Cochiti Lake

Latitude/Longitude: 35.64167, -106.325  Elevation: 5479 ft
Weather Forecast:  http://tinyurl.com/CochitiWeather

Cochiti Lake is a good place to go to if you want something close to Albuquerque (~45 minutes) and are looking for water - for fishing, or playing around, or whatever.  Let's face it, it isn't the prettiest place you'll ever camp, but if you avoid the summer months when it will be both hot and crowded, it can be calm and peaceful with beautiful nighttime skies and great views of the Sandia mountains in the distance.  However, my favorite reason for camping at Cochiti is to use it for a jumping off point to the nearby world-class Tent Rocks.  If you haven't been there, you MUST go.

Cochiti is a US Army Corps of Engineers lake and campground.  They keep it clean and well organized.  They never allow any campfires, but there are various community water spigots around the various camping loops, as well as vault toilets.  If you call ahead and tell them you want to bring in a Boy Scout troop and are willing to do a service project for them, they have a special site they usually stick the scouts away from the rest of the crowd, and I believe will let you camp there for free.

In addition to the nearby Tent Rocks, there are all the myriad things boys find to do around lakes (skipping rocks, scaring the fish away, etc) and Cochiti even has a dedicated swimming area set up in the summer.  Fishing is of course an option, too, although I don't know how good it is there.

For camping sites, there are some cement pads around, although I would typically avoid those.  The high desert terrain is fairly covered in scrub-brush, but it isn't too hard to find good places to put a tent.  And, if some prefer, you may be able to use some of the shelters to guard against excessive wind.

Cochiti Lake Campsite information

US Army Corps of Engineers Website