White Rock Visitor Center RV Park

I found this campground on the Dyrt before visiting Los Alamos, NM. I checked out the website a little bit too, but didn’t see that reservations could be made ahead of time. Everything I read on the Dyrt said it was first come first serve. When we got here, there was a QR code on the electrical box that took me to an online reservation site. I called the parks department and the lady I talked to said they changed it about 6 months ago and it was no longer first come first served. Luckily she was able to tell me which two sites were available for the time I wanted to stay, and I was able to get it reserved online after that. There were several sites that were empty, and stayed that way overnight into the next day, even though they were “unavailable” online. Someone else kept changing their spot to try and have more room, so I’m guessing a lot of people still assume it’s first come. If you don’t want to risk it, make a reservation ahead of time.

The park (parking lot) is very basic with electrical hookups at each site. There is a dump station and a water station to fill tanks as well. The spaces are pretty narrow, so an awning can’t be fully extended. All spaces are pull-through and have plenty of room for long rigs and vehicles. Some spaces are decently level, but others need leveling blocks.

There’s a dog run area with artificial turf and a water pump and bowl. It was clean and well kept.

There is a shuttle area with bathrooms nearby, but the bathrooms were locked and there was no shuttle service when we were here.

Overall, this was a good short-term RV park for our quick visit. It had everything we needed.

This county facility is basically a parking lot with spaces sized for RVs- excellent for what it is. The electrical(20-30-50amp) pedestals are on a common island between every 2 sites so(except for end sites) so you are side door-to-side door with your neighbor. The sites being angled at 45 rather than 90 degrees means this is somewhat mitigated. Very clean, fine for what it is: a place to park your RV while visiting Los Alamos area. Electric worked fine. The Visitor Center is re-opened, so bathrooms are available while it is open(8am-5pm). Everything is relatively new and generally in good condition. Good potable water supply and dump station with non-potable water(this seems to be free and available to the public). There is a Smiths supermarket, restaurants, etc across the street. 

There are a few downsides, the first of which can be very significant: 

1. Sites are not specifically assigned. If a space is vacant, it is available to be taken. There is a vending kiosk near the nice dog park area, from which you buy a ticket good for that day if there is an open space; it is not for a specific site. This is all fine if you have two vehicles and will be leaving one to“hold your place” while you are out exploring the area. BUT, for people with only one vehicle(e.g., class B or C or even A without a toad), you are abandoning your place when you leave to drive anywhere, and it is open to anyone taking it while you are gone. If you return and there is any open space, you can take it, but the RV park is generally full almost every night, and if you return and all spaces are taken, your$20“ticket” is useless- you are out of luck. I guess you could try parking in the adjacent large regular parking area, but that is not sanctioned. I spoke with the County about this, suggesting they consider a way to deal with this. 

2. Sites are all sloping downhill toward the Fire Station, you will very likely need to use blocks if you don’t have a mechanical leveling system. The slope is greater toward the Fire Station. 

3. Several of the sites are blocked off for the Los Alamos National Lab Exhibit Trailers, reducing the actual number of RV spaces available. 

4. Commute hours traffic is horrendous on the road(Road 4) into and out of the park, so plan accordingly. Traffic noise didn't bother us.