We were desperate to find a new location suitable for large-group car camping this year for our annual Father and Sons campout. We thought we were going to the Paliza campground, but only found out about a month previous that it wouldn't be open in 2013. We tried Cedro Peak, but it was already reserved for the only weekend we could hold the campout. I stumbled upon San Antonio while searching the internet. I'm not sure how I hadn't heard of this place before - it is great!
The San Antonio campground is in the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest, and is just a mile or two up the road from La Cueva, where Highway 126 intersects with Highway 4 in the Jemez. The entire campground is along the San Antonio River, but the group site on the north end has a long stretch of riverfront with a big pavilion right next to the river and a decent-sized meadow for playing in. It was very beautiful for an established campground. There was a full-time host there, who kept the place immaculate. The group site has a dedicated set of vault toilets, which were honestly the cleanest toilets I have *EVER* seen at a campground. Many a Walmart would do well to live up to the expectations set by these bathrooms. |
| San Antonio River next to the Pavillion |
Santa Fe National Forest Website for the San Antonio Campground
One issue we had, though: The campground host, while being the nicest guy, and obviously very dedicated to his responsibilities, was very strict about where we could place our tents. It is a group campsite which is allowed to have up to 100 people, but it only has something like 6-9 small to medium-sized actual camping sites (with gravel tent sites, fire pit, and picnic table). I specifically asked the Forest Ranger about this when I booked it, and they said not to worry because there was lots of grass to put more tents on. And, there is. But, the campground host refused to let us put our tents on the grass. He said we had to pack them all onto the available space on the gravel. We made due, and we still had a great time, but it made things a little more complicated than they needed to be. I'll be double-checking with the Forest Ranger before we reserve it again. Note, there is also limited parking available. I knew that going in, and I had warned people, but it might be an issue for your group. There were maybe 11 spots nearby, and the campground host had to find spots for another few people. But, if you plan on bringing 20-30 vehicles, you are going to have issues.
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| Group Pavillion |
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