I am now in Oregon and will post something about where I am in a few days, but in the meantime, I thought I would point out to all of you about something I read about a couple of months ago.
As some of you might know, New Mexico has some of the cheapest state parks in the country. They are a real bargain: non-electric sites are $10 per night and electric hookup sites are $14 per night in almost all state parks. Now, admittedly, some of the state parks could use some improvement in park roads, and even camp sites, being paved. A few years ago, I had a dusty experience in one state park where the only five electric hookup sites were along the entrance road, and in fact, on the eastern side of the entrance road, so whenever a vehicle drove in, a cloud of dust rolled in to the point where I could not leave any windows or vents open.
However, there are a handful of New Mexico State Parks that are on my favorites list. For example, I love Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, which is located just south of Alamagordo, NM. It is on the slope on a mountain and has a terrific distant view of the valley where White Sands National Monument is located. Another favorite of mine is Rockhound SP, which is a very small campground near Deming, NM. The thing I like about this place is that it is small, and with only a few sites is very quiet and also has great views. Ditto for the Monticello Campground at Elephant Butte State Park. Note that I tend to like scenic places that are quiet and peaceful, but do not necessarily have a lot of things to do like boating or swimming.
Now, here is what is happening with New Mexico State Parks you might want to know about, especially if you are a camper on a tight budget. In the past, New Mexico offered an annual camping pass for residents and non-residents. The non-resident camping pass was good for 12 months after purchase and cost $225. It covers the basic camping fee of $10 per night. If you want to add electrical service, you will need to pay only that extra $4 per night--a serious bargain!!
Here are sites that provide more detailed information on these camping passes:
- Fees, Permits & Rentals - https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd/fees-permits/
- Know Before You Go - FAQs - https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd/know-before-you-go-faqs
What is happening is that that state of New Mexico is seriously considering increasing their camping fees, in most cases doubling or tripling them, but after reading several articles, as best as I can understand, they are going to wait until the first of 2025 to make a final decision on this. For example, one proposal is to raise the cost of the non-resident annual camping pass to $600 and day rates to $40-$150 for non-residents. (I am guessing the $150 might be for groups??)
Here are some articles I found, but please do your own research to get more updated information:
- New Mexico State Parks seeking feedback on increases to visit public lands
- Fees for state parks may be going up soon in New Mexico
- State Park Regulation Changes (From state park commission. Fee increases for non-resident camping passes suggested to be $338 in this document.)
The fees are expected to go into effect in January, 2025, but it could be sooner. Since I plan to visit some parks in NM this coming winter and spring, I already bought my annual pass for $225. The problem with my doing that is that I am not going to get to use it for the entire 12 months, but I figure it is worth it because I won't use it next summer anyways.
Anyway, no one knows for sure what the final decisions on these cost increases will be, but for now, the reservation system is accepting reservations at the old rates. Ditto for now on the sale of annual camping passes.
Just thought you might want to know so you can do your own research and make plans for 2025. You can buy your pass through the NM reservation system, and they will send you an email with your pass number on it, which enables you to make reservations while you wait for the paper pass to arrive.
