Agua Piedra Campground
1Heads up1 fire 24 mi away
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $30–$50Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 46All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Agua Piedra, located in the Carson National Forest, is nestled near the Rio Pueblo and Agua Piedra Creek. The campground contains many shaded areas to camp, relax, and enjoy the outdoors. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors to the Agua Piedra campground and group shelters can also enjoy fishing in the Rio Pueblo River, which is a tributary of the mighty Rio Grande. The river is stocked with rainbow trout and there is a small pier in the day use area. Hiking to Serpent Lake and Cordova Canyon, which are both within seven miles of the campground and group shelters, are also favorite activities for visitors. Also popular is further exploration of points of interest in the Pecos Wilderness, as well as within the Sangre De Cristos Mountains, the southernmost Rocky Mountain range.
Facilities
The campground includes 40 single sites each with a table and fire ring, two double sites each with two tables and a fire ring, and two group shelters located west of the campground. Vault toilets, drinking water from faucets, and trash removal are provided. Firewood is available to purchase from the host. First-come, first-served sites are available. The group shelters (A and B), which are accessible, are located west of the campground and are equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Trash service is provided in the campground. The accessible group shelter "A" can accommodate up to 50 people for overnight camping. Group shelter "B" can accommodate up to 100 people for overnight camping. Both group shelters are available by reservation.
Natural Features
Agua Piedra campground and group shelters are located in a mixed forest of spruce, fir and aspen trees, which provide some shade throughout the day. At an altitude of 8,100 feet, temperatures can cool off during the summer nights. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 537-8888.
Nearby Attractions
Sipapu Ski Resort, the town of Vadito, and the town of Penasco is within 3 - 17 miles from the campground and group shelter. Most services are available in Taos, NM, 25 miles north of the campground or Espanola, NM, 45 miles southwest.
What the agency tells you
Standard Single Family sites: Recreation Use Fee allows ONE camping unit ONLY. Double & Group sites: Refer to Specific Site # for capacity limits.
Extra Vehicles: Cannot be paid for in advance - upon arrival coordinate with the host for payment and where to park.
Late Arrivals: campers are not considered a "no-show" until 24 hours after arrival date check in time. Our policy is that your site will not be released before that.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
FIRST COME FIRST SERVE sites must be booked in person. DO NOT call to determine availability, as they are only available on-site.
Bears frequent the area: please obey all food storage rules and regulations. Check with your host for details.
Off-road vehicles are not permitted in the area.
Click here for more information on the Carson National Forest.
Opening and closing dates are weather permitting, please call 928-537-8888 for more information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 46 · 2 group, 2 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- 44 of 46
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…shelters located west of the campground. Vault toilets, drinking water from faucets, and trash removal are…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…west of the campground. Vault toilets, drinking water from faucets, and trash removal are provided.…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 69th darkest of 164 in NM
- Bortle 2
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$50 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
46 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 46 mapped sitesAll 46 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 46 of the 46 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Group Shelter | Shelter A | group shelter nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 510 ft | 270 ft | $150 |
| Group Shelter | Shelter B | group shelter nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 646 ft | 238 ft | $150 |
| Host | 001 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 96 ft | 329 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Host | 002 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 308 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 012 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 59 ft | 362 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 013 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 59 ft | 399 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 014 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 61 ft | 358 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 109 ft | 446 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 67 ft | 499 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 447 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 018 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 74 ft | 373 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 019 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 62 ft | 341 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 020 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 62 ft | 384 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 021 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 101 ft | 332 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 022 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 61 ft | 228 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 023 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 61 ft | 170 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 024 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 65 ft | 149 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop A | 025 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 65 ft | 150 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 026 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 102 ft | 623 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 027 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 47 ft | 607 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 028 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 47 ft | 568 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 029 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 47 ft | 584 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 030 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 54 ft | 643 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 031 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 69 ft | 718 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 032 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 62 ft | 652 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 033 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 62 ft | 679 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 034 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 66 ft | 626 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 035 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 66 ft | 672 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 036 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 61 ft | 725 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 037 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 59 ft | 783 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 038 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 59 ft | 840 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 039 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 64 ft | 834 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 040 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 108 ft | 792 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 041 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 56 ft | 692 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 042 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 56 ft | 637 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 043 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 143 ft | 488 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Loop B | 044 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 122 ft | 336 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 003 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 43 ft | 279 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 004 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 43 ft | 317 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 005 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 53 ft | 313 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 006 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 53 ft | 269 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 007 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 60 ft | 307 ft | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 008 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 60 ft | 282 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 009 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 64 ft | 220 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 010 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 21 ft | 183 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 | |
| Lower | 011 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 21 ft | 163 ftAgua Piedra Creek | $30–$50 |
25 of 46 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Santa Barbara CampgroundCarson National Forest · 5.5 mi
Amole Canyon Group ShelterCarson National Forest · 5.7 miLa Sombra CampgroundCarson National Forest · 16 miLas Petacas CampgroundCarson National Forest · 17 miBorrego Mesa CampgroundSanta Fe National Forest · 17 miArroyo Hondo CampgroundRío Grande Del Norte National Monument · 18 miFrom Las Vegas, New Mexico, take State Highway 518 approximately 51 miles to the Agua Piera Campground.
From Penasco, New Mexico, travel east on State Route 75 about 5 miles, to an intersection. Turn right, onto State Route 518 (unmarked) and continue about 7 miles to campground entrance.
From Taos, head south on NM-68. Turn Left onto NM-518 and stay on it for 23 miles. Agua Piedra Campground will be on your right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Vadito, NM
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 61°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 18°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Agua Piedra Campground is in New Mexico’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Teresa Leger Fernandez (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →