This is now our 3rd state park to visit here in New Mexico as we travel the Northern part of this state. Our first one (Navajo) wasn’t impressive to us. We enjoyed ourselves at El Vado-but not much area for hiking.
Here at Heron, we had plenty of opportunity for hiking many areas; which suited us just fine.
We had the chance to scout out the park before moving over here, since it wasn’t that far from El Vado Lake. There was plenty to choose from, but only a few that would fit our need or rather that we liked.
Upon coming into the park, you travel onto Hwy 95 off of Hwy 84/64. You first come upon the entrance to the small marina and Little Oso Primitive Camping. Past there is the visitor center.
Then you come to your first campground which is both Willow Creek and Blanco. Both of these are mostly electric/water sites. These two campgrounds can and will accommodate any size rig manageable out there. Over half the sites in both loops can be reserved during peak season (Mid May-Mid Sept). There are both back in and pull-thru. In Willow Creek there is flush and vault toilets, while in Blanco you will find the shower building and a vault toilet as well. The road starts out paved but quickly turns into good gravel road. (Note: Blanco & Willow are the only two that have electric and water hook-ups)
Next you have Bushy Point Campground. Now word of caution when going in: Upon entering this area, be aware of a sign straight ahead. The road that veers to your right is for rigs 24 feet and under. And trust me in this loop you want to exceed that warning! This section of the loop can be reserved. The road is narrow and tight and sites are small. Bushy-West is straight, even though there are no warning about length size, I would not want to see a triple axle 5th wheel coming in here!
One was very selective on where they parked their 5th wheel and manage to get a great site with an awesome view of the lake. Now we observed two other 5th wheels (approx. 30 feet in length) and they had a dickens of a time trying to get into the sites that they wanted! As you come in, the first several sites are fairly large, and they stay large just until you get past the vault toilet. If climbing up the hill, the sites in that direction get much smaller as well as the road. Both the 5th wheels finally manage to get into the sites that they wanted, but both ended up with good gouges and scratches along the side of their rigs.
We stayed at Bushy-West and found a great site. We pulled our rig straight in. We still had plenty of room for our small dog to play (leashed of course) and parked our car behind us-sideways. We had plenty of privacy and a great view of the lake.
the only faults we honestly could find in this park was the fire rings are too close to the railroad ties that they use; and you couldn’t sit only in one direction-so if the smoke comes towards you-you really can’t get out of it. The second problem we found is the vault toilet on this side when it rains-it floods. We had on a couple of occasions where there was about 1/2” of standing water inside the vault toilet. Brian and I both took turns in sweeping them out, since the rangers weren’t around to take care of it. The only water hydrant is at the beginning when you first turn into the park.
now getting back to the campgrounds around Heron Lake; the next campground down the road is both Island View and Salmon Run. Island View again isn’t large rig friendly, but there are not signs telling you any limit in size. If you are about 30 feet or less, you might be fine, any bigger, well lets just say you may end up with a few scratches on you rig…. The sites at Island View also seem to be much closer together and that didn’t impress us any. there is a section just to the right that is also reserved as well.
Island View has a shower building and a water hydrant near the host (across from the showers). While Salmon Run only has a vault toilet.
Salmon Run is another one that has a size limit of 24 feet and it tells you this upon entering the road. However, we did find a couple of sites that would have fit a bit larger rig, including us (we are 27 feet in length). These sites were at the beginning, but after that-no site would fit anything other than what they posted and making the sharp curves were nearly impossible for anything bigger.
Farther down yet on Hwy 95 (which is also part of the park road as well), you go over the dam and you have two more campgrounds. These two campgrounds are more out in the open where trees more scarce, but much closer to the lake. They would fit the bigger rigs as well. They are called Ridge Rock, and Ponderosa. Then finally you have La-Laja where the boat ramp is and a few campsites.
Now we found the perfect camping spot and wish we could have gotten our motorhome in, but there would have been no way. It’s called Rincon Primitive Area. It’s only open during Mid May-Mid Sept. The Ponderosa are abundant as well as the wildlife in this area. However, when entering this particular park you are warned that the road maybe impassable during inclement weather. It’s mainly a dirt road with many deep ruts. But the sites were so secluded and very primitive and we really fell in love with this area. There is only one small vault toilet half-way down into the area (near the emergency spillway), and no water. Here you pack it in-pack it out.
Now about Heron Lake itself; it’s a fairly large lake compared to El Vado. However only boats can idle speed on this lake, for it’s considered a “no-wake” lake. We saw several sailboats tootling around out on the lake as well as pontoons and a few bass boats and there is a small (and I do mean “small”) marina on this lake as well. The lake stays mostly an aqua-green color that is very pretty. Fishing seems to be very popular as well. there is no swimming area and you are on our own.
there are 3 trails at Heron Lake. The most popular one is the Rio Chama Trail; it’s 5.5 miles one-way and connects with El Vado Lake.
The Rio Chama trail. The swinging bridge that goes over the Rio Chama was built back in the 80’s .
Then you have the Salmon Run trail; Salmon Run runs 5.5 miles one way. It starts at the Dam and goes all the way to the visitor center where it connects up with East Meadow Trail.
The small marina can be seen from the East Meadow Trail
East Meadow Trail is over 2 miles long and we found this one to be our least favorite. It’s a nice trail, but goes to an open meadow where you view homes and that didn’t impress us. We enjoyed the Salmon Run for you seem to go in and out of Ponderosa trees and always had a view of the lake.
The Salmon Run Trail
So if you are thinking of visiting the area, we strongly suggest staying at Heron Lake. We found this to be the place if you like to hike, bike, play on the water or just kick back and relax. There is something for everyone here and you are only 20 miles from Chama NM.
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