RV Park Review – Santa Fe Skies RV Park, Santa Fe, NM
A very cute & quiet (but somewhat pricey) private RV Park just ~20 mins from downtown Santa Fe, central NM
Link to RV park info here: Santa Fe RV Park, NM
Link to map location here: Santa Fe RV Park, NM
- Site quality = 3.5/5
Decent site quality with just a few dings. All sites are firm gravel with pleasant concrete “sitting areas” containing picnic table. There is very nice landscaping throughout the park with a selection of plantings, mature trees and lots of really cute art sculptures (very nice touch). All but 2 sites offer full hookups (50amp/water/sewer but NO cable TV). Sites are arranged in “streets” (with street names) and there are three main areas of the park with different feels:- Front pull-through sites -> The first 7 “streets” of the RV park are all pull-through sites arranged in neat rows one next-to-the-other. All are all long and the landscaped concrete sitting areas do a nice job of separating the sites. Main dings are that sites are somewhat closer than I like and are not particularly flat, especially on the more curved ends of the “streets” towards the hiking trail (you may need levelers to get level). End-sites are the best here IMHO since you’ll have at least one side of the RV with no neighbors.
- Rear back-in sites -> The sites towards the rear of the park (“Yucca” street section) are mostly back-in sites with much better site separation. This area feels more like a public park with very generous space between sites and a more random site arrangement. Absolute best sites are towards the very back (numbers 17-22) with excellent space and lovely views of the valley. Not only are these sites cheaper than the front pull-throughs, but they feel much more spacious. This area would be my top choice for staying here.
- “Extra Long” sites -> There are several in the middle of the park (W1-W3) which are extra long (huge!). These are rather more spacious (and have better separation) than the front pull-through sites and are also very nice. This would be my 2nd choice for staying here.
- Facilities = 5/5
Very nice facilities. There is a central building containing flush toilets and showers, all very spacious and impeccably clean. The facilities are decorated with nice western-style red-earth tile and the women’s even has a sweet old hair-drying stool (nice touch). Plenty of new-looking machines in the laundry ($2.00 for wash, $2.00 for dry). - Amenities = 3/5
Not much in terms of extra amenities here. There is a central building with an outdoor patio space and clubhouse (games, TV, books etc.). Plus there is on-site dump and propane, but there are no pool or other amenities. Also there is free onsite WiFi, but we found it mostly useless even for regular internet browsing. - Location = 5/5
This is an excellent location to explore Santa Fe. The park itself is set nicely back from the main highway so it’s quiet and relaxed, yet you’re within easy reach of everything the town has to offer. You are only 5 mins away from Santa Fe Brewing and only 20 mins from the historic downtown with endless options for grocery, shopping and eating. - Pet friendliness = 5/5
Extremely dog-friendly spot! In fact if I could give this place 10 points for paw-friendliness I would. There is a huge fenced-in doggie-area and a lovely pet-friendly (off-leash OK!) 0.75 mile trail that goes around the entire park (poo bags and trash cans provided at regular intervals). Plus lots of opportunities to extend your hiking by taking some of the side-trails into the hills at the back of the park. This is the first private park that I’ve EVER been to which recommends leashes, but does not require them so you can officially walk your doggie off-leash as long as you maintain full control. Fabulous!
Overall rating = 4.3
BONUS ALERT = Camp only 20 mins from downtown Santa Fe!
Summary: This is the best-rated private RV park in the Santa Fe area, and although it’s expensive it is definitely very cute. The park is set on 17 acres nicely back from the main road so everything is quiet and relaxed, and the landscaping of the park is lovely with lots of pleasant plantings, trees and especially art sculptures throughout the park (a really, really nice touch). Also the views, especially from the end sites and the rear of the park are lovely. Main ding is that sites are somewhat gritty IMHO for the price. All sites are gravel (either pull-through or back-in) with nice concrete sitting areas and full hookups (50amp/water/sewer but NO cable TV), but several sites are unlevel and separation especially towards the front of the park is tighter than I’d like. Also amenities are not the high-point in this park. There is a nice, central clubhouse building (pleasant outdoor patio, inside games, TV, books), but no pool or other amenities, plus the free WiFi sadly, was mostly unusable. Other than the site quality and amenities everything else about the park is top-notch. The park offers a really nice, scenic 0.75-mile off-leash-OK (!!) hiking trail around, with several trails that extend into the hills beyond the park, park plus a large fenced-in off-leash area too. If I could give it 10 stars for scenery and paw-friendliness I would! Location is also excellent being only 5 mins from Santa Fe Brewing and 20 mins from historic downtown. Overall we enjoyed our stay here, especially paw-wise but it’s definitely well beyond our typical price-range for the daily rate. The absolute best deal here is the back-in site monthly rates which are reasonable at $650-$700 (plus the back-in sites are the nicest in the park IMHO) and if we come back to stay that’s what we’ll opt for. Depending on your budget range, I’d say this is a really cute, peaceful and scenic park in a great location to explore Santa Fe.
Extra Info: Free on-site WiFi, but unfortunately it did not work well while we were here (almost unusable even for regular browsing). Strong 4-5 bars of Verizon LTE (but it was a tad slow, I think due to tower-overloading) & strong 4 bars ATT 4G (which was nicely fast). 98 total sites of which 55 are pull-through and 45 are back-in. 96 sites offer full hookups (50amp/water/sewer). Sites cost $45-50/night depending on site type, except during Balloon Fiesta at which point all sites rise to $50/night. 10% discount for Good Sam’s members. Also significant monthly discount rates available.
We stayed at the this park in May and agree with your review. I found some good trails out into the hills that I enjoyed. The metal art is really pretty amazing. Nice place, quiet, reasonably close to town, a little expensive sums it up.
Exactly my feelings about the place. Totally agree the art sculptures were fabulous. Always nice to know others agree w/ my reviews!
Nina
Love your blog, content, & style of writing! My favorite one so far…very easy to navigate. Thank you for all the information you have shared!
Is it WordPress and was it difficult to format? We are in the planning stages for our FT advenure. Starting with the purging stage, have purchased the truck, will order the fifth wheel in spring after months of extensive research & looking. Hope to meet you on the road someday!
Yes my blog is WordPress-based and it was super easy to set-up. I started blogging with a free version hosted on WordPress.com (took literally 10 mins to set-up), but migrated to self-hosted last year (still with WordPress).
Nina
With the sites being so close together how was the noise level from other campers?
We had very quiet neighbors next to us so so problems at all. I’d say that most parks we’ve been to have decent neighbors (RVers tend to be respectful of each other). The few times we’ve had noisy neighbors we’ve either spoken to them or moved.
Nina
We stayed 10 days in early June. Our dog especially enjoyed the doggie park. Quiet place and close to good restaurants and a living history park. This was a nice stop on our 4 month mh trip.
It’s a fabulous place for doggie…maybe one of the best private RV park we’ve been to on that front. Glad you enjoyed your stay here!
Nina
Are you coming to Las Cruces? Several brew pubs here.
Probably not this time around. After ABQ we’re headed West again. Great to know they have a nice brew pub selection there, though.
Nina
Hello, we also stayed at this park in Nov 2013. I agree with you as well, a little pricey for what you get, but is is beautifull…some pretty spectacular sunsets. And our dogs loved the doggie park. Always enjoy reading your posts and following your travels. Maybe we will run into each other some time. We also enjoy boon docking and have travelled to a few of the amazing locations you have recommended. One of our favorites that we have gone to is in Parker, we park on the California side of the Colorado River…Empire Landing. Thanks for all the info, safe travels.
We’ve yet to stay at Parker although we did visit the famous Desert Bar last winter. Fun spot!
Nina
Another fantastic review. You cover absolutely everything. Thanks so much. Hope they have weekly rates since it would be pretty darn expensive to spend the amount of time Santa Fe deserves if you had to stay there. I’ve found I’m lucky if the Good Sam discount covers the taxes.
The only weekly deal they have is stay 6 nights and get 7th free. So, weekly rates are only a tad better than the daily. Monthly is the way to go here if you want to stay longer.
Nina
We were lucky to get site #19 for our stay there in the spring and enjoyed the views. Our Cat, Rosie really liked exploring her own private Santa Fe yard! 😉
That’s definitely one of the prime spots. You did well!
Nina
Super review, Nina! I really appreciate the details on the various sites in the park and all the photos.
Love reading your postings….just waned to add that we visited the area this year and to save money we stayed at a beautiful Army Corp in Abiquiu NM….yes it was a drive about an hour to go see Santa Fe…and Taos…but paying either it was $15 or $17 a day….was well worth the driving to stay in the area for an extended period of time….this park has beautiful scenery, mountain and lake views and a very peaceful setting to enjoy all of northern NM and what it has to offer…
I’ve heard SO many good things about that particular COE campground. We’ve yet to stay there ourselves, but it’s definitely on “the list”.
Nina
We were there the week of September 20 and stayed in the same spot! Great friendly park. We would have enjoyed it more with a pool. Views at night were awesome!
We definitely enjoyed the views. Sunset was pretty nice too!
Nina
You might try this one…
https://www.trailerranch.com/accommodations.html
It’s been a few years since a friend stayed at a park on Cerrilos Road. I can’t recall which one it was but I think this may have been it. I recall there being an adobe wall that faced Cerrillos Road that may have had the park’s name on it and shielded the park from some of the street noise.
Then there’s this…
http://www.townofbernalillo.org/depts/campground.htm
They only have one night available until the 12th. Prices are $40 & $50 (I think) for full-hookups during Balloon Fiesta but they drop to $20/$22 afterward. I haven’t seen this in years and it was pretty grim then (like where you’ve been in Santa Fe). Not sure what it’s like now, but it’s close to Albuq. The C.G.’s phone is 505-980-8256.
MFH
Be aware, there are no kids allowed at the Trailer Ranch. Santa Fe Skies is the best park we have stayed at in Santa Fe. Although, a couple of times we have stayed at Los Suenos RV Park, on Cerrillos
http://lossuenosrv.com
If you keep your expectations low, you might be pleasantly surprised. : ) It’s only advantage is that it is closer to downtown than Santa Fe Skies.
We too stayed here on our cross country trip last spring. It is a nice little park that is clean and quiet. Close to Sante Fe, Los Alamos and the turquoise trail. Loved the metal art!
We stayed at Santa Fe Skies RV Park for four months in 2003/04, and would do so again. At that time, we didn’t have a hot spot, so I used their WiFi by sitting at the table in the little store area. Not sure if it is still set up that way, though. There was always a current newspaper, and the family was very chatty about things to do and see, and about the history of their ranch and Santa Fe and the surrounding area.
We would stay there again in a flash, but probably only on a long-term basis because of the high daily rates.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
Forgot to say that we were in Daylily 3, but noticed in our walks that some of the sites in other sections were more spacious. We had a 40-foot DP and a full-sized van toad at the time (still have the toad!), so needed the extra-length site.
Stayed there several times.Great for doing the Santa Fe experience.
Check out Castros a family run Mexican joint mainly patronized by local families.
Love local joints like this. Thank you!
Nina
Hotel Andaluz is a nice place to chill. There’s a “library” in the corner not far from the bar where some relative privacy can be had. The second floor balcony often has an exhibit of local art. The booths have curtains that can be drawn and the rooms are nice too. Often have music in the lobby.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60933-d92752-Reviews-Hotel_Andaluz-Albuquerque_New_Mexico.html
Very nice tip, thank you!
Nina
Great post! Great website. We’re booked for THIS summer before we read this post. Coincidentally we had reserved Hollyhock 7 !
Thanks!!
P.S. They took our reservation without a deposit (said they only require a deposit around Balloon-fest)
Excellent. Sounds like you got a great site.
Nina
Staying here for two weeks to Nov 2, 2016. As usual, your review is spot-on. We are in 19 & love it for privacy & views. Dogs love it, except for the prickers that get into their paws, and our shoes too. Weather has been great – sunny warm, near clear skies. Beautiful sunsets. Lots of see on day trips. I would recommend this park.
Excellent. Glad you’re enjoying the park as much as we did.
Nina
Spot on review, as usual! Love your reviews as we are always in the know when we visit one of your reviewed campgrounds. We stayed 10 days in November, 2016. We had an end spot & then #19 opened so we were able to move = the best site IMHO as well. People very nice, nice fenced dog area plus the loop around the campground. Very easy access to freeways, town & sites. Very nice & reasonably priced golf course as well. The only problem was multiple goats head prickers on the trail. Ouch! Our shoes & paws had many encounters on our walks. Lots of bunnies. Beautiful sunsets, though not as spectacular as Angel Fire, near Taos.
Excellent. So glad you enjoyed the park and cheers for reporting back on your stay!
Nina
We have stayed there twice. Yours is a very good description of the campground. We like the fact that the generate power for the site from solar power. Our dog liked the campground too.
This is the first time I have been to your site, and like the review section