South Area Campground
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:36 UTC
- A night
- $10From, per site
- Sites
- 20All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites you to explore and enjoy the many recreational opportunities that Conchas Lake has to offer. Whether you are planning an extended camping trip at one of the designated campsites, or a fun-filled day on the water with family and friends, we hope your visit is safe and that you return often. Eastern New Mexico’s unique terrain attracts outdoor enthusiasts from all over. Whether your passion is hiking, biking, wildlife viewing, photography, admiring beautiful sunsets, or art, the Conchas Lake area is sure to accommodate. Stop at the U.S. Keep reading
Army Corps of Engineers Administrative Office and Visitor Center for a brief introduction to the park environment and nearby features. The Visitor Center displays will introduce you to the history of the area, the Corps’ mission, area archeological features, and existing recreational facilities. Conchas Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed lake; however, most campgrounds and recreation areas are managed by New Mexico State Parks. Federal Recreation Passports for these areas are not accepted. For information about NM State Park recreation areas please call the Conchas Lake State Park Office at 575-868-2270 or visit their website at https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd/find-a-park/conchas-lake-state-park/ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offers two separate Day Use Picnic Areas –the Captain Kramer Day Use area across from the Conchas Dam Administrative Building and the Juniper Day Use area located in the Southside Recreation Area. A water access point Boat Launch Ramp and Campground are also located in the Southside Recreation Area.
Recreation
Camping The Southside Recreation Area Campground contains 20 primitive camp sites with water only, picnic shelter, grills, and fire pits. These sites are $10 per night. Water is available from April - November only . Fishing Conchas Lake provides excellent fishing. The lake is stocked by the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish with bluegill, channel catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, and walleye. The lake is open all year to fishing. New Mexico fishing licenses and copies of fishing regulations are available from vendors throughout the state Water Sports Boating, sailing, and water skiing are all permitted at Conchas Lake. Boat launch ramps are available at the Corps-managed Southside Recreation Area. Fees are $5 per vehicle. This fee is covered by America the Beautiful Passes so please display pass on the dashboard of your vehicle. Fee can be paid using credit/debit card at our NEW electronic fee machine located outside of our Ranger Station building on the Southside. New Mexico State boating laws and Corps regulations apply to all boaters at Conchas Lake. Copies of all regulations are available at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Administrative Building Visitor Center and Southside Ranger Station; copies can also be obtained at the NM State Park Office. Federal and State laws require a properly fitting, U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket be available for each person on board a boat. Children 12 years old and younger MUST wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket while underway. Each person on board a Personal Watercraft (PWC), kayak, canoe, or rubber raft, must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket. When on the lake, stay at least 300 feet from the dam. When winds of 15-20 mph are forecasted or blowing, boaters are cautioned to stay out of open water. Boaters and skiers should be watchful for submerged stumps, logs, rocks, and other obstructions, especially in shallow water and along the shoreline. Always remember that operation of a watercraft under the influence of alcohol can be fatal. Please use good judgment.
Natural Features
Conchas Lake does not allow hunting. Some of the many mammals seen in the area include Barbary sheep, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, beaver, badger, mountain lion, bobcat, porcupine, coyote, muskrat, raccoon, red fox, swift fox, black-tailed jackrabbit and desert cottontail. The lake also provides habitat for seasonal waterfowl as well. Canada goose, white-fronted goose, mallard, gadwall, pintail, teal, American widgeon, shoveller, redhead, ringed-neck duck, canvasback, lesser scaup, common golden-eye, bufflehead, ruddy duck, hooded merganser, common merganser, and the American coot are some of the birds spotted. On August 15, 2009, there was a rare sighting of a Blue-Footed Booby at Conchas Dam. Normally sighted on the Gulf of Mexico and farther south to Peru, the rare bird sighting was quickly confirmed by bird experts. This was the first sighting ever in New Mexico. Word traveled fast. Over 1,000 bird enthusiasts and curious visitors came to Conchas Lake from all over New Mexico and across the nation including Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Illinois, Washington, California, Connecticut, Montana, Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri to catch a glimpse of the rare bird. The zebra mussel is an invasive species that can alter the natural ecosystem and out-compete native species if introduced into fresh water lakes or streams. They range in size from microscopic to two inches. They cluster together, causing problems for boat motors, pipes and dams. In order to prevent the spread of this nuisance species, each boat that enters the water at the south side boat ramp is inspected. The zebra mussel inspection program started the summer of 2009 and has inspected over 2,800 boats. To help educate the public, there are several signs, a billboard, and decals on the rangers’ trucks. There is a project website and PSA as well. The Corps also works in cooperation with (NM) State Parks, who perform the inspections on the north (boat) ramp, by sharing numbers weekly.
What the agency tells you
Check in is at 5pm, checkout is at 3pm
AT&T is currently the only active cell provider in the area, other cell services may not be available.
Camping is only permitted at designated sites.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Quiet hours start at 10 pm
All pets are required to be on leash while in the park.
Federal Passes will only be applicable to the southside recreational area, the northern half is managed by New Mexico State Parks.
New Mexico is currently under a Fire Ban; all fires in developed campgrounds are prohibited. Only propane gas grills are permitted.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 20
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 20 of 20 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 20 of 20 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 1 of 20 campsite records, WATER (SEASONAL) on 1 of 20 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Cultural Activities
- Disc Golf
- Environmental Education
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Ranger programs
- Ranger Station
- Stargazing
- Visitor center
- Water Skiing
39 of 40 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:36 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $10 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
recreation.gov availability, read 15:36 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
20 sites
All 20 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. 20 of the 20 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| South Area | South Area Campground 1 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 10 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 11 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 12 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 13 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 14 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 15 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 16 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 17 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 18 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 19 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 2 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 20 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 3 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 4 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 5 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 6 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 7 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 8 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| South Area | South Area Campground 9 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Conchas Lake from the East
Merge onto I-40 W toward Albuquerque
Merge onto I-40-BL W/E Tucumcari Blvd/E Route 66 Blvd via EXIT 335 toward US-54 E/NM-104 S
Turn right onto S 1st St/NM-104 N
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Conchas Dam, NM
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 74°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 26°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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
South Area 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 →