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Submission
Santa Barbara Campground is situated nicely on the edge of the Pecos Wilderness area and next to Rio Santa Barbara, a beautiful and healthy trout stream.
This is a great drop off point for hikers and horseback riders seeking close access to the Pecos Wilderness and Jicarita Peak.
The campground has 15 single sites, each containing a table and fire ring; two double sites, each containing two tables and a fire ring; one triple site containing three tables and a fire ring; and two quad sites containing four tables and a fire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water from faucets and trash removal are provided. There are no horse facilites within the campground. First-come, first-served sites are available.
Santa Barbara is located in a mixed forest of spruce, fir and aspen trees, which provide some shade throughout the day. At an altitude of 8,900 feet, temperatures can cool off during the summer nights.
Trail access to Jicarita Peak, with close access to North Truchas Peak, Sipapu Ski Resort, the town of Vadito, and the town of Penasco are all nearby. All are within 8-15 miles from the campground. Most services are available in Taos, NM, 25 miles north of the campground or Espanola, NM, 45 miles southwest.
From the junction with State Road 75, follow SR 73 1.4 miles to the Santa Barbara Road. Turn left onto the Santa Barbara Road. Then travel 6.2 miles to the campground. Santa Barbara Road becomes Forest System Road 116 when the pavement ends.
Beautiful area. My favorite part is that this campground is not next to an active road. Will stay here again.
You breath the fresh air here the birds singing and see all the wild life and enjoy the view. Q-VO!
One of my favorite parks ever, anywhere. Beautiful scenery, primitive camping. Vault toilet restrooms are typically clean. Sites all have a tent pad somewhere, fire ring, and concrete picnic table. Several trails going out to Carson or into the Pecos Wilderness originate in the park.
Beautiful!
We stayed in site 001, which is labeled as Triple Occupancy with a Double Driveway. We called ahead to ensure that we were allowed to park two travel trailers at this site, which they confirmed.
The site has six parking spaces, five of which are gravel, with the last one paved. We parked one camper across three spaces, and the other on the paved driveway, which made a nice little private L-shaped spot.
There is water within feet of site 001, although it was off during our trip. We were able to drive to a nearby town to fill up. There are three picnic tables. The fire pit is quite far from the driveway, so take a monitor for the babies, you won't hear them from the fire ring after bedtime.
