Sunset Reef Campground

We pulled in late at night to a boondocking campground called Sunset Reef. It has 5 designated camp sites, picnic tables, trash cans, and bathrooms. Because all of the sites were taken, we took a spot on the outskirts of the fenced area to park our rig for the night.

Internet was not tested as we were only there for the caverns and only stayed for 2 nights.

Access to the campground was fairly easy and far enough from the road to keep any traffic noise to a minimum.

This is a nice surprise. Well maintained and clean. Close to the national parks. And the price is perfect. It would be a 5 star site but be prepared to have to tolerate generators running most of the day and evening (and occasional through the night). I don’t get it, if you pay >$80k for a glorified storage shed on wheels / 5th wheel and plan to stay off grid, spend a few extra bucks for some solar and lithium.

A jewel. Don’t be fooled by the pin drop. Campground is actually a mile off the road down a gravel path just to the right after you exit. In good shape and no trouble with small or big rigs. We arrived after dark at full moon so we had no issues. Spaces were full but there was plenty of room around the perimeter. Fire rings and tables with shelters. Met new friends and enjoyed swapping things to do in the area. Definitely would return. 25 min from the caverns visitor center.

All previous reviews are spot on, except this is no longer a hidden gem. It is almost the end of October and it is filled every night!
Verizon cell service was good.
Pretty quite and everyone was respectful.
Plan on getting in early (before noon) to hopefully get a spot, if not you will be parking along the perimeter rail waiting for one to open up the next day!
Clean vault toilets and trash is picked up weekly.
Road coming in is a little rough but manageable if you take your time.

We stayed the full 5 nights allowed using this location as our base for exploring both nearby national parks.

It was a great spot, hard dry packed gravel that absorbed all the rain we received over our stay, with no puddling or rutting to worry about. Road in is a bit rough and large gravel so slow and steady will easily get you into the campground.

We arrived on a Thursday early afternoon and had our choice of 3 of the rv spots that come with covered picnic tables, fire pit and trash can. Perfectly level did not even need to use our levelers.

Weirdly enough the place was less busy over the weekend we stayed and packed on Monday night. Every day we were there at least one RV spot would come open and multiple tent sites available but usually filled up by early evening.

Vault toilet was very clean as was the entire campground.

We will definitely stay here again as we did not get to hike Guadalupe Peak due to the rains during our stay.

An unexpected gem! It’s not well marked - we followed the gps/maps in Campendium to find it but the turnoff is easy, right off the hwy and an immediate right onto a gravel road that was totally east with our truck+25 ft airstream. We got in in the afternoon around 4pm on Tuesday in Early October and there were two RV spots left, so they do fill up (6 total, each with a picnic table and shade structure). There’s plenty of space in the sides of the lot for RVs to park without issue if the slots are full. Other half is for tents. We had an epic lightning storm come through and the skies were gray and dramatic. The next morning we went to Carlsbad for a cave tour, about a 35-40 min drive. You don’t hear the highway at all. The vault toilet was clean. A great find for free primitive camping!

Stayed here for 4 nights including some of Labor Day weekend. There were only 2-3 people here. This was peak bat flight season but maybe not peak travel season.

About 30 minutes drive from leaving the bat flight (and going < 30 mph on park roads) to parking at the site.

Road was fine for sedan/Prius despite recent heavy rains.

Very clean and tidy.

Road is not labeled at all so it seems sketchy until you come to the site. No nighttime traffic on the "main" paved road Washington Ranch/418. Very easy to find the turnoff from the main highway (62/180) thanks to big signs for the private campground (Washington Ranch) and the public land sites Rattlesnake Springs (NPS) and Black River (BLM).

There is medium highway noise, but I could still hear coyotes and great horned owls, and earplugs blocked all the trucks so it was fine for me.

Cell signal good enough to check weather, make plans for the next day.

Thanks BLM!!