Sunset Reef Campground

We arrived at Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area on Saturday to look for a rare bird that had been reported. That evening we planned to stay at a campground a few miles away, but quickly changed our mind when we saw that they did not have a toilet. We ended up at Sunset Reef and took the last campsite. I highly recommend looking at the satellite view of the map before using Google Maps to try and get there. Google had us driving/hiking cross country from US-62 instead of using a road. The entrance is located just West of US Highway 62 on Washington Ranch Rd. The entrance is not marked.

The campground was clean, with plenty of trash cans. The toilet facility is a single vault toilet that was very clean and had a stock of extra TP in the corner. As close as it was to US-62, surprisingly traffic noise was very low.

Campground located off highway 62 & Washington Ranch road. You will travel less than a mile on a gravel road. It is a bit rocky and in some sections washboard. No major dips or ruts. You do not need a high clearance vehicle to get to campground. In some sections it is narrow. Would recommend disconnecting prior to going down gravel road if unable to back up. There are 6 designated tent sites and 5 larger RV sites. Each site has a concrete patio with shelter, picnic table, grill, and fire ring. Sites pretty level. Vault toilet and multiple trash cans at campground. Road noise was a non factor. Good Verizon signal, able to talk, text, search internet and stream videos. Approximately 13 miles to Carlsbad Caverns National Park visitor center. 30 miles to Guadalupe Mountains National Park visitor center.

It’s easy in and out, less then a half mile on a rocky road. Nice sites for RVs and campers with tables, fire pits, and shelters, 5 of each. There is a vault toilet too. Anyone who doesn’t get or want a site just parks around the edge of the campground. Got pretty full a few nights but still room. Great location to hit Carlsbad and Guadalupe NPs.

We camped here on a weekday night in our camper van. The 5 RV pull through sights and 5 tent sites were all full. There were about six other people parked around the fence perimeter. That's where we ended up. Google maps had some problem finding the campground even though the gravel road is clearly on the satellite map. The turn off is the same as the one for rattlesnake springs. One pit toilet and no other hookups but we were fine boondocking in our van. Nice views of the sunset and sunrise. the highway was far enough away that we couldn't hear any noise inside our van.

This area is very easy to access for boondocking and is on a level area. There is a good view of the Guadalupe Mountains, pretty sunrises and sunsets. It is not far from the road making it convenient but there is also mild road noise. We didn't find this bothersome but it is not quite solitude if you are looking for that. The convenient location also makes it popular, at least while we were here over a weekend in early November. This is basically a fenced area in the desert, not very large for a boondocking location. There are some sites with picnic tables and fire rings in the middle of the area as well as room to park around the perimeter, and it was full every night we were here. The first three nights were great, but the last night was very loud with multiple children screaming/shrieking repeatedly for more than an hour in the evening (after dark) continuing while we went to bed around 9, with no obvious attempt by the parents to quiet them down. There were also multiple barking dogs with no obvious attempt by the owners to quiet them. It was pretty obnoxious; I'm glad we have a white noise machine but really this could have been prevented if people were more considerate. So, I think the experience here depends on the clientele at the time of your visit. It was a great base for exploring Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains and Lincoln National Forest which were all very enjoyable. I was not working while here but data speeds seemed decent on Verizon and saw someone video conferencing. There is good sun exposure for solar power.

As most of the other reviews have stated, this is a nice, fairly new, clean BLM campground. A very short drive to Carlsbad Caverns National Park (in fact, you can see the visitor center on top of the hill from the campground!)

The only thing I'd add is that, if you're tent camping, bring some very hefty stakes. The ground seems to be about 2" of loose gravel with solid rock underneath. My son had a brand new tent, and bent 3-4 of his new stakes (not the greatest, I'll admit) just trying to get them to stay in the ground. Our other tent had better stakes, and though they still wouldn't go but a couple inches down, they didn't bend...

Otherwise, great campground! Highly recommended!

Such an easy BLM spot! Just off of the highway (but far enough to not experience what little traffic noise there was at night) and an easy 25 minute drive to the caverns visitor center. We stayed 2 nights which was perfect yo experience the caverns in the daytime and bats at night.

There are about 6 larger RV spots and 6 tent camping spots. When we arrived a family in their van pulled out of an RV spot and into a tent camping spot to make room for our 42 foot class A motorhome. Everyone was super nice and respectful.

The grounds are well kept and new with a bathroom on site.

If all of the spots are full, there is plenty of room around the outside fence lien to park any size rig without being in anyone’s space!

Would go back for sure!