Juniper At Bandelier National Monument
The campground for Bandelier National Monument is large enough that the
ranger we talked to said she had never seen it full in several years of
working here. The openness of the campground means that in the winter,
you can take advantage of morning sun to warm yourself. The campground
is well-maintained, and is near the trailheads for the Tyuonyi and Frey hikes.
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Campground data:
| Controlling agency: | National Park Service; Bandelier National Monument; campground web site |
| Location in the state: | North-central; Bandelier National Monument |
| Waypoint(s): | JUNIPER CG |
| Elevation: | 6660ft; 2030m |
| Number of campsites: | 94. Sometimes (e.g., in winter) they close one or more of the three loops. |
| When we visited it: | 2006-04-28. 2005-06-11, 2003-10-27 |
| Cleanliness: | 9/10. 7 small pieces of litter in site 52 (where we were camping) 6/2005. |
| Fee: | $12.00. You must also pay the park entrance fee, which was $12.00 for seven days when we were there. They accept Visa/Mastercard for camping payment. |
| Water: | Yes. The water is at selected spots in the campground. |
| Garbage cans: | Yes. |
| Fire pits: | Yes. If the site does not have a cooking grill, then the firepit has a grate for cooking. |
| Cooking grills: | No. |
| Toilets: | Flush. |
| Showers: | No. |
| Handicapped accessible: | Yes. Some sites are reserved for handicapped use. |
| RV info: | No electrical hookups. No water hookups. No sewer hookups. A dump station is available. The areas where you park are asphalt, but not pull-through. |
| When to camp: | Jan--Dec. Open all year. |
| General comments: |
A pay phone is at some of the restrooms (at least at the restroom between loops A and B).
Some of the sites have parking space for multiple vehicles.
The campground host sold firewood when we were there. Or, you can bring your own. Fuelwood gathering in the park is not allowed.
Dogs on leash only, and they are not allowed on the trails.
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Maps:
Getting to the campground:
From the park main entrance, the campground is the first right after you
pass the pay station.
The campground:
 | The park is in a Piñon-Juniper-Ponderosa forest. One of the
recent forest fires burned through here, and the drought (2003) is not
helping. As a result, there are dead trees. Note that plenty of live
trees still remain.
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Every campsite has a picnic table and a place for cooking over a fire.
The campground is clean, and well-maintained.
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The wildlife we saw in the campground included this Piñon Jay,
which stole part of Diana's muffin when she got up to get some orange
juice. A chipmunk noticed where the jay buried part of the muffin, and
went over and retrieved it and ate it.
We also saw a cottontail rabbit, and several other species of birds we
did not identify.
We heard coyotes nearby one night, and the park has posted signs warning
about bears. Therefore, you should be careful with your food, and not
leave any out.
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Plants we saw in the campground:
Animals we saw in the campground:
- Chipmunk
- Clicking cicada
- Hummingbird
- Canyon wren
- Rabbit
- Robin
- Western Bluebird
- Piñon jay
Reader comments about this campground:
On Mon Jun 7 22:10:23 2004 Marc Owen from Norman OK said:
June 14 2004
Great campground. Simple and clean. Nice camp hosts. You can walk
out of your campsite and hike trails closeby or drive to nearby
visitor center.
Areas to actually place tents are not large. A little difficulty
in finding completely shaded areas. Not really necessary since
climate is mild.
Paying for campsite is on cash only system. There are no electronic
pay systems so be sure to have exact cash 10 dollars per day. No
checks allowed.
No showers.
You're not supposed to dump any dishwater according to rules. They
say it kills the plants. Hmmm. I can understand not dumping food
particles etc. Never heard of dishwater being harmful. Anyway
that's the rule.
Bathrooms have flush toilets. Bathrooms are very clean. Plenty
of water hydrants are available with clear cool water.
Overall great experience.
On Sat Jun 26 17:41:01 2004 Anonymous from Albuquerque said:
Visited on June 18 19 2004. Loop A was closed, so we chose loop B
being that C was mostly full. Many of the sites seemed quite close
to each other. Very nice hosts. We enjoyed a session at the
amphitheater learning about Mountain Lions. The night sky was wide
and clear; bring your telescope. We could not have a fire due to
the extreme conditions. We had a great time.
On Tue Jul 5 14:49:03 2005 David from Minnesota, USA said:
We stayed in the Juniper Campground for two nights in June '05. It
is very basic but very clean and well cared for. Only about 1 in 5
sites were occupied and we found a site with some decent shade at
the north end of "B" loop. Many sites have very little shade, so
arrive early to get the best selection!
It was relatively quiet both nights except for coyotes that howled
a few times. There are no showers but the bathroom had flush toilets
and fresh running water.
Payment was by MasterCard, VISA, or cash (exact change) and cost
just $12 each night. Firewood was $5/bundle.
I highly reccommend hiking the Frey and Overlook trails that start
in the campground, near the amphitheatre parking lot. Enjoy!
On Sun Aug 7 19:04:53 2005 Todd and Kristy from Albuquerque, NM said:
We camped here 08-05-2005--08-07-2005 in Loop C which has a
brand-new bathroom that is incredibly clean. The bathroom also has a
pot-cleaning station with a double-sink. The sites are a bit close together.
There were several water spitgots in the loop along with one set of trash bins.
We got 6 big pieces of wood for $5, which would probably last two nights. Note
also that you have to pay $10 to enter the park in addition to $12 per night
for the campground, which is totally worth it because of how much there is to
see. There are evening shows at the ampitheater which is centrally located
between the three loops (we didn't make it to any of the shows though). The
visitor's center has a museum and a gift-shop along with a snack bar. The
caves hike is well worth seeing and is very kid friendly. The Tyuonyi hike is
very flat and ends in a view of the beginning of the cave hike which starts
from the visitor's center.
On Tue Oct 25 20:42:57 2005 Anonymous from somewhere said:
Loop C in the campground is very nice and accomodated our 33 foot
fifth wheel trailer easily. The restrooms were exceptionally clean.
The campground host was friendly and made sure we did not run our
little 2000 watt Honda before or after hours. We made toast and
popcorn and that was it
One night, about 10 PM, we had a visitor a Great Horned owl that
hooted around for about 45 minutes or so. Fun!
Overall, Rangers and people were very nice as was the campground.
Yes, we'll be back!
On Tue Mar 14 16:00:19 2006 joel from Rio Rancho, NM said:
Stayed their over labor day weekend for four days. We expected loud parties and crossing our fingers that wouldnt be the case. The place had plenty of room for us when we came in on Thursday, and loved the stay. Camp hosts made sure everyone was in order at night, bathrooms were well kept, and everyone was friendly. Excellent experiance over a holiday weekend! We stayed in loop C where the shade is excellent and the surroundings were all tall pines. Loop A and B are mostly Junipers under 15ft tall.
We'll be back to this place for sure!
On Tue Aug 1 21:02:01 2006 Doug Bonney from Kansas City, MO said:
We just returned from Bandelier National Monument, where we camped on July 25 and 26. Loop A was closed, but there were plenty of sites available in Juniper Campground. The camphosts are very nice the camp is clean and the sites have new firepits and plasticcoated steel picnic tables. The bathroom in Loop C was recently remodled and is very nice. This is a great place to camp and explore.
On Tue Oct 3 13:35:27 2006 wanda from wichita ks said:
We stayed 2 nights over the labor day weekend 2006, in loop c and only three spots were open. This was a beautiful campsite and the first evening we saw Elk and Dear as we walked to the restroom. The restroom were clean and nice, except No showers. Everyone was very quiet and we enjoyed the Bat Talk at the amphitheater, The next day we went to Bandoleer and saw a Bull Snake , a beautiful Western Diamond Back Rattle Snake and more dear. We would love to come back
On Mon Oct 23 20:06:55 2006 Steve K. from Arlington Texas said:
Stayed here at Juniper 3 nights, Oct. 15-17. Tent camped. Chilly
nights/perfect days in a really well maintained park. The ruins are
well worth spending some time with and the hikes within the park
are nicely marked and designed. The lady Rangers here are very warm
and helpful. Can't wait to return. Thanks for this terrific site.
On Fri Mar 23 22:16:47 2007 Trish from Albuquerque, NM said:
We stayed for the July 4th weekend, 2006, and it was FANTASTIC! Clean sites and the cleanest bathrooms Ive ever seen. Great pot cleaning station too. Nice rangers. Our 2year olds were able to make the hike to the cave sites with no problems. Take time to plan a picnic in the canyon where it is cool and shady and there is a beautiful, shallow creek that runs through. Excellent for kids to play in. Our site was big and shady and had room for 3 tents and one play tent. We arrived late Friday and had no problem getting the site we wanted. Did I mention the clean bathrooms? No kidding. Beautifully maintained trails lead to the amphitheatre where our toddlers sang and danced on the stage until dark which is when the regularly scheduled programs take place. Watched an unbelievably active lighting display all Saturday night with rain pouring down upon us. Wished I had been on the canyon rim with my camera. Next time. Thanks for the very helpful website!!
On Sat Mar 24 12:14:00 2007 The Webmaster from Albuquerque, NM said:
An addendum to the previous poster's message. The pot washing is
not a place set aside for washing plants of the Cannabis species :-),
but for dish washing. Since the park does not allow you to dump your
wash water, it is good they have provided an alternative.
Regarding the lightning, I agree that it can be spectacular. You
can easily reach the canyon rim on the Tyuonyi
overlook trail. However, be careful, because New Mexico has
the highest per capita death rate from lightning strikes, probably
related to the fact that we are second in the nation for lightning
strikes. I would not want to be on the canyon rim during a storm
(one lightning strike (more of a glancing blow, actually) in a
lifetime is enough!). For more information about lightning safety,
see this
page from the National
Lightning Safety Institute and this page
from the nearby Los Alamos National
Laboratory.
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