El Morro National Monument and Campground

4-17-14 El Morro National Monument and Campground

Drove about 125 miles from Albuquerque to El Morrow National Monument.  Amazingly, there is a free 9-site campground about 1/2 mile from the Visitor’s Center within the National Park Service (NPS) boundary. In the rare event camping is allowed on NPS land, it is typically expensive so this free campground warranted a photo:) With only 9 sites (I stayed in Site #9), it helped to keep the noise level down but there was a steady stream of campers looking to camp - the site filled up by early afternoon and one camper doubled up at my site around midnight. The sites were generally good size but some are close together; each site has a fire pit, picnic table, trash can, and tent pad. Lucky for me, Site 9 was still available when I arrived Thursday; it is the largest site and the only site where I could easily park my truck and 25-foot AS. The solitude, wind through pine trees, paved campground road, make this a great site; it does lack electric, sewer, and water so it is dry camping - no problem for me since the AS was fixed! There are a couple of water spigots spread throughout the campground but they are not turned on until May when the risk of freezing temperatures is past. There are also two sets of vault toilets but the Visitor Center (open 9-5 every day) has flush toilets.

After leveling (sort of) the AS, I walked to the Visitor’s Center and hiked the two trails - one is 0.5 miles and the other is 2.0miles.  They are both easy walk interpretive trails that provide signs and descriptions of what visitors are seeing - they focus mostly on rock carvings, plants, and dwellings. Visitors need to finish the trails and report back to the Visitor Center by 4:30pm so the NPS can confirm everyone has made it back before they close their doors at 5pm. Since I started late, this didn’t give me much time to study the many points of interest along the trails but it was great exercise - the 2.0 mile loop gains about 250 feet in elevation so I ran up that part. While here, I hope to have time for a more leisurely hike on these trails.

Campsite #9

El Morro NM Visitor Center

Ancient Engravings