Iron Creek

An older, quiet campground, this campground is good for wildlife watching, especially birds. Iron Creek is also close to the trailhead for the Railroad Canyon hike.

Campground data:

Controlling agency:	Gila National Forest; Silver City Ranger District; campground web site
Location in the state:	Southwest; Gila
Waypoint(s):	IRONCREKCG
Elevation:	7154ft; 2181m
Number of campsites:	15. We only counted 13; the Forest service says 15.
When we visited it:	2003-06-07.
Cleanliness:	9/10
Fee:	$0.00.
Water:	No.
Garbage cans:	Yes.
Fire pits:	Yes. Old and crumbling.
Cooking grills:	Unknown.
Toilets:	Vault.
Showers:	No.
Handicapped accessible:	No.
RV info:	No electrical hookups. No water hookups. No sewer hookups.
When to camp:	Jan--Dec.
General comments:	You do not park near the picnic tables. The campground is better suited for tents than RVs. The picnic tables are old and crumbling.

Maps:

USGS 1:24000 Hillsboro Peak
USGS 1:100000 Hatch
USGS 1:250000 Las Cruces
Gila National Forest map

Getting to the campground:

Head west on NM 152 from I-25 (near Cablallo). Go through Hillsboro, Kingston, and Emory Pass scenic vista (which is worth a stop). The campground is about 8 miles past the scenic vista.

The campground:

Here is a representative campsite. Note that you park and walk in to the picnic table. This is not a bad thing, and for tent campers it is convenient.

You can also somewhat see the crumbling of the picnic table in the large version of this photo.

Reader comments about this campground:

On Wed May 24 03:08:20 2006 Elz from Alb, NM said:
This is a very wonderful campsite. Lonely, quiet and suspicious.

It is as pretty as it is eery. You always feel as though you are being watched, but there are no other campers (most of the time). My great grandfather was raised on a farm and ranch in a clearing near the edge of this forest. He would tell stories of never seeing birds fly above and east lying forest line. And his horses would go crazy if ridden near the trees.

On Wed Sep 6 20:29:11 2006 Anonymous from SA, TX said:
Neat, an Iron Creek post,

Pretty, wild and desolate. Went to this in late March '95. Nobody around; I advise against going alone unless you and your car are FIT. The altitudes on the way from I-25 can interfere with your air mixture on older cars. While there & at night my dog went CRAZY and woke me up. The next day I took a picture of the campsite with a film camera and when I developed it there were bands of red, orange and yellow light coming down from the trees in the picture! NICE. Best to stop next time and do lunch. This is prmitive camping - be prepared.

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