Elephant Rock Campground
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 20All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Elephant Rock Campground has excellent fishing access to the well-stocked Red River, nearby Eagle Rock Lake and hiking into the surrounding high country. This campground is close to the highway with plenty of large pine trees. The campground rests at 8,400 feet above sea level. Keep reading
Recreation
The nearest hiking trail, Fawn Lakes Trail, is located .3 miles east of Elephant Rock Campground, near Fawn Lakes Campground. This trail meets accessibility guidelines. Elephant Rock offers convenient access to State Rt. 38 and is well situated for day trips on the Enchanted Circle and to the town of Red River. The Red River is across the road from the campground but is not accessible.
Facilities
This campground offers 20 single sites, potable water, and vault toilets. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table, and tent pad.
Natural Features
Elephant Rock Campground is a single loop that meanders up a hillside with several sites featuring stone terracing. The campsites are tucked in among a mixture of ponderosa pine, aspen, fir and spruce. The Red River flows near this campground. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 537-8888.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors to the area can explore the town of Red River, Questa, and the Enchanted Circle.
What the agency tells you
Standard Single Family sites: Recreation Use Fee allows ONE camping unit ONLY.
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 · 6
FIRST COME FIRST SERVE sites must be booked in person. DO NOT call to determine availability, as they are only available on-site.
Off-road vehicles are not allowed in the campground.
Bears frequent the area: please obey all food storage rules and regulations. Check with your host for details.
Click here for more information about Carson National Forest.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit Dontmovefirewood.org
Opening and closing dates are weather permitting, please call 928-537-8888 for more information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 20 · 2 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 44 ft
- Paved pads
- 19 of 20
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…20 single sites, potable water, and vault toilets. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table, and tent…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…This campground offers 20 single sites, potable water, and vault toilets. Each site has a fire ring,…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 72nd darkest of 164 in NM
- Bortle 3
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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $30 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
21 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 21 mapped sitesAll 21 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 18 of the 21 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 001 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 87 ft | 430 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 68 ft | 600 ft | ||
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 003 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 68 ft | 542 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 004 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 178 ft | 485 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 24 ft | 56 ft | 613 ft | ||
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 006 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 56 ft | 636 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 007 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 213 ft | 818 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 008 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 71 ft | 716 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 009 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 71 ft | 682 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 010 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 62 ft | 648 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 011 | standard nonelectric | 10 ft | 112 ft | 618 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 012 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 77 ft | 552 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 013 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 77 ft | 617 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 62 ft | 695 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 015 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 82 ft | 570 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 016 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | yes | 82 ft | 597 ft | $30 |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 017 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 65 ft | 625 ft | $30 |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 018 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 42 ft | 560 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 019 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | yes | 42 ft | 565 ft | $30 |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 020 HOST | host pad | 16 ft | 87 ft | 472 ft | $30 | |
| ELEPHANT ROCK CAMPGROUND | 021 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 87 ft | 452 ft | $30 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Fawn Lakes CampgroundCarson National Forest · 1.0 miLa Bobita CampgroundCarson National Forest · 1.8 mi
Columbine Campground (NM)Carson National Forest · 4.1 miEl Aguaje Campground ShelterRío Grande Del Norte National Monument · 13 miThe campground is located 12 miles east of Questa, New Mexico via NM highway 38 or 3 miles west of Red River, New Mexico via NM highway 38.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Red River, NM
Typical weather
Typical October night 25°F, day 56°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 7°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Elephant Rock 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 →