Anyone boondocked in Lincoln National Forest?

**rimartin58** · 06-17-2008, 11:52 AM

I'm looking to camp in New Mexico. Anybody have experience boondocking in the Carlsbad/Cloudcroft/Ruidoso area? Can you camp anywhere you want in a national forest or are there restrictions?

Thanks in advance.

RIM

06-17-2008, 01:15 PM

At the bottom of the following Lincoln Nat'l Forest link are 3 areas listed under "dispersed camping" with directions on how to get there. We've camped in Nat'l Forest's before but not with the TM yet. I think you can camp pretty much anywhere, but I would suggest you call or visit the Forest Service for that area to get specific information. I would also suggest taking a scouting trip out there before you tow the TM as some of the roads are dirt, very narrow and may have sharp turns which may get you into trouble. Pick a few camping sites out which are easily accessed with the TM and write down the directions before you go. Since you are traveling from Texas, you may want to stay at an RV Park for a day or two until you have your site picked out.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/lincoln/recr...-camping.shtml

**wbmiller3** · 06-17-2008, 04:22 PM

In the Gila NF in New Mexico there are a number of improved campgrounds - improved meaning they have pit toilets and no hookups so you would be boondocking. It's always seemed to me that it's unduly hard to find out information about these NF campgrounds without showing up at the local ranger station. Which makes it hard to plan in advance. But, these are great places and we really enjoy camping there.

**rimartin58** · 06-18-2008, 06:41 AM

Thanks folks! I'll be in the Cloudcroft area next week at Senic Canyon campground. I should have time to do a little reconnisance. If anybody's interested, I'll do a writeup about Senic Canyon, they advertise it as being very quiet.

RIM

**rimartin58** · 06-18-2008, 01:22 PM

For what its worth, I talked to the Sacremento Ranger Districe (Cloudcroft) this morning. The whole Lincoln NF is closed except for the manned campgrounds (dispersed camping and all trails are closed) due to the lack of rainfall and extreme fire conditions.

RIM

**rimartin58** · 06-30-2008, 08:10 PM

We went to Cloudcroft this weekend (see posts in other threads) and got rained on most of the weekend, which was very good for the area. Went to the Sacramento Ranger District Office (in Cloudcroft) and got an official forest service map of the Sacramento and Smokey Bear Ranger Districts (one map, $10).

Biggest news -- the NFS will reopen the forest July 2. If you're in West Texas, you might want to hitch up and catch yourself some cool weather.

RIM