Post 75: Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Alamogordo, NM

Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Alamogordo, NM

Nov 20, 2017

We arrived at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park late afternoon. Initially, we were both of us were actually quite disappointed after reading all the reviews about this campground. As we drove the long road up to the park, we past areas that were long forgotten and very run down.  We were beginning to regret our decision to come here and were even considering going elsewhere. If it had not been for the late hour of the afternoon and the quickly setting sun, we would have turned around and looked for another location.

Joy knew we both needed to stop for the night and regroup. It was then established that contrary to the reviews, there was no internet connection. Our phones did not even have a signal. Being out of contact from our kids for too long at a time was not something that we liked to do. One night would be alright, but more makes us uncomfortable.

We used the dumping facility that was provided before we entered the campground which was much appreciated. We also filled up with fresh water because you never know how long you will go until you get the opportunity to do this again.

Finding a site that would hold us!!!

Now we know we have mentioned before that we are hauling a 31′ travel trailer with 2 opposing slides so we need a fair amount of room to set up  in. We pulled up to the sign at the entrance to this campground and read the rules as we always do. It was a Self Serve camp ground. Some sites could be reserved, but they also have several sites that are first come, first served.

The sites 1-10 and 20-27 were $14.00 a night and came with electricity and water. The remaining sites were $10.00 a night and came with  a picnic table (some were sheltered some were not), and a fire pit.  The sites that were not marked reserved could be stayed on for up to 2 weeks.

Our  search began for a large enough site for us. It did not take long to  found that all the sites with electricity and water were taken.

We did not want to take a reserved site in case we decided to stay longer than 1 night. The search began again looking for one that would be big enough for us. It took circling these two loops 3 or 4 times before we finally found the 1 and only site that would hold our trailer and truck.

A site was found at last.

It turned out to be the perfect site as far as a view went and a sunset to die for, BUT, it was very uneven. Most sites were uneven. We had to use all our blocks to level the trailer, and we were still off balance a bit.

We were disappointed in this camp ground from the reviews due to a few aspects. While the mountains behind the campground were beautiful, the land around the front of the park was not impressive at all. The sites were small, on top of each other and not level at all. The road was narrow and winding, making it difficult if you had a bigger rig to maneuver around it.

Hiking and SNAKES??

They had two hiking trails to offer, the only down side were the many signs stating “Watch out for Snakes!!” Being deathly afraid of snakes like Bill and Joy both are, they passed on the hiking.

Bill had hoped to spend a few days here and make use of the  trails, until we found out about the lack of internet and phone service (and the snakes lol).

Unless you are into hiking in a big way, there are other campgrounds that might be better, depends on your preferences. The only saving grace of this place was the magnificent sunset that Bill was able to catch with his camera.

If all comes down to personal likes and preferences, this campground is not one of our top campgrounds.