San Antonio Campground
1Heads up1 fire 4.3 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 1 of the next 30 nights; a database flag says not open read 15:03 UTC
- A night
- $20–$30Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 30All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
San Antonio Campground is adjacent to the San Antonio River, tucked into a forest of ponderosa pine at 7,600 feet above sea level. This popular campground is open from May through October in the Santa Fe National Forest. Visitors should be prepared for hot summer days and cool nights. San Antonio Campground was completely rebuilt and reopened in August 2010. It is designated as a reduced impact and recycle campground. Keep reading
Recreation
A paved walking trail along the river provides access for fishing. Anglers can fish for rainbow trout. Visitors enjoy wading in the river on hot summer days. The campground offers easy driving access to several recreational sites nearby, including the popular La Cueva Picnic Site, Spence Hot Spring Trailhead, Battleship Rock Trailhead and a couple of fishing sites along the San Antonio River.
Facilities
The campground has 20 standard sites that can accommodate tents, trailers and RVs. A group area on the north end of the campground includes a pavilion that can accommodate up to 100 people. The group area includes nine tent sites. Accessible sites are located on the south end of the campground. Sites are equipped with picnic tables and pedestal grills, and sites 1-6 have water and electric hookups. Site 3 can accommodate two RVs. Drinking water and vault toilets are provided. Parking areas, spurs and roads within the campground are paved. A camp host is available during the peak season. Visitors are encouraged to pack out trash, but recycling bins are provided.
Natural Features
Some of the finest mountain scenery in the Southwest is found in the 1.6 million acres within the Santa Fe National Forest. Elevations range from 5,300 to 13,103 feet at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness. The diverse ecosystems of the Santa Fe National Forest are home to a variety of wildlife species. The ponderosa pine forests at 6,000-9,500 feet provide habitat for the Jemez Mountain salamander, northern goshawk, Merriam's turkey, Abert's squirrel and hairy woodpecker.
Nearby Attractions
The 163-mile Jemez Mountain Trail Scenic Byway passes amazing geological formations, ancient Indian ruins and an Indian pueblo. The area is rich in logging, mining and ranching heritage.
What the agency tells you
Online reservations are payment for two vehicles MAXIMUM; that includes the tow vehicle or RV and one additional vehicle.
Check out time is 11:00 AM and Check in time is 1:00 PM
Campground quiet hours are from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM. This includes the use of generators (No generators during quiet hours).
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Before making a reservation for a campsite, check the details for driveway length to see if your vehicle and equipment can fit on the site.
No dump station available at this campground
Firewood is not available for sale at the campground - dead and down wood in forest can be picked up for firewood. Please do not cut live standing trees or branches.
Charcoal only in pedestal cooking grills
No live music or sound systems after 10 p.m.
Maximum vehicle length is 40 feet, please check each site for specifics.
Click here for more information about Santa Fe National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 30 · 12 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- 6 electric, 6 water
- Longest rig
- 52 ft
- Paved pads
- 21 of 30
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 10 of 30 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…hookups. Site 3 can accommodate two RVs. Drinking water and vault toilets are provided. Parking areas,…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, River
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 92nd darkest of 164 in NM
- Bortle 3
Full this Saturdayread 15:03 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
6 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 15:27 UTC. See them
OpenBookedNot reservable
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 6
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 6. read 15:27 UTC
- Redondo CampgroundJemez National Recreation Area · 2.1 mi · 45 of 56 site-nights open
- Clear Creek Campground (NM)Santa Fe National Forest · 12 mi · 3 of 12 site-nights open
- Rio De Las Vacas CampgroundSanta Fe National Forest · 12 mi · 5 of 15 site-nights open
- Vista Linda CampgroundJemez National Recreation Area · 13 mi · 2 of 13 site-nights open
- Juniper Campground (NM)Bandelier National Monument · 22 mi · 16 of 35 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
30 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 30 mapped sitesAll 30 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. 30 of the 30 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| GAPK | 011 | tent only nonelectric | 72 ft | 111 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 012 | tent only nonelectric | 28 ft | 151 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 28 ft | 138 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 162 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 015 | tent only nonelectric | 55 ft | 163 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 016 | tent only nonelectric | 42 ft | 112 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 017 | tent only nonelectric | 52 ft | 90 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 018 | tent only nonelectric | 52 ft | 52 ft | $20 | ||
| GAPK | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 67 ft | 72 ft | $20 | ||
| Northern Loop | GA | group standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 42 ft | 81 ft | $150 | |
| Northern Main Rd | 001 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50 amp | 70 ft | 138 ft | $30 |
| Northern Main Rd | 002 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50 amp | 70 ft | 160 ft | $30 |
| Northern Main Rd | 003 | standard electric | 28 ft | 50 amp | 72 ft | 207 ft | $30 |
| Northern Main Rd | 004 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 240 ft | $30 |
| Northern Main Rd | 005 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 54 ft | 299 ft | $30 |
| Northern Main Rd | 006 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 54 ft | 329 ft | $30 |
| Northern Main Rd | 007 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 57 ft | 262 ft | $20 | |
| Northern Main Rd | 008 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 57 ft | 312 ft | $20 | |
| Northern Main Rd | 009 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 64 ft | 232 ft | $20 | |
| Northern Main Rd | 010 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 64 ft | 295 ft | $20 | |
| SAN ANTONIO CAMPGROUND | 020 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 117 ft | 101 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Loop | 026 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 63 ft | 158 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Loop | 027 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 51 ft | 165 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Loop | 028 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 51 ft | 171 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Loop | 029 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 95 ft | 143 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Main Rd | 021 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 59 ft | 140 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Main Rd | 022 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 59 ft | 153 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Main Rd | 023 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 61 ft | 137 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Main Rd | 024 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 80 ft | 113 ft | $20 | |
| Southern Main Rd | 025 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 104 ft | 96 ft | $20 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 30 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Redondo CampgroundJemez National Recreation Area · 2.1 mi
Jemez Falls CampgroundJemez National Recreation Area · 5.3 mi
Clear Creek Campground (NM)Santa Fe National Forest · 12 mi
Rio De Las Vacas CampgroundSanta Fe National Forest · 12 mi
Vista Linda CampgroundJemez National Recreation Area · 13 miPaliza Family CampgroundSanta Fe National Forest · 13 miFrom Jemez Springs, New Mexico, travel 9 miles north on New Mexico State Road 4 and along the Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway, then take New Mexico State Road 126 for 2 miles to campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for La Cueva, NM
Typical weather
Typical October night 27°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 9°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
San Antonio 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 →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyTeresa Leger FernandezU.S. Representative · New Mexico’s 3rd 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
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at San Antonio Campground, Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico
Dear Teresa Leger Fernandez, I’m a constituent in New Mexico’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at San Antonio Campground, Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico, and couldn’t. All 30 sites at San Antonio Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. San Antonio Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run San Antonio Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about San Antonio Campground (Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at San Antonio Campground, Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico
Dear Ben Ray Luján, I’m a constituent in New Mexico. I tried to camp at San Antonio Campground, Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico, and couldn’t. All 30 sites at San Antonio Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. San Antonio Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run San Antonio Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about San Antonio Campground (Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at San Antonio Campground, Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico
Dear Martin Heinrich, I’m a constituent in New Mexico. I tried to camp at San Antonio Campground, Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico, and couldn’t. All 30 sites at San Antonio Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. San Antonio Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run San Antonio Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about San Antonio Campground (Jemez National Recreation Area, New Mexico) via campanac.com