Last year, New Mexico closed all of its campgrounds down and limited day use only to state residents. That was lifted just a couple of weeks ago. I was able to book three nights at the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park for Wednesday through Saturday for $14 per night. This will give us access to White Sands National Monument; a couple of QTs, Alamogordo and Cloudcroft; the Sunspot Scenic Byway; and another section of the Lincoln National Forest.
I do have a bone to pick with the National Forest Service. They have closed many campgrounds, and at the campgrounds that remain open, over half of the campsites are closed. This, of course, was due to COVID. But there are two big ironies to these closures: 1) Federal campgrounds have the roomiest, most spread out campsites of any campground anywhere. The consequence is that campers are forced into other campgrounds that are so tightly packed that you can shake your neighbor’s hand from your camper’s windows. 2) The national campgrounds that are open didn’t close every other campsite to increase the already ample spacing. That might make some sense. No, they closed 5 or 6 sites in a row and then kept open 5 or 6 sites in a row. What good is that?
Oh well, tomorrow we see how far my dollar goes!
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