By:
Submission
* **Before booking a reservation: It is your responsibility to review all (Site Details, Allowable Equipment, Allowable Vehicle/Driveway and Need to Know) for the individual campsite. Failing to do so may result in being prohibited from occupying the site upon your arrival. Refunds are not provided by the park.**
* **Dog Canyon is a 70-mile drive from the nearest town of Carlsbad, New Mexico and is 110 miles from the Pine Spring Visitor Center & Campground (a 2 hour drive time).**
* Dog Canyon Campground lies in the secluded, forested canyon on the north side of Guadalupe Mountains National Park at an elevation of 6,300 feet. It is located at the end of NM Hwy. 137 (Queen Highway).
* This quiet location is great for relaxing, wildlife watching and hiking.
* The campground is open year-round and is busiest, March-May and September-November.
* Trails from Dog Canyon offer good access, with relatively easy grades, to the high country of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
* The hike to Lost Peak is 6.4 miles round-trip, is considered strenuos and has 1500’ elevation gain.
* The hike to Marcus Overlook is 4.5 miles round-trip, is considered moderate with an 800' elevation gain.
* The Indian Meadow Nature Trail near the campground is 0.6 miles and winds around a grassy area surrounded by a mix of broadleaved evergreens, deciduous trees, and pines.
* The campground features 13 sites total with 9 tent, 4 RV sites and 1 group site available by reservation.
* Campsite occupancy is limited to 6 persons or 2 tents, per site. The group site allows 10 -20 persons.
* **No open fires (this includes charcoal) are permitted anywhere in the park.** Only stoves or lanterns using containerized fuel is permitted.
* Tent sites are hike-in only (61’ – 178’ from parking) and cannot accommodate RV parking. Each site offers a tent pad and picnic table.
* RV sites are gravel with picnic tables.
* No shower facilities, hookups or dump stations.
* Dog Canyon is remote. Fuel your vehicle and purchase supplies before heading to the park.
* The Dog Canyon Campground is in an area with wooded drainages, meadows, and grassy hillsides and sparsely vegetated outcrops. Large alligator junipers, oaks, maples, madrones, piñon and ponderosa pine are in and near the campground. Shrubs include ceanothus, sumacs, mahonia, and mountain mahogany. Desert-adapted plants include a variety of prickly pear cactus, agave, and chollas. Western scrub jays, acorn woodpeckers, and a variety of hummingbirds frequent the area. Mule deer are commonly seen.
* Algerita ridge casts morning shade, and cool mountain air settles in the canyon bottom nightly. Daytime highs are similar to the Pine Springs area, but nighttime lows can be much cooler. Views of the night sky are pristine.
* During the Permian Period, shallow marine water that was behind the Capitan Reef, created a series of layers of limestone and sandstone. Faulting and subsequent erosion created the canyon. Nearby topographic features include Lost Peak, Blue Ridge, West Dog Canyon, and the Brokeoff and Cutoff Mountains.
This location has limited staffing. Please call (915) 828-3251 for general information.
**Carlsbad Caverns National Park:** In addition to a variety of cave tours, the national park also offers hiking trails and a scenic drive. Rattlesnake Springs and Slaughter Canyon, part of Carlsbad Caverns are nearer attractions for day use activities. Birding is excellent at Rattlesnake Springs.
**Lincoln National Forest:** The Guadalupe District of the Lincoln National Forest is located just over the state line, north of the national park. Road access is through New Mexico, north of White’s City, via Dark Canyon Road to NM SR 137 through Queen (also the way to the national park’s Dog Canyon). The forest provides for various camping, hiking, caving, hunting, and picnicking opportunities. Sitting Bull Falls is a nice waterfall and picnic area in the Lincoln National Forest. Five Point Vista is a glorious ridge road ride of the area, closer to Dog Canyon.
**Fort Davis National Historic Site and State Park:** Fort Davis is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail. This is located about 2.5 hours south of the park. A state park is located nearby with camping and a scenic drive. Also located in Fort Davis is McDonald Observatory with several programs available.
**White Sands National Park:** Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. White Sands National Park preserves a major portion of this unique dunefield, along with the plants and animals that live here.
**Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site:** Hueco Tanks State Park is located on the east side of El Paso, about an hour and a half from the Guadalupes. At Hueco Tanks, you can hike, rock climb, bird watch, study nature and history, picnic and stargaze. Visitors can take guided and self-guided tours to view rock imagery.
* Individual Site: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you modify your reservation or change your stay dates. Cancelling your reservation prior to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time two nights before your stay will incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. Camping reservations cancelled the day before and day of arrival incur a $10 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee.
* If you need to cancel or modify your reservation after 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the day of arrival you must contact park staff by email at [email protected].
* Group Site: Customers who cancel a group overnight reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee & forfeit the first night's use fee.
From Carlsbad NM to the Dog Canyon area of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, take US Hwy 285 north to NM Hwy 137 and turn south. Travel (62 miles) to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Dog Canyon entrance.
From the Pine Springs Visitor Center to Dog Canyon, take US Hwy 62/180 east. Once you enter New Mexico, travel 25 miles and turn left onto County Road 408 (Dark Canyon road). Travel approximately 23 miles to the intersection with NM Hwy 137/Queen Hwy, turn left/south. Follow Queen Hwy 25 miles to the Dog Canyon entrance.
**Use extreme caution! This is open rangeland, cattle are frequently on the roadway.**
The campground features 13 sites total with 9 tent, 4 RV sites and 1 group site available by reservation.
Campsite occupancy is limited to 6 persons or 2 tents, per site. The group site allows 10 -20 persons.
No open fires (this includes charcoal) are permitted anywhere in the park. Only stoves or lanterns using containerized fuel is permitted.
Tent sites are hike-in only (61’ – 178’ from parking) and cannot accommodate RV parking. Each site offers a tent pad and picnic table.
RV sites are gravel with picnic tables.
No shower facilities, hookups or dump stations.
Dog Canyon is remote. Fuel your vehicle and purchase supplies before heading to the park.
So, we went here by accident. We had found a camping spot while visiting Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and we wanted to stay a night under the stars. And man can I tell you something? Well.. let me back up a little bit. If you plan on coming here make sure that before you take off from Carlsbad you fill up on gas, you get all the provisions you need, cuz there is nothing for an hour and a half some 80 Mi of just nothing One Way in, One Way Out. But that kind of seclusion is a wonderful reset. And it's just incredibly beautiful had my phone not have died I would have taken more pictures. Definitely worth it wish I was more prepared, but definitely worth it.
a really good campsite! Well, kept facility, super nice hiking trails, which are currently being repaired. Thank you to the rangers. I really appreciate what you do. After our hike in 0° and a lot of wind it was just nice to enter a toilet room that was very clean with soap, light and HEATING. Many Thanks. And please dear users keep it clean!!!!
We went to Dog Canyon Campground to camp from May 18th to 21st. In short, it’s an excellent campground, both clean and well maintained while also being quite remote. It is nestled between mountains, with far taller mountains to the east than to the west, so you’ll get direct sunlight (in May) from about 9am until 8pm. Expect the temperatures to drop significantly at night. For us it was 54 degrees by early morning, and then it would get well over 70 once the sun came out, and maybe up to 80 in the afternoon. Most of the campsites have shade, but it does vary from site to site.
The bathrooms were clean, with almost no bugs or spiders. There is a dish cleaning area behind the bathrooms that was also pretty clean and without bugs or spiders. You’ll find flies at the campsites, and a selection of beetles, maybe some ants, but delightfully no mosquitoes. I had only one run-in with a single biting fly during our stay.
The sites are a short (and I mean SHORT) walk from the parking. Something to think about is that if you need to inflate an air mattress using electricity from your car, you won’t be able to do that inside your tent unless you have a hundred ft long cord and are staying at one of the sites closest to the parking. We inflated two twin sized mattresses in the parking lot and then walked them down to our tent. I think each campsite has a nice, sturdy aluminum picnic table next to it. There is also a handicap accessible campsite here as well. The wind in the camp is peculiar with long periods of no wind punctuated by sudden gusts. It’s a good idea to use the guy wires on your tent just in case of suddenly high winds.
Dog Canyon is remote, and there are no services on the way. Once you get out of Carlsbad, it is about an hour and forty five minutes drive to the campsite over (thankfully) paved roads. The last mile or two is gravel. I used up about a 1/4 tank of gas to get there (one way). Keep an eye out for cows, as they will likely be on the road.
The first night we spent at the campsite was beautifully quiet with only a few other people. The second and third nights were unfortunately filled with the sound of little children arguing and whining, and the cries of an infant. For some reason, some fellow campers had decided to go here with 4 or 5 little kids and an infant. I would never blame children for being children. It’s unavoidable, but the adults should have known better. If you have small children (of the age that need constant attention/distraction and cannot satisfy themselves with the simple joys of nature/camping) you should not camp here. It is entirely inappropriate, and changes the character of the campsite significantly for those who came to Dog Canyon for solitude and enjoyment of nature.
This is a wonderful campground for those who love peace, quiet and incomparable beauty. There is a bathroom, and you can hit the trails first thing in the morning because they are right outside your door. There is also a small 3/4 of a mile trail - very easy - for those who love to walk but find the longer more strenuous trails a bit much. Don’t miss this campground. You won’t regret it. Please go prepared. It isn’t a quick easy drive to civilization. Have fun!
