Lincoln National Forest · New Mexico
Overview Located on the outskirts of Ruidoso, Cedar Creek provides a wonderful space for groups visiting for the day or staying overnight. With a picnic shelter and three group campsites, the recreation area is ideal for an outing in Lincoln National Forest. A popular pastime is is hiking and mountain biking along the scenic multi-use trails adjacent to the Sam Tobias Memorial Group Campground.
Sites at CEDAR CREEK (Sam Tobias) are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 4 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Group, Shelter |
| Hookups | Electric hookups at some sites |
| Location | Ruidoso, NM |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
ItOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for CEDAR CREEK (Sam Tobias) around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Silver (NM) | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Apache (NM) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Sleepy Grass | Cancellation alerts available |
| Pines Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Saddle (NM) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Deerhead Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Aspen Group Area (Lincoln National Forest, NM) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Black Bear Group Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Lower Fir Group Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Slide Group Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Upper Fir Group Area | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for CEDAR CREEK (Sam Tobias); cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.