reservation.

The showers and bathroom were very clean though the water didn’t get very warm. Large dumpsters available throughout the campground. Even when the place filled up during the weekend, it still stayed pretty quiet.

Plenty of areas to go for walks. We took a walk out to an abandoned shack on the edge of the cliff. Not sure what it was originally but guessing it’s been there for quite some time.

We used Starlink with no problem there. Easy connection and few times where the speed dropped below 80mb download.

Upon arrival we noticed they raked around the firepit and cement patio. The site was impeccable! We left it the very same way.

And the town of Elephant Butte is about 20 minutes away and you’ll find everything you need there.
We’d definitely come back here when in the area.

We camped here at the end of March 2023. It was extremely windy 50-60MPH winds and cold but the view was beautiful, the camp ground was very quite and clean. The staff were great and would camp here again for sure.
I feel like this is the best camp ground in the whole region. We cam to New Mexico to visit the White sands National Park. The camp ground is little bit far from White Sands National Park but its well worth camping here.
I would highly recommend South Monticello Camp Ground.