SP Campground Review – Bottomless Lakes State Park, Roswell, NM

April 19, 2011 by libertatemamo Leave a Comment

A nice and relaxing stop-over ~18 miles from Roswell in SE New Mexico.

Link to campground here: Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM
Link to map location here: Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM

1. Site Quality = 4.5/5
   Very decent sites here. Selection of full hook-up (sites #1-6), and 30Amp/water. Most are large, spacious and quite flat gravel sites with shelter and grill. Some superb (enormous) pull-throughs with great lake views in the front (#24-27). A few shorter (less level) sites on the far side (sites #19-23). Poor shade in middle section, but this is the desert, after all.
2.  Facilities = 3.5/5
   The facilities are decent. Large bathrooms and showers, kept nicely clean. Shower pressure is decent and temperature good, but you do have the timer-buttons and rather old shower-heads.
3. Location = 4/5
   The park has a decent location. It’s ~18 miles from Roswell, but feels very remote and is located right by Lea Lake with access to swimming, hiking and biking. Only ding is that the last 6 miles are a tad bumpy into the park.
4. Pet Friendliness = 4/5
   Decent park for doggie. Main ding is that dogs are not allowed in the official swimming area, but you can walk around the lake and find a place for pooch to splash further down. Decent set of trails.

Overall Rating = 4
BONUS ALERT = Camp and swim in bottomless lakes!

Summary: We chose this campground for our visit to Roswell. It’s located ~18 miles from the city and is nicely situated next to the Bottomless Lakes with pretty views of the surrounding red rock and access to swimming, hiking and biking. Sites are very large and flat with shelter, grill and selection of water/electric or full hook-up. By far the nicest ones, in my opinion, are the front pull-throughs (#24-27) which are both enormous and have small trees and lake views. Only dings are that the last 6-mile ride to the park is a bit bumpy and you can’t take dogs in the swimming area. Overall however we really enjoyed the relaxing surroundings and would certainly stay again.

Extra Info:  Verizon smartphone worked on 1X (bursts of 3G). Aircard worked with external amp/antenna. Sites cost $14/night for water/electric (30 Amp) and $18/night for full hook-up (6 sites available). Camping fees can be covered with New Mexico Annual Camping Permit. Approx. half of campground is reservation, other half is first-come-first-serve. On-site dump station.