Water Canyon Campground
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- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 25 of the next 30 nights read 15:40 UTC
- A night
- $10From, per site
- Sites
- 1514 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
Within the Magdalena Mountains is a beautiful campground with twelve campsites and an additional group campsite tucked away at 6,800 ft elevation. These campsites are a mix of first-come first-served and reservation sites. There are several vault toilets as well as a picnic table, a fire ring, and a grill at each campsite. The group campsite offers an additional shelter structure and large fire pit. The area is great for birding and has access to several trails nearby. Keep reading
Recreation
Birding, hiking, and biking are popular activities in and around the Water Canyon Recreation Area. The campsites are also great locations for star-gazing.
Nearby Attractions
Forest Road 39, which is the spur that leads to the group campsite, can be followed as the North Fork Trail and hiked. Below the campground is the Water Canyon Picnic Area and access to more trails including the Mesa Trail.
What the agency tells you
During First Come First Serve season of October through March, the campground may close periodically due to unsafe weather conditions. While the campground may be open year-round, these weather conditions may dictate when the campground is accessible and the gate opened. Please call the ranger station ahead of time at 575.854.2281 to see if the gate is open during this time period.
There is no water at this campground.
Due to the unpaved nature of the road, the final 500ft to the campground may not be suitable for large RVs.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 15 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 2 of 15 campsite records
Around the campground
- Biking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Stargazing
- Wildlife viewing
Full this Saturdayread 15:40 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedClosedNot reservable
Every one of the 3 sites on offer is taken this Saturday, and on the one midweek night after it that the agency has released as well. read 15:40 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
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 · 13
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 15:40 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
15 sites
All 15 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. 15 of the 15 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Camping | 1 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 10 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 11 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 12 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 2 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 3 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 4 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 5 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 6 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 7 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 8 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | 9 | standard nonelectric | $10 |
| Camping | Group Site | group standard nonelectric | $55 |
| S&P | Group S&P | type not stated | $10–$55 |
| S&P | Standard S&P | standard nonelectric | $10 |