This camp is managed and well maintained by the BLM.  It is at an altitude of 5,400 feet.  Average May temperature range from 80F during the day to 49F at night. It is located 4 miles west of Carrizozo, NM. There are very modern showers with sinks and real flush toilets…and is always clean! The Valley of Fires is a very unique area since the entire camp is literally in the pocket of a lava flow.  When the lava was flowing through this area it split and went around a small mound that is in the middle of the campground.  The lave rejoined on the south end of the camp leaving this area untouched by the fire.  They built a paved loop pathway out into the lava field.  There is great night viewing of the stars! Clear air, no lights, and you can view the Milky Way from horizon to horizon.

Tent Sites:  There are 25 individual tent camp sites.  12 are reservable at the website www.Recreation.gov. The rest are First Come, First Served.  Sites #1-14 have electric and water. Sites #20-25 are tent sites or tent trailers. Senior Passes honored. These are considered primitive sites, no electric, but all sites have nice shelters with tables, BBQ grills and sand pits. Water and vault toilets are located within walking distance of these sites.

RV Sites: There are several pull-in sites available that have electric and water hook-ups. (See Valley of Fires Recreation Area website for photos, information and fees at www.Recreation.gov. Again, Senior Passes honored.

What’s near-by?  Carrizozo is only 4 miles to the east.  It has 2 gas stations, ice and The Four Winds Restaurant at the crossroads which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.  There is a Dollar General store too (get ice here).

Day Rides within 200 miles:  Smokey Bear Museum in Lincoln, restored miliary Fort Stanton, Ruidoso Cowboy Museum and Wild Horse Park, Air and Space Museum in Alamogordo with IMAX and planetarium and lastly the Alien Museum in Roswell, NM.

How to get there:  From Albuquerque. Take I-25 south past Socorro, (suggest gassing up in Socorro since there are no gas stations until you get to Carrizozo some 76 miles). Then turn east on Hwy 380 towards Carrizozo. You will go through San Antonio, NM. Keep going for 65 miles to the Valley of Fires.

From Roswell. Take Hwy 380 west for 90 miles to Carrizozo, then go 4 miles west to the Valley of Fires.