City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico
I pulled out of Elephant Butte this morning about 7 o'clock, and after stopping to fill up a propane tank and top up my diesel fuel, I found a spot to boondock, set up the camper, and was relaxing at the City of Rocks New Mexico state Park by 10 AM. And it looks like, by the old calendar on the wall, that this may be my last New Mexico State Park boondocking spot until I hit the lottery..... And that may take a while since I don't play the lottery.
I was lucky enough to get my favorite spot, which is a first-come, first-served spot, and a spot that most people don't want. It's actually a tent camping spot, and requires that you park your car down at the bottom of the hill in a tiny little parking spot, then carry all of your camping gear, tents, sleeping bags, kitchen equipment, up a fairly steep 75-yard hill to where there's a picnic table and a level spot to put your tent. This is a lot of effort for most folks, and I'm always surprised to find out there are people in this world who are actually lazier than me.
I've talked to numerous Park Rangers over the years, and they all tell me it’s fine for me to stay in this spot, since it's first come first serve, anyone can stay here who wants to. None of those problematic things that I just mentioned bothers me in the least. The parking spot is small, but it’s plenty big enough for my tiny home. I don't have to carry a bunch of stuff up the hill because I live in my camper, not up at the picnic table. And as for walking up and down the hill, I don't mind, I've been walking up and down hills most of my life..... Once I moved out of Miami, Florida.
Theboondork
This is an overview of the City of Rocks State Park. All the white spots are campers in the full-hookup area. All the rest of the Camping spots are boondocking, scattered throughout the area where all the rocks are.
This is my boondocking spot. It's actually a tent camping spot, but I've never seen anyone camp here before, so it's not very popular. The obvious reason is that no one wants to walk up this hill to reach their tent, or carry everything back to their car the next day. But I don't mind, in fact, I like it. Look at all the space and nature. I've got around me. It's my favorite boondocking spot.
Seen from the main road, there's plenty of parking area for my teeny tiny home. And the picnic table is under the big tree, up the hill, right behind the camper.