Holy Ghost

Controlling agency:	Santa Fe National Forest; Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District; campground web site
Location in the state:	North-central; Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Waypoint(s):	HGCG
Elevation:	7975ft; 2431m
Number of campsites:	24. 4 double tent sites, 14 single tent sites.
When we visited it:	2005-08-27. 2001-09-22
Cleanliness:	6/10. In the campsite we stayed in, someone had tried (unsuccessfully) to burn their beer cans in the fire pit. They had then been pulled out and left on the ground nearby.
Fee:	$8.00. The fee is per vehicle, not per campsite as it is at many other forest service campgrounds.
Water:	Yes.
Garbage cans:	Yes.
Fire pits:	Yes. All campsites appear to have fire pits with cooking grates.
Cooking grills:	Yes. At least one campsite has both a BBQ and a fire pit. Most only had the fire pits.
Toilets:	Vault.
Showers:	No.
Handicapped accessible:	Yes. At least three sites are marked as handicapped accessible, and the one restroom nearby is also marked as accessible.
RV info:	No electrical hookups. No water hookups. No sewer hookups.
When to camp:	Apr--Nov.
General comments:	Dogs are allowed on leash. Horse trailers are not allowed. No horses are allowed in the campground. This campground also has a group site.

From the town of Pecos, NM, take New Mexico 63 north. This road is narrow and it has many sharp turns. After about 13 miles, you will see a sign indicating Holy Ghost is to the left. Take this even more winding, one-lane road (Forest road 122) about 2.2 miles to the campground, which is at the end of the road.

If you get to the Terrero General Store, you have just passed the turnoff. The store is notable because it offers showers for $5.00.

On Mon Jul 14 17:33:06 2003 Dave from Austin, TX said:
Came upon Holy Ghost for the first time by a stroke of good fortune when I was seventeen. Since then I have returned many times sharing this wonderful campground with friends and family. Lots of beautiful hiking in the mountains and along icy cold crystal streams. Beautiful nights with the sound of the wind rushing through the aspen spruce and pine.

On Mon Jul 28 09:09:06 2003 Paul Mitchell from currently Fredericksburg, VA said:
Holy Ghost Campground was our favorite family destination when living in Whiterock, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque 1972-1991. Our old bright orange VW Camper graced just about every one of the camp spots over the years.

Fate has moved us to Virginia but daughter and family still in New Mexico and our small grandkids are today cavorting at Holy Ghost just like their mom did at their age 30 years earlier. It does not get much better than this.

Just like the real holy ghost, this place and memories are etched forever on my soul, and, God willing, that of generations to come.

On Sat Aug 16 02:15:43 2003 Darren from San Antonio, TX said:
My wife and I camped there in July of 1997. Nice campground! The ground is soft with grass so it made sleeping in our tent very comfortable. I would definitely recommend this campground to anyone.

On Wed Jul 6 22:15:15 2005 Todd Kristy from Albuquerque, NM said:
We camped at the group site 6/17/2005--6/19/2005 as part of a larger group. The stream produces a wonderful background to outdoor camping and the hand-pumped water was much appreciated. This is a very nice campground. We were a little unprepared for how cold the site was at night. I'm guessing the daytime temperatures were around 85, but the nighttime temperatures left frost on our car. I think the campsite is situated in a canyon that extends much higher into the mountains and funnels cold air down to lower elevations at night. The campground is also very close to the Terrero general store which is nice for those little things you forget.

On Tue Mar 14 15:56:11 2006 Joel from Rio Rancho, NM said:
We used to camp here every year, beautiful area and nice campground overall. The Camp host has been MIA for who knows how long, and the last 2 times we were their we were up all night listening to annoyingly loud music and drunks with no escape. Last time we left early. Road to get their is narrow, hard to get Trailer in there. Rangers show up to grab your money and leave, no real service that we noticed other than that.

On Sun Jun 18 21:34:31 2006 Matt from Albuquerque, NM said:
We just got back from Fathers Day weekend. The camp ground was great. I stayed here last August and its even better now than when I stayed then. Probably due to the really cool camp host.

The site was spotless, so beautiful you cant help but pack out others litter in the rare case you see it.

Really popular site packed in this weekend but, it stayed very mellow and peaceful. Check it out. Even in Summer it gets cold at night, be prepared.

On Mon May 21 11:55:13 2007 Steve from Amarillo, Texas said:
Holy Ghost is our favorite camping spot. The hiking trails are great and the scenery beautiful. We hiked up to Stewart lake in May 2007 and it was stunningly beautiful.

Our last trip (May 2007) was great except for several inconsiderate people who played loud music all day and well into the night. They also shined their flashlights in other campsites during the wee hours of the morning. It's too bad there isn't a camp host or ranger who can "police" the area from time to time--at least on busy weekends.

We have gone during the week and it's much more peaceful. Since we are tent campers we tend to camp towards the back where there are fewer RVs and less noise.

There are lots of squirrels and birds to watch and we've seen skunks during the night. As with any camping it's imperative that you don't leave food out at ANY time.

On Tue Jul 24 12:51:31 2007 weekenders from Albuquerque new mexico said:
We stayed at holy ghost campground and I did check out the web site before we went. It didn't say any thing about the narrow winding pot hole speed bump one lane road. It doesn't say any thing about the rusty and yellow water and it doesn't say any thing about the dirty nasty bathrooms and the trash cans that are too small and not enough of them and the really rude ranger. But even after all that we had the most wonderful time at the camp ground tell you why despite all that we took our sweet time on the narrow winding road going up it was on a wednesday and we had are own water and we had are own bathroom and thank god for the 30min of rain we filled up buckets that we had so we could finish are last days of the trip and we only had one bag of trash and we did comply with the 30min genarator rules that the ranger so rudely told us about. Itis a wonderful place to camp if you look only at the mountains and the river and the sky alot of the campers were very nice and even though they had dogs every one got along very well just a little work on the campground would be nice. Thank You

On Mon Jul 30 09:09:28 2007 Anonymous from Somewhere said:
This Friday went up and the campground was full at 5:30 p.m. It resembled a KOA rather than anything else, without the amenities. We were probably lucky it was full, because it did not look like much of a nature experience, just a bunch of people from Oklahoma and Texas sitting around drinking beer on lounge chairs, while their bored kids looked for something to do.

On Sat Aug 18 09:40:17 2007 Anonymous from Somewhere said:
Holy Ghost Canyon holds many great memories for me as we used to go camping there when I was very young. I didn`t know if it was still open or not, it was closed for a period of time.We will visit again from nearby Texas.

On Thu Sep 6 20:56:09 2007 ankseg from Albuquerque, NM said:
We went up on a Saturday afternoon on Aug 25, 2007. We took a 35' motorhome and gotta say it was OK taking up that winding narrow tree-lined road, BUT got a few adrenalin rushes when cars were coming the other way and they had to SQUEEEZe to the side of the road so i could get by, the worst was when they were right against a rock wall and the road was sorta crumbling on my side where there was a steep drop down a hillside, yikes - made it thru though. When we got there we got the very last campsite available, phew. Since this is a narrow valley the road is straight with campsites flanking both sides, a bit like row houses and we had a view of several neighbors. Everyone was real nice and no loud partiers that we could hear. It was very pretty surroundings and nice to take walks to the little river - I found some wild raspberries, nice. In the morning everyone started up their campfires and breakfast at pretty much the same time and the narrow valley was wall-to-wall smoke - I got pretty smoke sick and nauseous from it...but it cleared up not too long after. It wasn't exactly as secluded feeling as I would have liked, but it was pretty. All the sites seemed to have picnic tables and firepits with grills. The ranger only drove by once but didn't stop to bug us or anything. I don't think I'd go back unless maybe it was mid-week when there might be less people. But I'd probably rather check out a new campground as nothing really compelled me to return to this one... By the way thanks for this awesome website!!!

On Fri Jun 27 19:38:06 2008 Anonymous from Somewhere said:
I camped in Holy Ghost Canyon in l969 with a group of youth from Hunt Memorial Methodist Church in Dumas, Texas. What wonderful memories !!!! I was one of the youth leaders. I am now 71 years old. The Holy Ghost Creek brought laughter to me as I remember one of the other leaders falling into it as she was trying to get water in our coffee pot. Ha !!! What wonderful memories. So glad to ready your web site. Glad you all are still in operation and I pray others are still being BLESSED !!!

On Sun Jul 13 07:52:39 2008 George from Santa Fe NM said:
We always loved Holy Ghost and Jack's Creek with equal measures- the great views, the cool nights, and of course, the great fishing. We tend to stay at Jack's creek now, ever since that "incident" in 2005. A small church group had taken two campsites near the second bridge, and in the middle of the night, a group of bikers showed up, tore up their tents pretty good, and made off with three 18 year old girls and one 19 year old guy. We don't mind it too much, since the bodies were actually found over in Las Vegas, NM, and the heads closer to Wagon Mound- they don';t think that the murders happened at Holy Ghost, but think they were probably decpaitated in Pecos, than the bodies were dumped down the road. That isn't the issue anyway; the wailing and screams at night are un-earthly- it's been said that the white glows look like walking people without heads, usually coming down the mountain... good luck if you go!

On Tue Jul 15 13:53:37 2008 The Webmaster from Albuquerque, NM said:
George, that's a great ghost story for telling around the campfire!

On Thu Jul 17 10:09:31 2008 Anonymous from Somewhere said:
My only visit to Holy Ghost Canyon was 1960 or so when I was a young teenager living in Fort Worth, Texas. Our family always took camping vacations with six or eight other families and this one was one of the biggest; had about 15 kids in the bunch. As I recall we were at the end of the campsites and we virtually took the place over as we stayed for over a week. We set up horse shoes, volleyball court and more. One of the group was a minister and we had a church service; put up signs and some other campers joined in. One of the most memorable events of the trip was the surprise hail storm that covered the ground so deep that our pictures made it look like snow. In another post I was reminded of the narrow and winding road. I remember my dad commenting on how we had no choice but to keep going because turning around was certainly no option. Glad I ran across this site; it has brought back many great memories.

On Mon Jul 28 15:20:05 2008 John Robins from Austin NM said:
I remember the church slaughter too! 2005 and it was a bloody mess- pieces of those poor kids were found from Pecos all the way up to Wagon Mound- heads were just tossed along the road. We took a Wigi board there last fall, and some really creepy stuff took place- someone needs to bless the place- or something. I've heard of blood flowing from the pumps, then all of a sudden it's clear- my Brother was fishing and saw a face in the water looking over his shoulder- a teenage girl, and he turned too see no one behind him.. I've never heard the reported "screams", but wouldn't doubt it, given the violent deaths those poor kids suffered. I've heard it's all good up there till Labor Day weekend, when the Vaditos tend to drop in for some drinking and party'ing.....

On Sun Aug 24 18:01:11 2008 Anonymous from Albuquerque NM said:
We had a lovely weekend at Holy Ghost 8/20-8/22/08 The campground was clean and tidy, and not too crowded, and all the campers well-behaved, with the exception of some RVers who insisted on running their generator late into the night, despite posted signs about run restrictions. We had no trouble finding a space for our tent on Friday. The campground was pretty much empty by Sunday afternoon. There was a heavy rainstorm Saturday, and it was quite cool at night and early in the morning.

The upper men's bathroom was quite smelly,however. (remind me not to camp down wind from a bathroom again).

We picked up a small amount of trash left at our campsite. We are looking forward to coming back again soon.

I do wish people would not leave trash in the cooksites. We also retrieved some trash from the stream and from the hiking trail. I will never understand why people are so lazy that they cannot throw trash away and are so willing to mess with the beauty of the area.

On Thu Jan 1 10:59:56 2009 Robert from El Paso TX said:
I was there when the slaughter happened- there was so much noise and it happened so fast- the church group got one member down to Tenorio and summoned the police---- they never told us what was going on and seemed to hush the news a lot-- I remember reading about the corpses and heads later in the week in a Las Cruces paper-- pray for the souls of those horribly murdered kids!

On Wed Apr 29 10:59:12 2009 Lisa from Lubbock, TX said:
I have many fond memories of camping with various family members at Holy Ghost as a child in the 60's. What a lovely site!

On Sun May 17 18:37:16 2009 Joe Black from Athens, Texas said:
Made a week of fun in New Mexico, traveling about on motorcycle and pickup, we made this campground our last night stay there, setting up tent and enjoying the sound of the creek running, the quiet, the solitude and beauty of this area is very impressive. The only mistake I made was going up there too fast and I acquired H.A.S. High Altitude Sickness. I enjoyed my night there, headache, upset stomach, leg cramps or not. It is beautiful and expect to return there again someday. I had camped in this beautiful area back in the 80's at that time the cave was open and we explored it to where we just couldnt crawl anymore, I found it a shame that has been closed since then. All the same, the campgrounds are clean, the restrooms well kept. Bring firewood though, the wood lying about has been fairly already scavengered by campers for their fires. We found enough bit and pieces to keep a fire until nightfall. It got down to 37 degrees, camp heater or not, it was cold, but refreshing as compared to hot and humid Texas. Thanks for your hard work on making this campground available.

I spoke to a forest service ranger today who has worked at the Holy Ghost campground since before 2004.

The stories about a church group taken from Holy Ghost campground to Pecos then Las Vegas and beheaded by a gang of bikers are entirely fiction.

A search of the internet pulls up no such story, and the ranger worked there for the entire 2005 season and can confirm that no incident bearing any resemblance to this has ever happened.

Please disregard the posts above - they are probably trying to create a new "Holy Ghost" story for the campground, but it simply is not true.

However, legend has it Holy Ghost Canyon, where the campground is located, is haunted by a spirit of a priest killed by Pueblo people in the late 1680s. As the only allegedly haunted campground in the Forest Service, it is recommended visitors bring flashlights and lots of campfire ghost stories.

On Tue Jun 2 20:31:13 2009 Jim from Roswell said:
I beg to differ- the whole church slaughter incident was a true and horrible incident- word is that some of the perps are actually in prison for unrelated drug charges (Bikers and crank... go figure). We walk in pairs to the can at night- just too creepy- My neighbor was there the week after, and the whole east half of the campsites were cordoned off by the State police- they were combing for anything else- I spoke with Jim Aragon, a State Police Lt. from LV- he was on duty when the first head was found- they shut down 25 for 12 hours while cadaver dogs scoured for more pices- no telling how many parts of those poor kids were found.

On Tue Jun 2 20:38:04 2009 Tom from ABQ said:
I heard a Ranger was in on the whole murder thing anyway- he was trying to cover up for his biker buddies who were coming up there to cook meth over the week- but got pissed off when they saw the church bus- I always watch the Rangers more carefully since hearing about the involement-

On Mon Jun 8 11:33:15 2009 Robert from PHX said:
My Wife and Grand-kids spent last week up there- great place during the day, cool at night- I had to get up from the tent to go to the latrine, and my God, the unholy sounds I heard- it was Weds night, and there were no more than 3 other campers in the whole grounds- I saw blue flashes, and screams and red flashes- all from up near the bridge that leads further up to the group area- I went over, but my dog wouldn't- I had to send him back to the tent- I ran into another campr who said she had been woken up by screams- we looked all over, but saw nothing that indicated anyone was up that far- we were closer to the entrance, befor ethe second set of latrines. I don't know what it was, but we heard it again Thurs night, and decided to leave early Fri- We ran into a Ranger, short guy with grey beard, as he checked the registrations and picked up the garbage- he said he wasn't there that long, but a lot of people say they see and hear wierd stuff at night- after reading of the murders, I wonder what "impressions" have been left in this beatiful canyon-

On Wed Jun 10 19:31:42 2009 Anonymous from santa fe nm said:
SINCE READING THE STORY ON THE WEBSITE I DID MY OWN RESEARCH. I COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING ABOUT THE INCIDENT THAT HAPPEND AT HOLY GHOST. I LIVED IN NM MY WHOLE LIFE AND I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE I CAN FIND INFORMATION ABOUT IT PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

On Mon Jun 15 09:36:12 2009 Jennifer from Albuquerque, NM said:
Wow! What a great ghost story!

Just got back from Holy Ghost campground. What a beautiful place. The only lights I saw were the lights from the lady's truck turning around in our parking space because she was too lazy to get out of it to throw away her trash. And the water is pretty rusty coming out of the pipes but if you let it run just a bit, it clears up. The only noises were the water rushing and the occasional bark of a dog.

No host but people were pretty considerate. I do recommend carrying your own roll of toilet paper unless you don't mind using the roll that's inevitably left on the floor.

On Tue Jun 16 18:44:25 2009 Kyle from ABQ said:
Call the State Police and ask them about the open case from Holy Ghost- any officer from Las Vegas will know EXACTLY what you are talking about--- The feds got involved because it involved a local state employee- potential suspect- it was a crazy, sad and horrible incident. I would think that they would be doing more patrols in all the campgrounds as a result, but all the economy things, Bush and global warming must be holding it up.

On Tue Jun 16 19:19:26 2009 Big Bear Daddy from Santa Fe from SF, NM said:
Big Clan Bear gathering- all local bears welcome. Come one, come all- m2m camptrip, up at the group area, 6-19 through 6-21.

On Tue Jun 16 19:30:39 2009 Carlos & Carrie from Albuquerque, NM said:
Just got back after spending 2 nights at Holy Ghost. Have also spent time there a couple years ago as well. Love this place...it's quiet and clean. Couple years ago we saw quite a bit of deer in the campsight, as well as skunks. This time around, no critters, just lots of flies, but we had a GREAT time. Be sure to bring a hummingbird feeder with you, they're great to watch!

On Sat Jun 20 00:30:53 2009 Lonnie from Hobbs, NM said:
i am 40 yrs old and have been going to holy ghost since i was in diapers,literally, i can remember when there were no bridges in holy ghost and the half shelters at the end of the campground, there were many campgrounds back when i was about 6 yrs old, it was more primitive camping and people were supposd to haul out the trash, but you know people and that is probably why they modernized it and for environmental reasons which is understandable, i also remember the cave at terrero and the gold mines and stories of mucury entering the river from the shellings from the mines, but as a kid it sure was fun to go exploring and maybe the chance of finding gold or even a little pyrite. the hiking trails are always relaxing to walk and enjoy what God has created i have never been bored there, the fishing before whirling desease came around was always fun and then just spending time with family and now i have shared holy ghost with my children they always look forward to going camping!

there we always drive in late at night that way they sleep and i can get up the one way road to holy ghost without any trouble of someone coming down, the kids love going fishing and swimming and wading in the river. we have never heard of the murders or ghostly figures that had taken place in 2005 and believe me we have gone there every year that we could possibly make it, (i am not saying it didn't happen i don't know), sometimes twice a year and it is a 5 hour trip for us, it is always well worth the trip it is our idea of a true vacation, and i have been to some nice places as far as vacations go like; las vegas, miami and cancun all a little to noisy for me, i would rather enjoy family and the wilderness. yes there has been a time or two when the bathrooms have been pretty rank, but they usually clean them once a day, nothing would make me avoid this area. when i was 18yrs old they had been doing the renovation to holy ghost and it was quite dissappointing we had to stay in jacks creek which is nice but nothing compairs to holy ghost i am sure that most that have been would like to keep it there little secret, but most that stumble on it usually come back and if you find it you have found a treasure.

On Mon Jun 22 09:48:10 2009 Thomas from Estancia said:
Great place- nice co-campers (except the Texans who seem to love midnight generator runs). Fishing is always great, but challenging- we love the tree covered canopy over the stream. We've never experienced any of the ghostly occurances, but the guy at the Dairy Queen in town can tell you about the biker gang slaughter of 05- I guess the story goes they kidnapped some kids from the campground, killed and dismembered them on the way back to Colorado, tossing limb, heads and torsos along hwy 25 as they rode on- last pieces found were in Wagon Mound- they apparently never pieced all the kids back together. Lord be with you!

	This campground has some wonderful views, one of which is to the left. This view is looking northeast from the parking area for the tent portion of the campground.
To the right is another of the tent camping sites. You park and then walk up to the picnic table and tent area. The sites at the front of the campground are different from the one pictured here; in them, you park near your picnic table. This campground has many varieties of wildflowers; you can see some in this photo.
	To the left, you can see a picture of Holy Ghost Creek that runs beside the campground. About half of the campsites have direct access to this creek.
This campground has its share of campground wildlife. This was one of several squirrels running around the campground. We also saw several species of birds.