Hyde Memorial State Park
A nice campground in the Sangre de Cristo mountains outside of Santa Fe.
This campground/picnic area is popular, and with good reason. The
trailhead for the Hyde Park Loop
is nearby, and part of the loop is through the campground.
This campground is right next to Black
Canyon.
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Campground data:
| Controlling agency: | New Mexico State Parks; campground web site |
| Location in the state: | North-central; Sangre de Cristo Mountains |
| Waypoint(s): | HMSPHM |
| Elevation: | 8497ft; 2590m |
| Number of campsites: | 50. plus 7 electric sites (parking-lot like) |
| When we visited it: | 2001-08-04. |
| Cleanliness: | 8/10 |
| Fee: | $10.00. $14.00 for campsites with electricity. |
| Water: | Yes. |
| Garbage cans: | Yes. |
| Fire pits: | Yes. |
| Cooking grills: | No. |
| Toilets: | Vault. In some areas you may have a short walk to get to them. |
| Showers: | No. |
| Handicapped accessible: | No. Handicapped status unknown. |
| RV info: | Electrical hookups. No water hookups. No sewer hookups. Water is available, just no water hookups at the RV sites. The RV dump station is down the road from the RV sites. The sites with electricity are like a parking lot. |
| When to camp: | Jan--Dec. Winter snow may make the park inaccessible at times (until the road is plowed). |
| General comments: |
The picnic tables are sheltered; at least two shelters have fireplaces.
The park has a playground.
One of the group sites has a volleyball court.
|
Maps:
Getting to the campground:
From the Santa Fe Plaza, head north on Washington Ave. Just past the
pink Scottish Rite Temple, turn right on Artist road; the sign says that Hyde
State Park and the Santa Fe Ski Basin are this way. Drive about seven miles
and you will see the sign for the Hyde Memorial State Park on your right.
There are a couple of entrances into the park, which lead to dirt roads
which more-or-less parallel the road you drove from Santa Fe on.
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The campground:
 |
Most of the picnic tables are covered by shelters like these. They will
come in handy when the summer thunderstorms arrive.
The stream in the next picture is just off the left of this picture.
|
A stream runs beside many of the campsites. You can see the stream here
as it passes campsite 10.
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Reader comments about this campground:
On Wed Jun 4 10:17:32 2003 a local family from Santa Fe NM said:
This is a very nice and well maintained campground. The sites are well spaced and include picnic tables fire pits with grill grates. Its family oriented and relatively quiet. There are an adequate number of pit toilets throughout the campground. The playground is safe and in excellent condition. Theres a lot of space to have fun in and also a gentle stream for the kids to play in. Thunderstorms frequently roll in during the summer afternoons but dont let that discourage you from staying in this beautiful area. The rain tends to leave as quickly as it droped in. Chipmonmks abound through the campground. On a scale of 15 5 being the very best our family would rate this campground as a high 4. Our last stay was 53003.
On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:03:07 Diana from Colorado said:
It was absolutely beautiful - small "lean-to" huts to keep things
dry - large, convenient and clean. However, it was THE noisiest
place I have ever camped. Huge group sites mixed in with individual
sites with large parties, cars "cruising" the loop road with music
blaring and teens congregating around restroom parking lots
(intimidating). The park rangers made regular rounds and said
nothing.
Black Canyon "next door" (actually both were the same rate) is
gorgeous and quiet and the forest service doesn't put up with these
types of activities! Just a heads up.
On Fri Aug 19 12:32:17 2005 Gail Bryant from somewhere said:
I enjoyed staying here. The campgrounds were clean and well spaced.
The only problem was the noise from the highway. There were lots
of big noisy trucks. Otherwise, it was fine.
On Wed May 31 10:16:15 2006 Michael C. from Kansas City. MO said:
A great place to camp. My family and I get there about two times a year for the past 6 years. We love it!
On Sun May 11 23:38:45 2008 Family of 5 and a dog! from Albuquerque, NM said:
Great place to camp. The shelter sure is nice during the high winds. The play structure is in a great location.
We were fortunate to camp next to the structure and our children loved it! The camp was quiet while we were there. We will definitely be visiting again!
On Sat May 31 17:17:29 2008 Anonymous from Rio Rancho, NM said:
We really liked this campground, but we will not go back. Our family camped at Hyde probably a total of 4 times. The first 3 times we had a lot of fun, everyone was very friendly. Last time, we woke up to go home and our two back tires were slashed. We had to pay for a tow truck from Santa Fe to tow us out. NOT a good experience.
On Sun Nov 16 15:42:51 2008 Anonymous from Santa Fe NM said:
This Campground sucks, and is boring and dirty.
On Sun Nov 16 15:47:09 2008 Anonymous from Santa Fe NM said:
I agree. The lack of campground hosts picking up all the trash in the river, made in dispicible. I nearly threw up with the smell
On Wed Dec 10 10:52:53 2008 Anonymous from Albuquerque, NM said:
There are not campground hosts in November nonetheless everyone should pick up after themselves, campground hosts should not be mommy and daddy to those who feel other should pick up for them.
On Thu Jul 23 13:57:49 2009 JA Smith from Norman, OK said:
We discovered Hyde Memorial Park on our honeymoon in 1975. We have
been returning here from Oklahoma every year since. Being a teacher,
we try to come each August just before school starts up again. It
has been the most wonderful camping experience for us. Lots of
memories. Our two girls think Hyde Park is thier second home.
Don't let some of the other reviews influence your choice. This
is a great spot. There is the occasional noise to deal with but
that happens everywhere. More than not it is peaceful and quiet
here. Happy camping.
On Mon Aug 17 00:09:26 2009 Unhappy from santa fe, nm said:
Loud drunk party people, lots of day users that are also loud, sites too close to one another, no camp host. Do not camp here unless you like lots of loud people right next to you. Too bad for such a beautiful place.
On Wed Oct 14 08:48:18 2009 ponderosa from Tijeras, NM said:
Main camping area is located on a gravel road. This makes for dusty camping. In the past we have had unfriendly encounters with rangers. One time they wrecked our evening meal by approaching us and ordering us to remove our wine bottle from our table (no glass allowed). Another time a ranger approached my wife near a stream and told her to stop gathering mushrooms, which she was NOT doing! Another time we were jolted awake @ 1:00AM by a series of loud explosions which turned out to be rangers attempting to scare off bears (in 50 years of camping in the West this is the only time I have seen this done). Another time our camping partners were admonished by rangers for not having the proper papers on a vehicle that she had used to join her husband who had previously set up a the camp. We no longer use this area as the authorities are so inhospitable and unwelcoming.
On Wed Oct 21 11:48:49 2009 Les from Somewhere said:
Don't stay at Hyde Park. In short, I stayed there twice this summer while I was attending school. Once for three weeks, which went ok (except they don't have running water), then came back about 3 weeks later for the remainder of my schooling.
The ranger in charge of the park, let's call him "Bob", sold me my annual pass and we talked at length when I arrived. He knew my schedule and had my cell phone number on file.
He decided on July 29th that my site was abandoned. He didn't check his records, didn't ask his deputies about my site- his deputies and I talked the day I arrived for my second stay and handled my park paperwork. They knew exactly who I was, what I was doing, how long I was staying and my attendance schedule.
So, to keep this brief, "Bob" decided my site was abandoned (which it wasn't) and had his people take down my site. They helped themselves to a couple hundred dollars worth of gear. I got most of my stuff back due to the efforts of Mike Sanchez, but not the missing gear. I was provided with phone numbers to call and file my complaint, which I promptly did. After several weeks of back and forth discussions with "Bob's" superiors, it was determined that "Bob" didn't do his job. I was given a form to fill out with the instructions that "You can send that in, but we don't give reimbursements."
It went nowhere, and "Bob" still has his job. So, if you like the idea of having your gear stolen, by all means... stay there.
I won't stay there again. I highly recommend you don't, either.
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