Oliver Lee Memorial State Park
Oliver Lee State Park has history, an amazing diversity of desert
plants, flowing water and the plants and animals associated with
it, and a great hike into the Lincoln
National Forest. While this campground is probably quite hot in
the summertime, most any other time would be an excellent time to
visit.
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Campground data:
| Controlling agency: | New Mexico State Parks; campground web site |
| Location in the state: | South-central; Tularosa valley |
| Waypoint(s): | OLVRLEECG |
| Elevation: | 4349ft; 1326m |
| Number of campsites: | 48 |
| When we visited it: | 2005-04-01. 2005-03-26, 2005-03-19. |
| Cleanliness: | 10/10. The campsites we checked had 0-2 pieces of small litter. Repeated visits have confirmed the overall high level of cleanliness. |
| Fee: | $10.00. Add $4.00 for sites with RV hookups. |
| Water: | Yes. |
| Garbage cans: | Yes. |
| Fire pits: | Yes. |
| Cooking grills: | No. |
| Toilets: | Flush. The flush toilets are on loop A; a set of vault toilets is on loop B. The visitor center also has flush toilets available when it is open. |
| Showers: | Yes. The showers are on loop A. |
| Handicapped accessible: | Yes. |
| RV info: | Electrical hookups. Water hookups. Sewer hookups. Park on gravel.
Only two sites have sewer; they are designated as campground host sites, and may not be available. Otherwise, an RV dump station is at the park entrance.
Sites with hookups are 1-10 and 20-27. |
| When to camp: | Jan--Dec. According to a ranger, high season is late February through early April, with the busiest time being spring break.
Summer will be hot.
The campground gets a lot of day use on Easter Sunday. |
| General comments: | Not surprisingly, shaded campsites go quickly in the summer.
Very few of the sites with hookups also have shade structures.
Due to severe flash flood damage (i.e., the flood destroyed most of it completely), most of the riparian (nature) trail is closed. They are working to repair the damage, but it may take a while due to the number of government (state and federal) agencies involved, and the amount of money in various budgets. |
Maps:
- USGS 1:24000 Deadman Canyon
- USGS 1:100000 Alamogordo
- USGS 1:250000 Carlsbad
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Getting to the campground:
From Alamogordo, take US 54 south from the point where it crosses
US 70. After about 12.6 miles, a sign indicates the left turn to
the park. This road dead-ends after about 3.9 miles at the park.
The campground:
 | As you can see from this photo taken from the Dog Canyon trail, the campground
consists of two loops. The camp sites are spaced far enough apart
to be quiet, even though there was a troop of Boy Scouts nearby one
night.
|
Some of the campsites (such as site 14) have sun shelters. As you can
imagine, these sites are the first to be claimed in the summer.
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 | The view west from the campground includes White Sands and the Organ
and San Andreas Mountains. Sunrise (as seen here) on the mountains
is beautiful, and the sun sets on the nearby Sacramento mountains
(see the photo at the very top of this page for an example).
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One of the reasons to visit this campground is because of the plants.
Cactus such as this Turk's head bloom in the campground. Additionally,
the park has a garden where a wide selection of identified native
plants grow. Note that the cactus in the park and the nearby national
forest are protected and must be enjoyed on-site.
In addition to the diversity of plants, we also saw many species of
birds.
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Plants we saw in the campground:
Reader comments about this campground:
On Thu Jan 19 12:37:03 2006 Bob from Carlsbad, NM said:
Visited the campground in late September 2005. Very pretty and clean campground and park with interesting nature trail. Spotless restrooms and showers.
It was unseasonably warm when we stayed there, which made sleeping in our popup camper without an airconditioner a little uncomfortable until it finally cooled down late at night.
Campground is convenient for visiting the White Sands National Monument and other things to see and do around Alamogordo.
On Sun Aug 26 19:05:54 2007 R. Miera from Alb, N.M. said:
We stayed at this campground in late July. The surrounding area was beautiful due to some rains earlier. Some trails were still washed out from the previous years monsoons, but we still followed the trail up the mountain and the views were spectacular. We did see a rattle snake and horned toad.
We will like to go back and visit this campground during a cooler time of the year.
On Sun Mar 30 16:11:15 2008 Gil from El Paso said:
I have been coming to Oliver Lee State Park since 1987. Used to
tent, then pop-up, and now a travel trailer. Used to be me and my
wife, then me, wife and baby, then me, wife and two babies, and now
me, wife and two grown up children. They have been practically
been raised at this place or "Babbling Brooks" as we call
it. We have been there when the temperatures have been over 110
degrees and down below freezing. We've also been there during
high gusty winds, rainstorms, beautiful all-day drizzles, strong
snowy days, and great spring time weather. It has always been very
clean. The rest rooms are very well kept. What we especially like
about this place is that it is very quiet, calm, and serene. The
night skies are excellent for star gazing. In 2002 we saw the most
incredible Leonid Meteor shower ever. Over the years more people
have discovered this place, but still we enjoy coming out here very
much. It is no longer the well kept secret that it once was, but
that's a good thing since more people get to enjoy it. Let's
hope it continues to stay as peaceful as it has been over the years.
As I write this, I just got back yesterday from being out there the
last three days. Got to see a red fox near the creek too. Great
place. Hope to continue camping there for years to come.
***(Oh yeah, the "Man in the Van" [he now has a trailer]
who lives just outside the park has been there longer than I have
been camping at that place. He's there 24/7. Oliver Lee State
Park just wouldn't be the same if he were to move on, or worse.)
On Thu Mar 5 11:43:59 2009 Joe Ben Sanders from Tularosa, NM and Bent,NM said:
My first paid excavation job as a professional archaeologist was when
the wonderful folks at HSR, Inc, Mark Wimberly and Peter Eidenbach,
invited me to join them. It was the fall of 1978, that we began
excavations of FRENCHY'S CABIN. We found whole bottles with
paper labels, a gun flask, and even two metal arrowheads the Apache
had made before Frenchy ever got there. In 1984, the folks at
HSR,Inc hired me as a crew chief to excavate OLIVER LEE'S dog
canon ranch house, and it was a wonderful experience too. These
buildings are on display, and LEEs ranch house has been rebuilt.
These are the only historic building the public can visit in the
basin that have been excavated and interpreted for the public.
Historians, cattlemen, and hikers will love it here, and archaeologists,
it is special. The trail up the Canon goes through several Apache
and US Military battle sites that remain largely undocumented and
offer a special feeling when hiking here. In 1978, we collected
fossil pack rat middens in some of the rock shelters, and some were
over 10,000 years old. As a Principal Investigator, it is my public
duty as mandated by BLM, to educate the public, it is an obligation
any archaeologists accepts, and so I offer a list of books that
will make your visit more enjoyable. C. L. Sonnichsen book titled
Tularosa: Last of the Frontier West
,
Tales of the Tularosa by Tom Charles, and
Another Verdict for Oliver Lee. These will make
your visit more meaningful in a historic sense.
[Note from the Webmaster: the books without links are out-of-print,
or have limited availability and might be hard to find.]
On Sun Apr 26 07:31:07 2009, Nigel Aplin from Toronto, Canada said:
We visited the park on April 19 and 20, 2009. It was excellent in
every respect: clean and well maintained and situated on the edge
of the wilderness of Dog Canyon. The 4.5 mile hike to the top of the canyon is
spectacular with views of White Sands and the vast basin below.
Overall, a highlight of our trip to New Mexico.
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