New Mexico Adventures

I did a little trip to Carson National Forest in the north eastern part of New Mexico on Memorial Day weekend.  It's an area I hadn't explored before and I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it is.  I went with my ex-wife and our dogs.  We didn't have a particular place in mind, I had done a little research and found a nice state park but when I went to make reservations it turned out the state parks were still closed to camping due to COVID-19.  We decided to risk it and look for some camping on BLM land or dispersed camping.

As we were driving towards a little town called Cimarron a small, barely noticeable brown and white NPS style sign caught our attention.  We stopped, checked it out and saw three campgrounds listed.  The closest was 20 miles down the dirt road.  We went into Cimarron, filled the gas tank and headed off toward McCrystal campgrounds.  The road wasn't bad, any car could make the trip but it was heavily rutted in areas and looked like it got soft when it rains.

The majority of the land on either side for the first fifteen miles or so seemed to be private ranch land.  After about an hour and a half we came to the notice board.  Not being sure of weather the campgrounds were open or not I hoped out and checked the notifications.  Nothing but the usual rules list and a fire ban letter dated from April 2020.  I assumed that since that letter was current the Forest Service was keeping up to date notices so we pushed on.

When we arrived at the campground the only people there were some young kids from Texas desperately searching for a toilet.  The vault toilets were all locked up, which was our first hint something wasn't right.  We stopped and checked the notice board for the specific campground and found the fee deposit box was taped shut and no other information.  We were puzzled but decided to set up camp.  It was a very nice 60 site campground and we were the only people there.  We spent an hour or so walking the dogs around before starting dinner.  The only vehicle to pass by that entire time was a US Forest Service truck.  We stood by nervously waiting for him to stop and tell us the area was closed.  He waved and kept on going.

The rest of the night was peaceful and uneventful.

The next day we took a ride to explore the other campgrounds.  We ran into another Forestry truck at the next campground.  I'm pretty sure it was the same guy from the night before because of the bushy beard.  It was putting a wooden sawhorse up with two notices and informed us the campgrounds were closed without elaborating.  I asked if we would have to leave then and he shrugged and said he really wasn't going to say one way or another.  I feel like he probably should have been a little more decisive.

We ended up cutting the trip short and getting a hotel in Taos but overall it was a good time.