★ Field-verified · Dave's ownPublic land · dispersedFree
Otero County
Drive-up · public land · Otero County, NM · 32.98618, -105.81458
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 →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on public land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
A secret primitive campsite at the top of a steep hill that requires four-wheel drive. Grassy at top. Not used for camping often, but remnants of an old fire ring. Good cell service. Enough room for one or two vehicles. Nice views. Your presence visible from well traveled forest road so even though accessibility is challenging it is not completely private. Fun secluded spot. Recommended.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 17 March 2019. No agency publishes a season for this site, so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Otero County
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,625 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Otero CountyNIFC · 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 Otero County · Lincoln National Forest · NM
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- DDump5 mi
- MMechanic9 mi
- HHardware9 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- +Urgent care9 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- AAir-up23 mi
- ShShower48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: fuel & food sit about 3 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Water, Propane. Plan those before you head up.
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 — Otero County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
6,625 ft
Ground slope
8.6% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~9.5 mi · main line
County
Otero County, NM
Coordinates
32.98618, -105.81458
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Otero County · Lincoln National Forest · NM (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLa Luz Creek · ~0.1 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Salado Canyon (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townMountain Park · ~2.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~9.5 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelHigh Rolls General Store · ~3.0 mi
- Propane / LPGPropane · ~12.6 mi
- Dump station~5.3 mi
- GroceriesHigh Rolls General Store · ~3.0 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~10.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicCHRISTUS Health Alamogordo · ~8.2 mi
- HardwareRocky Mountain Supply · ~9.6 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
High clearance / 4×4
Fire ring
Yes
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Otero County · Lincoln National Forest · NM — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.5 mi straight-line SW — Casa Chevrolet GMC, Alamogordo, NM · EV Connect · CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach5 within 25 mi · 7 within 50 · 44 within 100 · 70 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)10.1 mi — Alamogordo, NM - Tesla Supercharger, Alamogordo
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO12.6 mi — Allsups - Alamogordo, Alamogordo
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)4.5 mi — Otero County Electric Co-op, Cloudcroft, NM (at a coop) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-11 · 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 234745 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Otero County · Lincoln National Forest · NM — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletTrestle · ~4.4 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPines · ~4.8 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLower Fir · ~4.8 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSlide · ~4.9 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Otero County · Lincoln National Forest · NM
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps La Luz Creek as an intermittent stream, ~0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 8.6% — noticeable. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~9.5 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Otero County elsewhere
Other camps near Otero County
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Pines~4.8 mi · fee
- Slide Group Campground~4.9 mi
- Lower Fir Group Campground~4.9 mi
- Deerhead Campground~4.9 mi
The unit that manages Otero County
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Otero County are set by Lincoln National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Otero County
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Otero County, NM). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 17 March 2019. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Otero County
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.
- How many rigs actually fit
- 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