Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 16 of the next 16 nights read 16:38 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Oak Flat Group picnic site includes a combination of three different picnic sites and a trailhead, that border four communal playing fields suitable for all sorts of outdoor games. The site is paved and accessible. It is a great place for play, rest and recreation. The picnic sites are surrounded by ponderosa pine forest, mixed with oak, pinon, juniper, and plenty of yucca plants -- New Mexico's state flower. You can look at the day use map, to choose your reserved picnic site, by clicking on the tab above this overview. There is no overnight camping at this site. Keep reading
The sheltered sites are replicas of the mid-1930s Civilian Conservation Corps design. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) has a rich history and lasting presence throughout the Sandias and Manzanitas. In their honor, we ask that you take extra care to leave no trace when you visit. The three picnic areas are available for reservation Friday through Sunday.
Recreation
There are four large, shared playing fields perfect for outdoor activities. Want to hike? Oak Flat Trailhead leads into a widespread, multiuser trail system shared by mountain bikers, hikers, horseback riders and dirt bikes. The parking lot is small, but is able to accommodate small trailers for horses and motorcycles. However, we suggest horseback riders use the Pine Flat picnic site for trailering. It is located on State Hwy 337. The trail from Pine Flat connects to the Oak Flat site trail system, has larger trailering parking slots and is a shorter drive from I-40 and Historic Route 66/333. Pine Flat also has two reservation sites for picnicking. If you stay into the evening, the stars will dazzle you. Once a month from May to September, the Albuquerque Astronomical Association has a STAR PARTY. You can find the link to info, in the Know Before You Go section.
Facilities
The Oak Flat Group picnic site features three picnic sites and a trailhead. The trailhead connects to an extensive trail system plus four big playing fields. -Oak Flat- Oak Picnic site is the largest of the three sites in the Oak Flat Picnic Loop. It has a huge paved area with enough tables and grills to handle 1 to 500 people. -Locust Picnic site has a shelter and can handle 1-125 people. -Yucca Picnic site has a shelter and can accommodate 1-60 people. -Oak Flat Trailhead is located past Locust picnic site, which is to your left when you enter the Oak, Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Site. Water and electricity, firewood/charcoal are not available at these sites. Accessible vault toilets and bear proof trash receptacles are provided. More about Bears and Food Natural Features The Oak Flat Group picnic site is just that. It is 7,660 feet above sea level, and as flat as a pancake. The Oak Flat Trailhead leads to a trail system with a variance in elevation of 50-200 feet as the trails amble through the forest. You can find a link to the Manzanita Mountain Trail map in the Know Before You Go section.
Nearby Attractions
The Manzanita trail system is second to none. See map links in Know Before You Go.
What the agency tells you
To ensure an enjoyable stay for the next visitor, please make sure to place ALL trash in the trash cans provided and leave the site as clean as you found it.
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 2000s due to difficulties with freezing pipes, therefore, bring your own water.
Accessible vault toilets and bear proof trash receptacles are provided. Please use appropriate containers for food and garbage. The following links contain the Forest Service Order concerning bears and food storage and the helpful information about bears: Food Storage Keeping You and Bears Safe More about Bears and Food
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Please DO NOT park in front of any gates. They must be accessible at all times.
Gate Lock Combination: The combination for the gate lock and restrooms will be provided in your reservation confirmation email. Have questions? Call the Sandia Ranger District Office, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at (505) 281-3304.
Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. Don't Move Fire Wood
Trail Map: Manzanita Mountains Trail Map
For more information about the Cibola National Forest & Grasslands:Cibola National Forest Web Page
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…not available at these sites. Accessible vault toilets and bear proof trash receptacles are provided. More…”
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- Biking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 16 km away
- Patchy color
6 of 6 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:38 UTC
The agency files 3 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.
OpenBooked
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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:38 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
3 records · the site map
All 3 records
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
PINE FLAT PICNIC SITES - A and BCibola National Forest · 1.3 mi
Cedro Peak Camping Sites - Robin and JayCibola National Forest · 2.9 miCedro Peak Camping Sites - Robin and JayCibola National Forest · 3.8 mi
DOC LONG PICNIC SITES - A and BCibola National Forest · 13 miFourth of July CampgroundCibola National Forest · 15 miTajique Campground15 miFrom Albuquerque: drive east on I-40 to Exit 175 toward Tijeras, NM. Drive south for 9 miles on State Road 337 (aka James McGrane Memorial Highway). Look for the brown Oak Flat - Cibola National Forest sign, on the east side of the road. Turn east onto Oak Flat Road and follow it for .39 miles until you reach the entrance on the left side of the road. Follow the directional signs at the entrance to your site.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Ponderosa Pine, NM
Typical weather
Typical October night 38°F, day 65°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 20°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
Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites 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 Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Melanie A. Stansbury, I’m a constituent in New Mexico’s 1st district. Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites, Cibola National Forest, New Mexico carries 3 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 Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites (Cibola National Forest, New Mexico) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Ben Ray Luján, I’m a constituent in New Mexico. Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites, Cibola National Forest, New Mexico carries 3 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 Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites (Cibola National Forest, New Mexico) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Martin Heinrich, I’m a constituent in New Mexico. Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites, Cibola National Forest, New Mexico carries 3 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 Oak Yucca and Locust Group Picnic Sites (Cibola National Forest, New Mexico) via campanac.com