Santa Fe National Forest · New Mexico
Overview Less than two hours from the city of Albuquerque, Rio de las Vacas Campground offers a cool oasis from the New Mexico heat. Visitors delight in the hiking and fishing opportunities available in the shade of the pine covered Jemez Mountains. A few of the campsites have the creek running along them, providing a soothing atmosphere for campers.
Sites at Rio De Las Vacas Campground 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 | 15 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Standard |
| Location | Cuba, 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 Rio De Las Vacas Campground 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.
| Redondo Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Jemez Falls Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Paliza | Cancellation alerts available |
| Black Canyon Campground (Santa Fe National Forest, NM) | Cancellation alerts available |
| San Antonio Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Field Tract Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Vista Linda Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Clear Creek Campground (Nm) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Panchuela | Cancellation alerts available |
| Jacks Creek Group Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Paliza Group Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Clear Creek Group Campground (NM) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Holy Ghost Group Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Jemez Falls (Nm) Picnic Area | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Rio De Las Vacas Campground; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.