Wild Rivers Recreation Area, Questa, NM

 

While staying at Columbine Campground near Red River, NM in June, we took a day trip to Wild Rivers Recreation Area. We had planned on staying here, but it was close to 90 degrees and the biting no-see-um bugs were out in force. We decided to stop on our way back through New Mexico, a wise decision. September is a much better time to be here. We’ve had sunny skies, upper 70’s for the highs and mid 40’s for the lows the past 2 days.

This is BLM land, with 5 very small campgrounds (only 22 sites total) and we are in Little Arsenic. Maybe half the sites are suitable for RVs. The BLM website doesn’t give a length limit, but the spot we are in could easily hold a 40’ rig, but most are shorter. Each campground has a couple sites right on the rim of either the Rio Grande or Red River gorges, in fact Debbie is in one of them, but the other was taken so we opted for a view of the mountains. We may move to the other rim site tomorrow when the people there leave, but we have such a nice private spot we might just stay put.

We love being back in wide open spaces with low vegetation.

We are paying $3.50/night with the senior pass. No hookups, of course, but there is a water spigot by the outhouse and trash dumpsters. This is another very remote area, 15 miles from Questa, but believe me, there is no reason to go there unless you desperately need to shop at Family Dollar. For anything else, Taos is “only” about a 40 mile drive.

This is another great place for biking. Yesterday we rode 13 miles around the park on the paved road and on part of the 6 mile gravel/dirt loop trail that connects all the campgrounds. We only saw a few cars and one other cyclist.

We stopped to look over the rim at the Rio Grande, 800’ down the gorge. Quite impressive.

There are 22 miles of trails, which ought to keep us busy. We plan to hike down to the river today. And if you’re into backpacking, you can also camp down there.