Agency-listedBLM · dispersedFree
Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
Drive-up · Bureau of Land Management · NM · 35.00110, -108.08333
Inside a national park unit
Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway sits inside El Malpais National Monument — a national monument run by the National Park Service.
Park rules apply, and they are stricter than dispersed camping: inside a National Park Service unit you camp in a designated campground or on a backcountry permit, not wherever you find a flat spot. Check the park before you go: nps.gov/elma ↗
This page calls it a dispersed camp because that is what the source record says. Inside a park unit that word does not mean camp anywhere.
Our record names BLM as the land manager; the Park Service’s own boundary map puts this point inside the unit. Two agencies disagree about one spot — ask the park first.
Placed by point-in-polygon against the National Park Service’s own boundary layer (NPS Land Resources Division, 442 units, fetched 18 Sep 2026; this unit’s polygon edited 2025-06-24). Nothing about the price or the legal status on this page was changed by it.
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Bureau of Land Management lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,859 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Chain Of Craters Backcountry BywayNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway · Bureau of Land Management · NM
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery14 mi
- @Mail14 mi
- FFuel16 mi
- HHardware16 mi
- MMechanic16 mi
- EVEV fast charger16 mi
- LLaundry16 mi
- WWater17 mi
- RxPharmacy17 mi
- ShShower21 mi
- DDump21 mi
- +Urgent care29 mi
- PPropane51 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 14 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
Access
Drive-up
Land
Bureau of Land Management · dispersed
Elevation
7,859 ft
Ground slope
65.7% · steep
State
NM
Coordinates
35.00110, -108.08333
Cost
Free · no fee, per the land manager's own page (blm.gov, read 2026-09-19)
Nearby & resupply — around Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway · Bureau of Land Management · NM (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Nearest townSan Rafael · ~12.1 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~16.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~21.0 mi
- GroceriesEl Morro Feed and Seed · ~13.7 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~16.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicThoreau Health Station · ~29.0 mi
- HardwareDiamond True Value · ~16.1 mi
EV charging — from Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway · Bureau of Land Management · NM — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger16.4 mi straight-line NE — Milan, NM - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 15 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach6 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 54 within 100 · 103 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS16.5 mi — MILAN NMDOT6 EV #1, Milan
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO16.5 mi — MILAN NMDOT6 EV #1, Milan
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)36.0 mi — PARKING L-EAST PARKING L-EAST, Paraje, NM · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 303731 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway · Bureau of Land Management · NM — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomEl Malpais National Monument Information Center (NPS) · ~2.7 mi E · NPS
- RestroomBig Tubes · ~4.2 mi S · NPS
- RestroomEl Calderon Area · ~5.0 mi SE · NPS
- RestroomZuni-Acoma Trailhead · ~8.7 mi E · NPS
Coming out here — Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway · Bureau of Land Management · NM
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 65.7% — steep. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway elsewhere
Other camps near Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Ojo Redondo~10.9 mi
- Ojo Redondo Campground~11.0 mi
- El Morro Campground~14.6 mi
- Joe Skeen Malpais Campground~15.4 mi
The unit that manages Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway is in the Rio Puerco Field Office, Albuquerque District, Bureau of Land Management. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
How we know this — Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
Fee note
No fee, per the BLM page, read 19 Sep 2026: "None. Facilities There is no potable water or restroom along this scenic byway. Nearby Amenities The nearest area to get food, gas, and water is in Grants, ~27 miles away by heading northeast on County Rd 42 and then tra…" https://www.blm.gov/visit/chain-craters-back-country-byway
Source
Bureau of Land Management recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up). | No fee 2026-09-19: "None. Facilities There is no potable water or restroom along this scenic byway. Nearby Amenities The nearest area to get food, gas, and water is in Grants, ~27 miles away by heading northeast on County Rd 42 and then tra…" Source: https://www.blm.gov/visit/chain-craters-back-country-byway (worker_W, statement verified on that page).
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Chain Of Craters Backcountry Byway
When the high country opens →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →