Cochiti Recreation Area

General: 80 campsites in four loops: Juniper (1-34), Elk Run (35-50), Buffalo Grove (51-66) and Ringtail Cat (67-80). 

Site Quality: Driveways were paved and most had a concrete pad, and all sites appeared to be level. IMO, the best sites are in the Ringtail Cat loop for views (but there are no hookups). Buffalo Grove has electric and water hookups, as well as light posts. Sites 51, 53, 57, and 59 have the best views. Sites in Elk Run have light posts but no hookups or views. IMO, the sites in Juniper are the least desirable: yes they have electric hookups, but they are older, overgrown, and have no views. Each site has a picnic table (some are covered), a BBQ grill, and a lantern hook (if no light post). 

Bath/Shower house: The one in Ringtail Cat loop was very clean. I did not use the shower but certainly would. 

Activities: This was on our route for a one-night stay, and we were there out of season so did not explore options but there is a boat ramp. Not sure about other in-season activities. For $6 (with senior pass), for a non-electric site, this campground was an incredible value.

The campground is inside the Cochiti Pueblo Nation. Nice views of mountains and pastel sunrises and sunset. Great place to catch-up on online business.

About half of the Cochiti campground has sites with electricity and water. All sites have paved driveways, canopies, and charcoal grills. The entire campground is on a hill overlooking Cochiti Lake. Buffalo Grove sites 51 and 53 have a clear view over the lake. The Cochiti campground is about a 22 minutes drive to the center of Santa Fe. The only downside to the campground is that there are no trees and it can be windy or very sunny. The bathrooms were good with flush toilets, hot water in the sink, and free hot showers.

We spent 3 nights in one of the back in sights along the ridge. It was absolutely beautiful sunrise and sunset views of the lake and surrounding mountains. In the off season or shoulder season the campground had most loops closed down. The loops open were about half full or a little less than half full. We absolutely enjoyed our time here and would recommend it. There were back in and pull through sites available for RVs of all sizes. Starlink was great here as there were few obstructions so internet wasn't an issue. We used the shower house to save on dumping grey water and they were fairly clean. We also went for a hike around the water on multiple occasions.

Our site had water and electric. There was a dump station at the front of the campground entrance which was convenient as well.

Lots of campers but still a nice quiet place. Plenty of room between spots and the views are gorgeous. Some sites have electric and water, some only electric and then some primitive spots.

We arrived at this spot at the end of October at 5.30 in the evening and could pick a spot and pay by leaving an envelope with the money. The showers are clean (as clean as you can expect from a camping site) just as the restrooms. The views at every single spot are amazing. At a night with clear skies you can do stargazing. For a spot without electricity you pay 12 dollars and for a spot with electricity you pay 20.

This is a large COE campground near, but not close to the lake.

When I checked in to Juniper loop, the host told me the water was far and I needed a long hose. I have just come off a week of Boondocking I’m only just wanted water electric and shower. there’s absolutely no water at the site. All the outer campsites in that loop have no water. The inner loop does have water but not all of the hook ups are even close to the sites. There was no way I could run a hose to my camper. I filled up my water jugs and thought I would just call it good, and went to take a shower. Well the shower houses in that loop were closed. I was dealing with a foot injury and did not want to be schleping all over to find water and shower. The best part of my experience what is the camp hosts who were very understanding and helped me get into a new site. I would also note that the lake is very far away from the campground. 

Camp site (Teardrop camping)

We briefly stayed at this camp site overnight. There is an electric hook up but no water. Ours was a pull through site. Picnic table with pergola is available on the camp site. We were there during the off season and it was empty and nice. We had no problem accessing the site even tho we arrived really late.

-

Facilities/ Amenities

Bathroom was a few minutes walk from the site. Clean and well maintained and hot showers available also.

-

Surrounding area

The site is right by the lake so for boat owners, this place seems to be a perfect camp ground. Feels to me like more of a recreational site than for camping.

-

Nice park with all the amenities. Fishing, boat ramp. Reservations on line. Most importantly gate closes at 10pm

Stayed one night for $12 and enjoyed a nice campsite w/ clean facilities. Had no reservation but there were plenty of sites available. Cochiti lake and surrounding views are amazing. Started snowing later in the evening and was absolutely beautiful to see a fresh blanket of powder all over the land. Would definitely return.

Late season they shut the good sites down and corral everyone into 3 of 6/8? loops. But summer comes and they open and the place is still packed so...it's ok. Electric and water, no full hook ups that I saw, which is fine. $12 dry and $20 w/electric. The views are nice and the water is worth it despite the crowds.

Quiet campground, well maintained, large natural surroundings.

Nice campsite that looks to be well maintained. Note that if you stay on Juniper Loop the website does say you need 100ft of hose to get water from the spigot. My site at #29 Juniper loop only required two 20 foot hoses and I only had to use one of my 20 foot electrical cables. However I would still come prepared to run at least that much hose and cable if not more. Also note that the campground gates get locked at 10pm and if you are out after that the only way back in is to wait for morning, or park at the bottom of the hill and walk up to your campsite.

We stayed at the Buffalo Grove Site #66 for one night. If you have an RV/trailer, Buffalo Grove is the best loop as all have 30/50 Amp, city water hookup, covered table, lantern and paved sites. There are other loops in the campground that may have 50 amp and no water or 15/30 amp with water and gravel. The Juniper loop requires a 100ft hose for shared spigots.

Some sites in Buffalo Grove are drive through or back-in. Decent space between camps and some privacy but there’s not a lot of large shrubs, extremely scarce actually and no trees whatsoever making all sites at this campground super hot with full sun. We were praying for the rain to come. There are tent sites available but I can’t imagine withstanding this kind of heat in July. We hardly saw anyone hanging outside during the day.

According to their map, there should be a playground right behind our site but it is nonexistent and clearly has been for some time and they’ve never updated their maps for it. The check-in was quick and simple, they gave us a map to our site and they were very friendly! The bathroom and shower facility close to our campsite was very clean and showers are free. There’s working water fountains outside of the bathroom. There’s no sewer hookups but there are two dump stations with water near the campground host location just outside of the Buffalo grove loop. There are no stores or laundry facilities inside the campground however if you drive past this campground you’ll find a mini mart, gas station, and laundry place.

If you go down to the boat ramp there’s covered picnic tables right off the shoreline with a bathroom on the left and you can walk on the shoreline to the right and find several picnic tables with no shade. The fishing and swimming are down a different road and the swimming area is by far the most popular area. They don’t allow pets here (at swimming area, OK at campgrounds) and there was literally no one fishing (unless you’re on a boat)!

Alcohol is not permitted and currently there’s fire restrictions that are not allowing fires (wood or charcoal, but propane is fine) though there are no fire rings in the Buffalo Grove area, not sure if that’s the case for other loops.

Tent Rocks is about 5 minutes away but they are currently closed. The crest dam road is also currently closed at this time. Overall a great stay, we would come back - preferably in the spring!

Views here are stunning. Campground has both electric and water hookups. Bathrooms and showers are spotless. Really enjoyed a one night stay on our way from Santa Fe to Albaquerque.

This is the most beautiful campground I’ve seen since I started traveling last July. Every site is large and has lots of space between other sites. I stayed in 73 and 71 and both were waterfront and gorgeous. Every site has a picnic table with a large metal shade covering. This place is immaculate. Bathrooms are close and showers are free. Best of all- $12/night and not busy at all. I stayed July 5-8. No alcohol, reservations are online only. Also the coordinates provided below are wrong. You want to go to cochiti dam/day use area. Enjoy :)

Very clean campground with all the necessary amenities!

It was great. We felt VERY safe and noticed regularly patrolling park rangers. I walked into the restrooms and they were in the middle of cleaning them. It was very clean and no trash anywhere on the grounds. Water spigots are everywhere, too. Well-stocked lake.

This is my favorite campground in the Santa Fe area. This Corps of Engineers managed lake has water and electric at most sites and 2 on site dump stations. Restrooms with showers are always clean and ready. The camp hosts are generally very helpful and kind. Did I mention the lake right outside your door, beautiful and great fishing. There is a small convince store and laundromat just about 1 mile outside the park.

Managed by the Army Corps of Engineers on the Cochiti Pueblo this campground is well designed and managed. Bathrooms were cleaned by Adelante daily while I stayed there. The Rangers were very friendly, the campsites were paved, had covered pick nick tables, grills, and a heater in the bathroom (March) and showers were hot. Visitors center has lots of information, and there are hiking trails. Not close to any major shopping, but there is a small store nearby and a laundry mat next to the store. Overall, I was very impressed.

Spent 8 days in September 2019 in this nice campground. Clean and spacious. Sites are all asphalted. Fair AT&T cellular signal. Used this as a base to sightsee ABQ, SF, Tent Rocks, Bandalier etc. Very reasonably priced with Senior Pass.

This is a great U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campground. Great level sites with water and 50amp power for RVs and water at tent sites. Clean restrooms with showers. No sewer hookups but dump stations. Stays are limited to14 days, RVspaces are $20 tent sites are $14, 50% discount if you have an Access pass. Fishing docks at the lake, boating (no wake) hiking trails and lots to see and do in the area.

There are 4 different loops, from the oldest (30 amps) water nearby, the the newest section. Dry camping with a view. We are in the Buffalo section. 50 / 30 amps along with water. Very nice shade structure with table. 

Sites range from very good to ok. Washrooms are clean. 

Nights are quite along with stars. Can be winding but this makes it cool in the daytime. 

Lots of places to walk, from 1 to 5 miles. 

I would rate this 5 stars, but the CampGround host should be out cleaning up the weeds on the sites. But I have never seen them.

If you like privacy, this is not the campground for you.  Nor if you like to have a beer in the open.  Don't get me wrong, it's an acceptable campground, but a little exposed and tightly controlled (we called them the beer police).  We had booked three nights, but stayed only two.  It was fine if you were going to go boating, but for hiking or chilling at your campsite, it left a little to be desired. 

We had to disguise our adult beverages, so as not to arouse suspicion from the beer police.  I'm too old for that.  The lack of any privacy was sort of off putting too. 

We did enjoy a beautiful sunset and some flat walks around the campground, but not quite the hiking that we were looking for. 

It's a long drive off the interstate for just a night, so I'd skip it if that's what you are looking for.

A simple campground without much privacy. Easy access to Cochiti Lake and the Tent Rock Monument (which is definitely worth a visit!).

25 miles from Santa Fe and 50 miles from Albuquerque. concrete pads and concrete picnic table with charcoal grills with rock pebbles filled in and desert landscapes. very well spaced out and different levels so you have a view of the lake and surrounding area.

This campground is very nice! The campsites all feature a picnic table with a shelter and the bath house is super clean and modern.

We camped in site 50 which was across the road from the bath house and it also had an amazing view!

I would highly recommend this site, especially if you want to visit Tent Rocks early the next morning. It’s about a 10 min drive from the campground.

We checked out this campground as an option when traveling to the Tent Rocks and it was a great place. The campground was clean and sites were not to close together. We noticed a good mix of both tent and rv campers on the property.

For tent camping with no hook ups it was only $12 which fit the perfect price point. These sites included a pad for the tent as well as fire rings and awnings with tables.

The view of the sunset here was impressive to say the least and I was so in awe of the colors in the sky I forgot to take a picture, that doesn’t happen often!

Bathrooms were just the right size for the amount of people who were coming and going and best of all, hot showers!! That in itself is nice to find when you are traveling in the southwest sometimes.

We were only about 15 miles from the Tent Rocks on very nice roads so it was perfect!!

Very depressing. No trees, no shade, unmaintained sites. The bathrooms were "out of order".

Because the sites on the outside of the loop have no water we had to back into a unoccupied reserved site to fill our tank.

We do have 50 amp power!

We could not bring ourselves to get into the lake… scummy.

Hopefully it is just the time of year or a current issue.

very easy to get to and beautiful desert landscape