Santa Barbara Campground

Beautiful little campground nestled in the woods in north central New Mexico. Not very busy on a Sunday afternoon. Most campers were on their way out. A few hikers headed out on the trails. Be sure to take clothing for all types of weather (rain gear and a warm jacket) and take plenty of water. Weather can change in an instant! Fishing was non-existent on this visit. The creek was very clear and running well. Hmmm?

The Santa Barbara Campgrounds nestled in the Carson Nat. forest near the Sipapu ski basin is a typical campground with all the amenities found in this type of campground like picnic tables, fire rings, running water and vault toilets. There are a couple of trails that are available and you can fish at the Rio Santa Barbara which is very picturesque. The trails are beautiful, but there is some areas that could pose a walking hazard (rocky areas, overground roots on trail, slippery mud areas after a rainstorm and creek crossings) if you are un sure on your feet. Also since it is relatively high up be aware of the altitude take water and take your time on the trails if you are from low lander areas of the country. We had a couple of people in our group from the pacific northwest area that were feeling the effects of the altitude.

This is a beautiful, quiet campground. We were lucky to get one of the first come first served spots at noon on a Sunday. At almost 9000' in elevation, and with the shade of many spruce trees, it's cool here even in late July. It was nice to hear the sound of the Rio Santa Barbara and the songs of birds in the background with only murmurs of conversation from our courteous neighboring campers. Kudos also to the camp host, who kept the pit toilets sanitized and smelling more like Pine Sol than pit toilets!

Beautiful! We stayed in site 001, which is labeled as Triple Occupancy with a Double Driveway. We called ahead to ensure that we were allowed to park two travel trailers at this site, which they confirmed. The site has six parking spaces, five of which are gravel, with the last one paved. We parked one camper across three spaces, and the other on the paved driveway, which made a nice little private L-shaped spot. There is water within feet of site 001, although it was off during our trip. We were able to drive to a nearby town to fill up. There are three picnic tables. The fire pit is quite far from the driveway, so take a monitor for the babies, you won't hear them from the fire ring after bedtime.

Santa Barbara Campground has been a highlight of this trip. 5 miles of prime fly fishing water from the site. It was amazing countryside.

The Santa Barbara Campgrounds nestled in the Carson Nat. forest near the Sipapu ski basin is a typical campground with all the amenities found in this type of campground like picnic tables, fire rings, running water and vault toilets. There are a couple of trails that are available and you can fish at the Rio Santa Barbara which is very picturesque. The trails are beautiful, but there is some areas that could pose a walking hazard (rocky areas, overground roots on trail, slippery mud areas after a rainstorm and creek crossings) if you are un sure on your feet. Also since it is relatively high up be aware of the altitude take water and take your time on the trails if you are from low lander areas of the country. We had a couple of people in our group from the pacific northwest area that were feeling the effects of the altitude.