Columbine Canyon

This campground is probably the nicest of the four campgrounds in the Red River canyon. While camping there, we were buzzed by hummingbirds, and we saw three chipmunks working over a campsite while the people were gone. This campground is also the trailhead for the Columbine Canyon hike.

Campground data:

Controlling agency:	Carson National Forest; Questa Ranger District; campground web site
Location in the state:	North-central; Carson National Forest
Waypoint(s):	COLMBNCNCG
Elevation:	7893ft; 2406m
Number of campsites:	27
When we visited it:	2004-07-14.
Cleanliness:	9/10
Fee:	$10.00.
Water:	Yes. The water faucets have hose connectors for easy filling of RV water tanks (if you have a hose).
Garbage cans:	Yes. A dumpster is near the entrance.
Fire pits:	Yes.
Cooking grills:	No. Sites 1-8 have fire pits plus cooking grills. Most of the rest of the sites only have fire pits with grates.
Toilets:	Vault. Very clean.
Showers:	No.
Handicapped accessible:	Yes. Sites 1 and 8 are reserved for handicapped, but all of 1-8 would probably be fine. The restroom for sites 1-8 is accessible (others may be also; we did not check them).
RV info:	No electrical hookups. No water hookups. No sewer hookups. Six sites are pull-through sites. Parking is on the asphalt only.
When to camp:	May--Oct. Fawn Lake campground is nearby and open all year.
General comments:	Sites 1-4 have good tent areas nearby. We also saw tents in other sites. A truck comes by selling block ice at around 8:30am.

Maps:

Online from topozone.com
Online from terraserver-usa.com
Aerial

photo from terraserver-usa.com
USGS Topo Quad 1:24,000 Lobo Springs
USGS Topo Quad 1:100,000 Grants
USGS Topo Quad 1:250,000 Albuquerque
Carson National Forest map

Map showing the location of the trailhead

Getting to the campground:

From the stoplight in Questa where NM 522 and NM 38 meet, head east on 38, toward Red River. After about 3.8 miles, you should see the campground on your right. The entrance is right after a collection of privately-owned buildings (a motel and a store).

The campground:

	This is site one, one of the wheelchair accessible sites.
Like many campgrounds in the northern New Mexico mountains, this one has its share of chipmunks.
	Site 16 is probably the most isolated site.
Columbine Creek runs through the campground. The Red River also runs between the campground and the road.

Reader comments about this campground:

On Mon Sep 27 15:06:14 2004 jim may from AMARILLO said:
GREAT CAMP GROUND

On Sun Dec 11 01:54:23 2005 RBK from Texas from Somewhere said:
Very nice campground. Back in the early '60s before this campground was established, there was dispersed camping in what I assume is the "Meadows" area. My Dad drove our '61 Chevy in, (note: trail used to be a road) through several creek crossings and we set up our canvas umbrella tent and stayed a week. One of my fondest memories of camping with my family.

On Tue Sep 5 10:20:45 2006 Chip from Santa Fe said:
WOW! Just returned from a great stay here! It was very quite and considering Labor Day weekend, it was not to crowded. Had a great spot by the stream 25, I was in a tent which I was one of only about 3 in the campground. All the RVs were very good with generators waiting until about 11am to turn on and only ran for a short time and then again about 8pm again for only a short time, no all night generators! The other campgrounds were packed and not nearly as clean and quite. The Host was great and the vaults were cleaned every morning.

It did get cool at night down to 34 one morning, that made it even better on the first week of September.

This is a must stay place!

On Fri Jul 6 08:54:30 2007 Troy and Jennifer Duck from Amarillo said:
We love going and do every chance that we get - we are building memories with our 3 daughters who love the fresh mountain air, the streams, and beautiful nature that surrounds the campsite. We plan to return year after year. It is close to Red River and it is fun to take the girls in for ice cream or a meal and still have the chance to return to nature within minutes of doing so. We've gone a number of times and each trip there is special and we meet the nicest people. The sites are clean and not to crowded.

On Thu Aug 16 11:20:48 2007 Sam & Denise from Tulsa, OK said:
We also stayed here on Labor Day weekend 2006. It was the cleanest campground I've seen in 20 years. The camp host was excellent, very personable and a hard worker. She cleaned the restrooms every morning and checked paper stock in the evenings. Campsights are just far enough apart with enough trees in between to make you feel your the only ones around. A firewood salesman came around in the evenings. Maybe I shouldn't post nice things as we plan to go back in two weeks and I want there to be room when we get there.

Add your comments about the Columbine Canyon campground.

Visitors since the counter started: 14885

Home	Hikes	Camping	Plants	Naturalist's Corner
Fire restrictions	Suggestions	NM-related links	Packing lists	Reviews of books

For details about the copyright, see the full Copyright statement.

Unhappy? Thinking of suing us? Read this disclaimer.

You can read our privacy statement.

Comments? Send them via the suggestion form.