We have traveled for about 12 months total in the last 1.5 years and I am learning more and more what kind of camping I like.  John and I loved tent camping, in fact we still do, but I couldn’t tent camp for all this time.  I don’t mind a few nights without hookups (electric, water and sewer) but I must say I like being hooked up and not worrying about power and holding tanks.  I have found a few things I don’t like too.  I don’t like HUGE RV parks where you need to drive the car just to get from one end to the other.  I don’t like crowds.  I don’t like camping in the city where I hear lots of city noise, but I do like being close enough to one for outings and supplies.

City of Rocks- Day 1

This morning we left Tucson, Arizona and headed to City of Rocks State Park New Mexico.  We had a great time in Tucson and saw lots of sights.  The campground was just a little too big for me, even though it is a nice one.  I was looking forward to a small state park campground to unwind in after a day of driving.  City of Rocks is about 30 minutes north of Deming and the I-10.  We had made our reservations months ago for an electric/water site (I can compromise on the sewer for 5 nights or less).  I am really glad we had a reservation as this is a very popular spot.  We had reserved site #7, a pull through site.  We found out they label each of these sites with a planet’s names and we chuckled when we found out we were “camping in Uranus”.   We were set up in no time and off to explore.  I couldn’t wait to go explore through all of the rock formations but John had other plans. He suggested we hike to Table Mountain since today was cool and overcast and it was calling for sun tomorrow.  I agreed that he was right and we were off to hike what we thought was a 3.2 mile hike.  We were wrong, it ended up being a 5.5 mile hike with about 650 feet of elevation but it was so worth doing.  The views are far reaching and other than the campground there is not even a road to be seen.  It was great to be able to have views back towards the campground and see the desert wilderness all around it.

Look close and you can see the campground in the middle of the photo

Day 2 City of Rocks State Park

We woke to a chilly morning in the low 40’s.  This park sits around 5200 feet of elevation so expect cooler temperatures.  The sun quickly warmed us up and we were ready to go explore the rocks.  These rock formations were created by a large volcanic eruption and then erosion over millions of years shaped them.

There are no official trails through the rocks but you can pick a direction and keep winding through them.  There are rocks off all shapes and sizes and some are as big as 40 feet.  It is easy to spend a few hours just climbing up, over and between rocks.  As I type this I am watching 2 teenagers scrambling up high on some of the bigger rocks. The tall rocks offer spots of shade to cool off in when it does get hot.  I enjoyed walking around the perimeter of the park and checking out all of the different camping spots.  If you are not looking for hookups there are some really cool places you can park an RV or pitch a tent.

Walking around the backside of the campground.  The rock formation on the right looks a lot like Stonehenge.  It’s a tent campsite.  

Look at the rock wedged at the top.  There is a campsite right below it, not sure I would want this one.  

This area reminds me a lot of the Alabama Hills in California.

Thumbs Up.  

We are looking forward to a relaxing evening around a campfire watching the rabbits run through the park.  I have never seen so many rabbits in my life.  We have seen the smaller cottontails and the larger desert jackrabbit.  I bet we spotted 20 at the end of our hike last night, just before sunset.  Tomorrow we are making our way 5 hours across the I-10 to  Texas for a 2 night stay at Balmorrhea State Park.