REVIEW Rock Hound State Park New Mexico

We were wondering where all the heat was...well we found it here at Rock Hound State Park in Southern New Mexico.

From Demming, take the 11 South for 5 miles, then go East on 141 for about 9 miles and it will be on your left.

Value 4/5
Same price as for all New Mexico State Parks. We paid $14 for water and electric ($10 for basic/$8 primitive)

Site Quality 4.5/5
Flat and very level crushed gravel in our #24 spot. Water and electricity. Individual garbage cans at each site. Fire pit and barbeque pit (fire ban right now for both). Covered picnic table. Dump station and good internet and satellite service. Nicely landscaped and space between most sites.

Facility Fun 4/5
There is a nice desert garden trail with lots of different cactus varieties planted. We even spotted a couple bird nests in one. This trail loops around to meet up with the trail up to the "digging" area. (unlike most parks this park allows you to hunt for and keep your rocks) You can do a loop, or do both trails at separate times. There is a great central playground.

Natural Surrounding 4/5
You are surrounded by cactus, birds, lizards and rocks, rocks, and more rocks which they encourage you to go hunt for and keep up to 15 pounds for personal use only. (water here sure would have been nice...very hot!)

Bathrooms 2.5/5
Flush toilets, and timer showers but not very clean when we were here.

Staff 5/5
Camp host Charles is very friendly and stopped by to chat within minutes of our arrival to ask if we had any questions and handed us a trail map.

Location 3/5
It is sort of in the middle of nowhere. Deming is about 15 miles away which has a Walmart which DOES allow overnight RV camping. (And trucks!!! There must have been about 30 trucks parked there, RV's park on the opposite end of the lot) Spring Canyon is just up the road.

Overall 3.5/5
This is a nice little park but it's remoteness and bathrooms made it score low in our books. Our site was right beside the playground which was perfect for us and the girls. We could relax, or cook outside while they played right beside us.

View from the playground to our site #24



The trail up to look for rocks



Digging for gems and geodes...note: bring a metal shovel, pick axe or
something better then plastic shovels as the ground is HARD

View of the campground from the trail

Beautiful sunsets and if you walk on the garden trail you will not get the
powerlines in your photos :)

A nest in a cactus right beside one of the sites

View from the roadway