DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Doc Long Picnic Sites are named for Dr. William Henry Long. He was one of three forest pathologists in the USA who conducted pioneering research of tree diseases. Two picnic areas are available for reservation at this site. Doc Long, worked in New Mexico from 1910 through the 1930s. Doc lived in a cabin on the site where the "furthest set", rustic log pavilion is now. The original pavilion and picnic ground were constructed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, also known as the CCC. Their base camp was located a short distance down State Road 536 and is now owned by the Boy Scouts of America. Keep reading
Pavilions A and B were added later and are adjacent to the road next to the small playing field. The Civilian Conservation Corps has a rich history and lasting presence throughout the Sandia Mountains. In their honor, we ask that you take extra care to "leave no trace" when you visit. Please note that there is no overnight camping at Doc Long.
Recreation
There is access to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails from Doc Long. Bill Spring Trail, Oso Corridor Trail, Faulty Trail and a short pathway leading to Sulphur and Cienega picnic sites are connected to Doc Long for easy access. The site's playing field can accommodate outdoor activities that will make your picnic a memorable one for everyone. Help your kids explore the ecosystem, and its related plants and animals through our Junior Ranger program. For more information about the Junior Ranger program, call the Sandia Ranger Station at (505) 281-3304. The surrounding forest and the majestic mountains provide a beautiful location for sightseeing, hiking, and outdoor recreation. Bring your camera.
Facilities
Please note: You must make two separate bookings for site A and B if you want to reserve both. Please verify the site you have reserved when checking out. Please note: there are no grills available at Doc Long Sites A and B, please bring your own grill if needed. Water and electricity, firewood/charcoal are not available at the site. Accessible vault toilets and bear proof trash receptacles are provided. For details, please read the "Know Before You Go" below. Doc Long offers two large, accessible group picnic shelters, which are replicas of the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps design. Each can accommodate up to 30 people and are equipped with multiple picnic tables. The site features a playfield area adjacent to the group shelters, interpretive displays, and a visitor information "hut" staffed by friendly volunteers. The "hut" is typically open on weekends, May 15 through October 14, to welcome visitors and provide information and assistance. PARKING: Each reservation comes with ten (10) day use parking passes which should be picked up before hand at the Sandia Ranger Station, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., (505) 281-3304. You may also print out 10 copies of you reservation confirmation if you are unable to stop in the office. *Additional dispersed picnic areas, which do not require a reservation, are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each area can accommodate a small family group and have no covering. Tables and grills are provided. Help to prevent bug kill. Obtain firewood near your destination and burn it on-site: Don't Move Fire Wood . Learn more about the recreation opportunities in the Cibola National Forest & Grasslands , including the Sandia Mountain Trails and the history of the Civilian Conservation Corp .
Natural Features
The picnic area is at an altitude of 7,360 feet. It is nestled in a dense forest of towering ponderosa pines and is surrounded by mountainous terrain. The Sandia's are home to mule deer, black bear and many other species of wildlife and birds, including the red-tailed hawk, predator of the playful Abert's squirrel, who is a year-round resident of the Doc Long site.
Nearby Attractions
There are privately owned businesses and restaurants all along NM State Road 14 and a museum on your way up the 536 Scenic Byway which extends 13.6 miles from the base of the Sandia's to the Sandia Crest. At the Sandia Crest there is parking, a gift store, snack bar and a lookout deck. There you can see panoramic views from any direction you look. Sunsets are spectacular. It was voted Best Place to "Pop the Question" in 2010. It is a popular path for motorcyclists and auto touring, with its winding road to the peak. The Peak area provides two launch pads for hang gliding, which is a popular sport during summer months.
What the agency tells you
Please make sure to place ALL trash in the trash cans provided and leave the site as clean as you found it. Increased bear activity has been observed at this location. By keeping the area clean, you can keep yourself and wildlife safe. Accessible vault toilets and bear proof trash receptacles are provided. Please use appropriate containers for food and garbage. Learn more
Please note: You must make two separate bookings for site A and B if you want to reserve both. Please verify the site you have reserved when checking out.
Each reservation comes with ten (10) day use parking passes which should be validated by visibly displaying proof of reservation on the dashboard of vehicles by printing the reservation confirmation ahead of time. Any vehicles associated with the party but exceed the limit (10) or do not possess valid proof of reservation confirmation will be subject to the $5 day use fee. Any questions call the Sandia Ranger Station beforehand at (505) 281-3304. Sandia Ranger Station is open Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
It is recommended for visitors to make a reservation at least 48 hours in advance to give staff notice to prepare the site prior for your arrival. If reserved within 48 hours of arrival, site preparations will be subject to staffing availability.
Check-in is 11 a.m.; check out at 10 p.m.
Please note: there are no grills available at Doc Long Sites A and B, please bring your own grill if needed.
Water and electricity, firewood /charcoal are not available at the site. You may notice water spigots at this site, however the water lines were retired in the mid-2000 due to difficulties with freezing pipes, therefore, bring your own water.
Please do not park in front of any gates. They must be accessible at all times. times.
Additional dispersed picnic sites, which do not require a reservation, are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Prevent Bug Kill. Obtain firewood near your destination and burn it on-site: Don't Move Fire Wood
Area Trail Map: Cienega, Sulphur, Doc Long map
Click here for more information about the Cibola National Forest & Grasslands
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…not available at the site. Accessible vault toilets and bear proof trash receptacles are provided. For…”
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- Birding
- Climbing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 16 km away
- Patchy color
Nothing here to sleep in
The agency files 2 records here and marks every one of them day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
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 Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 records · the site map
All 2 records
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cedro Peak Camping Sites - Robin and JayCibola National Forest · 10 mi
PINE FLAT PICNIC SITES - A and BCibola National Forest · 12 mi
Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic SitesCibola National Forest · 13 miFourth of July CampgroundCibola National Forest · 27 miTajique Campground28 miFrom Albuquerque drive east on I-40 to Exit 175, proceed north toward Cedar Crest, on State Highway 14 approximately 6 miles to Scenic Byway 536. Go just over a mile west on Scenic Byway 536 to the picnic site and look for signage on your left. Group sites are in the two covered areas adjacent to the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sandia Park, NM
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 66°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December 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 · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B is in New Mexico’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Melanie Stansbury (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record files sites here and marks every one of them day use. The draft asks whether any could open to overnight camping, and if not, why.
- The member who votes the moneyMelanie A. StansburyU.S. Representative · New Mexico’s 1st district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationBen Ray LujánU.S. Senator · New Mexico
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMartin HeinrichU.S. Senator · New Mexico
Read the draft, or change the wording
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Melanie A. Stansbury, I’m a constituent in New Mexico’s 1st district. DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B, Cibola National Forest, New Mexico carries 2 records on the U.S. Forest Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B (Cibola National Forest, New Mexico) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Ben Ray Luján, I’m a constituent in New Mexico. DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B, Cibola National Forest, New Mexico carries 2 records on the U.S. Forest Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B (Cibola National Forest, New Mexico) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Martin Heinrich, I’m a constituent in New Mexico. DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B, Cibola National Forest, New Mexico carries 2 records on the U.S. Forest Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and B (Cibola National Forest, New Mexico) via campanac.com