Mountain Winter Camping FAIL 😯, White Sands & CRAZY Awesome Campground in New Mexico! | e112

Well, we always seem to have interesting things happen during our travels and this week is no different! Come along and see what we got ourselves into in the mountains, our trip to White Sands National Park, and an AMAZING campground in New Mexico!

WHERE WE STAYED🛻⛺:

NOT Forest Service Roads near Cloudcroft, NM

GPS: 32.97255, -105.73608 (link to Ioverlander)
GPS: 32.97573, -105.75602 (link to Ioverlander)

We tried two National Forest sites near Cloudcroft, NM but they didn’t work. Too much snowpack and ice made it very uncomfortable on angled roads. Our rig slid a lot more than I wanted to when we were maneuvering so we decided instead to head closer (down the mountain) to White Sands National park.

Dog Canyon Dispersed Camping (near White Sands National Park, NM) – link to Ioverlander

This was SUCH a complete difference from what the snowy forest service roads up in Cloudcroft. This was a beautiful location and we had ample space between others in the area. The sunsets were magical!

We were able to drive to White Sands National park in about 25 minutes, which was easy peasy!

City of Rocks State Park (Faywood, NM)

This is probably the craziest (and our favorite) state park we’ve been to thus far. Just being able to camp amongst huge boulders surrounding your rig – it’s indescribable! I immediately started climbing up the boulders in our campsite and it’s like a jungle gym – kids would LOVE this (and me!)

I hadn’t really been picky on our site, but this one was pretty awesome. It did take us a little bit to get reasonably level, but we made it work. We were on a bit of a hill, so the view was more than worth the extra time!

There are several other campsites that had perhaps a little easier time leveling but still had awesome views. My only recommendation is that you go dry camping (without the electric hookup). The electric sites do not have the same feel as the ones in the rock formations.

As of today, I think this one tops our list for unique campsites. It felt other-worldly, I’m telling you! We were only going to stay 1 night, but decided to hike Table Mountain and stay 2 nights. So many birds to watch. They have several easier hikes around the park but there’s also a trail to hike up so you can climb around the boulders.

WHERE WE PLAYED:🐟🛶🚴‍♀️🥾

White Sands National Park

The visitor center was a bit crowded to us when we went, but that was to be expected. We ended up listening to information about the park from the NPS app- just download it and then search for the National Park you’re visiting.

You can drive into the park without stopping at the Visitor Center, if you’d like. There’s a shack where you will pay the fee (or use your yearly parks pass to get in for free, like we did).

White Sands National Park Visitor Center

This park has a lot of driving, so the app was quite helpful (if your phone will get a strong enough signal in the park to play it!)

Listening to the app while driving through the park

We went on a short hike in the dunes and also walked on the boardwalk along with the driving. There are enough places for you to get out and stretch your legs, or even have a picnic (which we also did!).

Hiking Table Mountain at City of Rocks State Park

Since we decided to stay an extra day, that allowed us to explore the Table Mountain at City of Rocks State Park.

The hike is probably a moderate hike – there are some sections where you’re climbing a bit of elevation but a lot is relatively reasonable inclines.

We brought a picnic lunch and water with us on the trip.

Bench with a view at the top of the mountain

WHERE WE ATE: 🍽️🥩🍹🍺🍽️

Yep, we just ate stuff from our camper (nothing exciting enough to share)