Chama river camping

Our March camping trip was to what looked like a very scenic area on the map, up the Chama river above Abiquiu. We tried to get back in this area a couple years ago to check out some slot canyons, but got skunked by a giant snow dump in early November that turned the roads into gloopy mud. This time, the forecast was for dry and mild conditions, so we took the van and bikes and planned to camp along the river.

The road was in excellent condition, at least as far as New Mexican dirt roads go; only a little washboard in places. The distributed camping area was deserted on a weekday, and had several charming spots overlooking the river.

We unloaded the bikes and went for an exploratory ride, back down the road to the one bridge back here; there's a locked gate at the bridge, but it's all forest service land. The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) comes through right there too. After crossing the bridge, we continued on a forest road that paralleled the river upstream. We rode about as far as our campsite on the other side of the river, thinking we might wade across, but it was definitely too deep and fast, so we re-traced our route back to the camp. Total was about 14 miles.

We heard a little sprinkle in the middle of the night, and found it odd given the forecast... but it was brief, and not enough to be concerning. However, we woke in the morning to an inch of snow! I made coffee, and we decided it was prudent to get out of there pronto before things warmed up and potentially turned the road into mud. Sadly, it meant giving up on the slot-canyon plan yet again. We'll go back!