Rock Hound State Park

I seem to be on a bit of a blogging bump. I can’t even think of snazzy titles for our travels, so I am going to stick with the names of the state parks we stay in through our New Mexico travels.

We have touched the northern part of New Mexico when we visited Taos a few years ago, in fact before I had Facebook or a blog, but this year we will attempt to say we’ve been though it all.

Hence our first stop was Rock Hound State Park near Deming. New Mexico State Parks have a few things going for them. One they are cheap – starting at $10 for un-serviced, all sites come with water, and power sites are $14. Now whether you are staying in cold weather or hot, the power is a nice touch. Secondly, only a handful of sites at every park is reservable. If you are form Alberta you know the frustration of deciding to go camping and all the parks are reserved. The benefit to this NM system is if you have a non-reservable site and decide to stay, you can, extending that into as long as 14 nights. Although I am too cheap to pay $35-40 for an RV “park”, I am not too proud to say I like power in extreme temperatures.

Upon our arrival there were no campsites available, but we were able to park in the overflow for $8, and hope for the best the next day. Sounded good to us, so we picked a side of the road and set up. It turned out to be an enjoyable evening with other couples in the same area, over a propane “fire pit” and a few beverages shared.

The next day while Ken and Brenda stayed at the campsite, hoping to scope out a couple of emptying sites, Dona nd I drove up the road to City of Rocks State Park to see if there was any availability. The short answer is no. But we are so glad we visited that park. As odd as the sites were, the park truly is a cool spot to be. The rocks rise like buildings form a flat plain, and the sites are entrenched amongst that. There are few sites that would accommodate out size of RV effortlessly and without extensive levelling, but the scenery may well be worth it.

As we returned to Rock Hound, the other Smiths confirmed 2 sites had opened up, and our search was able to conclude. We moved to the new sites and settled in.

You know Don and I can’t say no to a good road trip, so the next day we headed up to explore Silver City. Our travel is spurred by reading other bloggers and Instagram stories of RV’ers. It gives you ideas of places to go and honest real person overviews and recommendations.

We spent 7 nights here, and filled our time with local exploring, driving to see sights and small towns, a vigorous hike at near by Spring Canyon State Park, a visit to a winery, and campfires and shared beverages.

Remember to click on the photos if you want a closer look.

A great start to our New Mexico vacation!