Hidden Valley RV Park

We stayed at Hidden Valley RV Park in San Antonio, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A rural campground minutes from the city.

We had originally planned to stay at a Thousand Trails campground a bit further from the city (because TT is free for us), but had concerns about access to it, and thought we’d rather be closer to the city, as San Antonio has lots of interesting attractions. We could have been closer still, but this place was a nice compromise between the kind of rural sites we enjoy, but close to the city.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-12-11
Check out: 2022-12-18
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little drizzle
High temps ranging between 59-77°F, lows around 41-61°F
Occasional wind, up to 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

Some road noise, occasional train and plane noise
No neighbor noise

Site:

#6, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Unlevel; needed to use some blocks on the front jacks
Medium-large site: about 80 feet long by about 40 feet wide
Picnic table

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
55 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 1-22 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 46-93 ms ping
AT&T: 15-21 Mbps down, 8-12 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
T-Mobile: 4 Mbps down, 1-9 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Verizon: 1-8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster (near entrance)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A nice country feel, close to the city

This was a great place to stay for our visit to San Antonio. We were in the lower, creek portion of the campground, and it was nice to be able to visit the attractions of the city and come home to a nice, quiet place. We really enjoyed looking for turtles along the creek (you have to be sneaky as they dive under the water at the first sign of people). Our site wasn’t particularly level front-to-back, but with enough blocks under the front jacks, we were able to make it work. Cell service was good, and Starlink had a good view of the sky for a connection. We camped at Hidden Valley RV Park in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

The campground map; our site was in the “creekside” section, a bit separated from the main part:

Map

Our site:

Our site

The site was rather unlevel, so we needed to use blocks under our front jacks to get the coach level:

Jack blocks

The utilities were all conveniently placed:

Utilities

The cellular service was a little weak, and we had wanted to exercise the Starlink anyway, since it had been a few months since we used it last, so we put that out (with no sky obstructions):

Starlink

Charging up our ebikes:

Bikes and stuff

Our site and others:

RVs

One downside of this RV park is that it is accessed via a rough one-mile dirt road:

Dirt road

Military planes flew over a number of times, being somewhat near an air force base:

Plane

There was lots of open space, including picnic tables:

Picnic tables

A group fire pit:

Group fire pit

And a nice creek:

Stream

The creek had a number of turtles in it, too; they liked to sun themselves on logs:

Turtles

Though they were very skittish; as soon as they saw me, they dove under the water:

No turtles

Our site again:

Our site

A pleasant RV park, other than the mile-long dirt road to get to it.

Travel from Junction to San Antonio, Texas

We drove our coach 135 miles, about two hours of driving, from Junction, Texas to San Antonio, Texas.

The map route, heading southeast:

Map route

The chickens didn’t want us to go; they roosted on our sewer hose (the feeling was mutual; we could have stayed longer):

Chickens

Leaving the RV park, past the pecan trees:

Leaving RV park

Ranch Road:

Ranch Road

Steep grade ahead:

Steep grade ahead

I-10:

I-10

A stop at a rest area for lunch:

Rest area

Paladin on the back of the driver chair as we started off again:

Paladin

But he soon retuned to his safe space next to the passenger chair:

Paladin

A sign of approaching a big city; a HOV lane appears:

HOV lane

And freeway overpasses:

Freeway overpasses

Exit to I-35 south:

I-35 south

Another exit:

Exit

Our destination is appropriately enough on Campground Road:

Campground Road

A rough one-mile dirt road leading to the RV park:

Dirt road

The office:

Office

Paladin on the steps, waiting for Jenn to return from checking in:

Paladin on steps

Continuing on down the dirt road to our site:

Dirt road

Approaching our site

Our site:

Our site

Pecan Valley RV Park

We stayed at Pecan Valley RV Park in Junction, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice and quiet RV park, with chickens, ducks, goats, and other animals.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-12-04
Check out: 2022-12-11
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little drizzle
High temps ranging between 63-78°F, lows around 47-61°F
A little afternoon wind, up to 25 MPH gusts

Noise:

No significant road noise; no train noise
Occasional neighbor noise
Chicken song!

Site:

#17, pull-through, asphalt
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Very level
Large site: about 65 feet long by about 50 feet wide
Picnic table, fire pit

Utilities:

50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
50 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
A little too low sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 79-80 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
AT&T: 50 Mbps down, 9-17 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 80 Mbps down, 24 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage bins
Package delivery to site
Country store with various swag
Fresh eggs
Chickens and ducks and goats, oh my!

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Close to I-10 but a world away

We stayed for a week and wish it had been longer. This park (and I do mean park) was so tranquil and relaxing but also convenient on/off the Interstate and close to town for groceries, etc. When we pulled in, we were met by the owners, who guided us to our site. All the sites look out over a large grassy area and are nicely spaced, so there’s a good feeling of openness. We also had a good view of one of the chicken coops and really enjoyed watching the hens throughout our stay (and giving them treats). There is a nice farm store by the main chicken coop and goat pen where you can buy goodies and swag, plus the owners or camp hosts will bring farm-fresh eggs to you on request ($5/doz). You can also wander down to the river for swimming, fishing, or just relaxing with the resident ducks. We will definitely stay here again when we pass through the area. We camped at Pecan Valley RV Park in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park; our spot was to the right of the “Space #18” marker:

This RV park is delightful in part due to its free-range chickens — not so great if you’re afraid of the tiny raptors, but we enjoy them, and miss them from our former homestead. Here are several chickens at our site:

Our site, with chickens

The utilities were fairly convenient:

Utilities

We also got around to adding the Big Bend National Park sticker to our coach, the last new park for several months:

National Park stickers

More pictures of chickens at our site:

Chickens

We gave them some leftover rice as a treat (the owners invite people to give treats); here’s a video of chickens eating the rice:

And a slow-mo video of chickens eating rice:

They liked to hang out on our mat (yes, I had to clean off a little poop when we left; not a big deal):

Chickens

Chicken

Chickens

David and chickens

Chickens

Chicken

The RV park also has some goats:

Goats and chickens

Goats

And a few ducks down at the adjacent river:

Ducks

River

Ducks

They also feed the wild deer daily; the deer are smaller than we’re used to:

Deer

And there are squirrels living in the trees; here’s a video of lots of them scampering:

They have a raised bed garden near the river (currently dormant, being winter):

Raised beds

And an unstaffed “general store” where people can go in and choose items to buy, purchasing by writing the selected items on a pad of paper:

General store

Well, the store is staffed by chickens, but I’m not sure they count:

General store

Inside:

General store

The store list:

General store list

We bought some cookies, candied pecans, and a tea towel:

Swag

They also sell freshly laid eggs; we bought a couple dozen:

Eggs

An RV park sign:

Sign

The “chick-in” point:

Chick-in

When we arrived, we received info on items for purchase etc, and a free sample of candied pecans:

Info and pecans

Art and a garden:

Art and garden

The RV park was fairly sparsely populated at this time of year. Here are some other RVs and the bathroom:

Other RVs and bathroom

Bathroom

Other RVs

Near our site was a mobile chicken coop; here it’s being opened in the morning:

Opening chicken coop

Chickens emerging:

Opening chicken coop

Mobile chicken coop

Peeking in the pop door of the coop:

Mobile chicken coop

Roosting bars:

Mobile chicken coop

Nesting boxes:

Mobile chicken coop

More rice treats for chickens:

Rice

Chickens

Paladin watching the chickens:

Paladin watching chickens

Chickens

A forward-and-back GIF of chickens; I love how they run:

Chickens

Eating GIFs:

Chickens

Let’s finish with a couple more pictures of our site:

Our site

A delightful park; we’ve really enjoyed having the chickens and other animals around. We’ll definitely stay here again.

Travel from Marathon to Junction, Texas

We drove our coach 269 miles, about five hours of driving, from Marathon, Texas to Junction, Texas.

The map route, heading north then east:

Map route

Firstly, a video of retracting the front driver-side slide-out:

Our coach with the slides in, and the truck hooked up, ready to leave:

Coach and truck ready to leave

Paladin went straight down the steps, so I left the step cover open:

Paladin on steps

Some fairly barren hills; compare to later pictures:

Hills

Heading north:

Heading north

Roadworks; narrow lanes are a little disconcerting in a wide coach:

Roadworks

More roadworks:

Roadworks

Joining I-10 to head east:

Heading east onto I-10

Roadrunner mural:

Roadrunner mural

“Cud you not text and drive?” There were several amusing cow-themed billboards like this:

Cud you not text and drive?

Paladin still on the steps, enjoying the view out the cat window:

Paladin on steps

We stopped at a roadside picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

Since the step cover was open, I hopped out to stretch my legs. Here’s an old stagecoach stop:

Old structure

Our coach:

Our coach

Paladin on the back of the couch during lunch:

Paladin on back of couch

An interesting mountain:

Interesting mountain

Cutaway

We stopped again, at a parking area (there are various kinds of stopping places: a rest stop has bathrooms, a picnic area has tables but no bathrooms, and a parking area doesn’t have any amenities… which is fine for us, being self-contained):

Parking area

Our coach:

Our coach

Road Ranger fuel stop:

Road Ranger fuel stop

There was both the Road Ranger truck stop and a Love’s fairly nearby; we would normally have gone for the Love’s, but the Open Roads app indicated that Road Ranger had a much better discounted fuel price:

Open Roads app

Cutaway

A river, and a lot more greenery; we’re out of the desert now:

River

Our exit:

Our exit

Our destination, Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm, nestled behind a pecan tree farm:

Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm

Chick-in:

Chick-in

Guided to our site by the owners:

Guided to site

I started this post with a picture of our coach ready to leave; let’s end with our coach just arrived, before putting the slides out:

Our site

Big Bend National Park

We spent a day visiting Big Bend National Park in Texas, our last national park for the year, and our last new one until we visit Death Valley in March.

An interactive map of our route:

Entrance sign:

Sign

Persimmon Gap Visitor Center near the northern entrance:

Persimmon Gap Visitor Center

We asked the ranger about picnic spots; he told us about a secret picnic spot that isn’t normally mentioned, since they don’t maintain it; a couple of shelters, but just one table. So we had a picnic lunch there:

Secret picnic spot

Hazy mountains and views:

Mountains

Panther Junction Visitor Center, which includes a post office:

Panther Junction Visitor Center

You know I enjoy relief maps:

Relief map

Gift store:

Gift store

Mountains

There’s even a gas station, very unusual for a national park:

Gas station

Mountains

Chisos Basin Visitor Center:

Chisos Basin Visitor Center

Window View Trail:

Window view trail

The Window:

Window view trail

Mountains

Hole in a rock:

Mountains

Castolon Visitor Center area:

Castolon Visitor Center

Old barracks from 1919, that burned in 2019:

Castolon Visitor Center

Mountains

Moon over mountains:

Mountains

A scenic drive.

Marathon Motel & RV Park

We stayed at Marathon Motel & RV Park in Marathon, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A motel with a small RV park in a cute small town.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-11-27
Check out: 2022-12-04
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 67-79°F, lows around 33-52°F
Afternoon wind most days, up to 30 MPH gusts

Noise:

A little road noise; occasional nearby train noise
Some neighbor noise

Site:

#7, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind and in front of coach
Very level
Medium site: about 80 feet long by about 30 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power, conveniently located
60 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
Good sewer connection, not conveniently located (2.5 10-foot pipes needed)

Picnic table
Goat’s heads!

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 86-94 Mbps down, 31-43 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 40-50 Mbps down, 7-21 Mbps up, 40-70 ms ping
Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Package delivery to office
Star party

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

The stars at night are truly big and bright

We stayed here for a week as a base for exploring the area and absolutely loved it. The RV sites are on the basic side, but everything worked in good order. The park is a dark sky area and every night, they do a star party with multiple telescopes and lots of fun conversation about what’s visible. We also did the star party at the MacDonald Observatory, and the one in Marathon was actually better (and cheaper); there were no crowds and a personalized tour of the sky. The staff here was so helpful, going above and beyond when we had package deliveries, including one that arrived after we checked out. I cannot say enough good things about how friendly everyone was. The town of Marathon is small but has everything one needs, including restaurants, a coffee shop, and a small grocery store for the necessities. We camped at Marathon Motel and RV Park in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

Our site before parking:

Our site before parking

Our site, with our truck behind:

Our site

Our site with our truck in front:

Our site with our truck in front

The utilities weren’t super convenient; the water was well positioned, but the sewer and electric were at the back of the site:

Utilities

The Power Watchdog surge protector has a bright light; the dog face lights up white if all is well, or red if there’s an issue. But in a dark sky park, that was a bit too bright:

Power Watchdog

So I taped a bit of cardboard over it to mask that light:

Power Watchdog

A grasshopper on our windscreen Magne Shade:

Grasshopper on Magne Shade

The neighboring site has a bird feeder, which attracts lots of birds:

Birds

Of course, Paladin really enjoyed watching the birds:

Paladin watching birds

The motel has a resident cat, Oliver, that visited our coach:

Campground cat

Paladin wasn’t thrilled; he hissed at the cat:

Campground cat

There is a train track across the road from the park, which has a few freight trains pass by each day, sounding their horn:

Train

By the entrance:

Entrance

RV check-in:

RV check-in

Old motel signs (established 1940):

Sign

The sign at night:

Sign

The office; friendly staff, happy to receive packages for us:

Office

A very nice courtyard area:

Courtyard

We enjoy playing Pokémon, and Jenn recently got the ability to request new PokéStops (or “spinny-things”, as we call them); she added one for the courtyard:

PokéStop

Backside of the courtyard:

Backside of courtyard

Old cart:

Old cart

Water tank and windmill:

Water tank and windmill

Goat artwork:

Goat artwork

Horse artwork:

Horse partwork

Telescope shed and domes; they do nightly star viewing here (a separate post coming about that):

Telescope domes and shed

Domes

Telescope domes, with our coach visible in the background:

Telescope domes

There is an onsite cantina restaurant, but it’s currently closed due to lack of staff:

Cantina

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Dumpsters, laundry, bathrooms, and motel rooms:

Dumpsters, laundry, bathrooms, motel rooms

More motel rooms:

Motel rooms

There’s an area with a deck, pond, and gardens; a little run down, but it is winter:

Deck, pond, garden

Pond

Spiral

Seats and raised garden beds

They have a chicken run; I enjoyed spending some time with the chickens; I sometimes miss mine:

Chickens

Travel from Presidio to Marathon, Texas

We drove our coach 120 miles, about two hours of driving, from Presidio, Texas to Marathon, Texas.

The map route, heading north then east:

Map route

An interactive map, with potential stops:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

Presidio:

Presidio

Mountains:

Mountains

US-67

Elephant Rock:

Elephant Rock

US-67

US Border Patrol inspection station; the officer just waved us through without stopping:

Inspection station

Marfa:

Marfa

A brief stop at a rest area:

Rest area

US-67

Alpine is a cute town:

Alpine

A couple of low bridges; just a foot of clearance on the first one (we are 12’ 7”):

Low bridge

Alpine

Exploded train cars?

Exploded train cars

US-90

Our destination:

Our destination

Loma Paloma RV Park

We stayed at Loma Paloma RV Park in Presidio, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our first stop in Texas, a quiet, no-frills RV park just north of Mexico.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-11-13
Check out: 2022-11-27
14 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little drizzle one day
High temps ranging between 52-71°F, lows around 32-42°F
Afternoon and evening wind most days, up to 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

Negligible road noise, no train noise
No neighbor noise, other than occasional yippy dogs

Site:

#72, pull-through, gravelly sand
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Very level
Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 38 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power, conveniently located
45 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (1.5 10-foot pipes needed)

Picnic table

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 86 Mbps down, 25 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 20-30 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Verizon: 10-13 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Package delivery to the site
Thanksgiving gathering

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Basic park with super-friendly folks

We stayed for two weeks and loved the serenity of the place. The check-in process is self-serve, and then you pick your own site from the available options. Everyone is nicely spaced out in the park, and they encourage arrivals to leave space on either side, if possible, so you get the lovely views of the desert instead of your neighbor’s rig. We were there over Thanksgiving, and everyone made us feel very welcome, inviting us to the neighborhood feast where we met some of the long-term residents, some of whom have been wintering there for decades. The amenities are basic, but they work. Between the scenery and the people, we’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Loma Paloma RV Park & Golf Course in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

Our site:

Our site

This is our first campground in Texas… so you know what that means — yep, we get to add another sticker (the last new one until August next year!):

Texas sticker

State stickers

Stickers

This park is a bit unusual in that it doesn’t have a staffed office (more on that later). But we can still get packages delivered, as FedEx and UPS will deliver straight to our site:

UPS delivery to our site

The utilities weren’t ideally placed, but not too bad:

Utilities

A video of three cats by our site at night from our front door cam:

A pleasant view out our dining window:

View out our window

Sunsets:

Sunset

This campground is away from big cities, and the nearby Big Bend Ranch State Park is a dark sky park, so we have a good view of stars at night (looked better in person):

Stars

A sign for the park:

Sign

The main entrance:

Entrance

Slow adults at play; this is more of a long-term snowbird park than a kid-friendly one (which suits us just fine):

Slow adults at play

The office building:

Office

As mentioned, it is unstaffed; it just has a small room with books and such, and a desk for self-registration, paying by cash or check in an honor box:

Office

A map of the park on the wall:

Map

The other half of the building is a single toilet and a laundry:

Laundry

Other sites, including several long-term ones; people don’t live here year-round, but several people spend the winter here:

Other sites

A bird feeder opposite our site:

Bird feeder

Wilderness opposite our coach:

Wilderness opposite our coach

Wilderness

Cats peeking over a tub:

Cats

The Lizard Lounge is a gathering place in the center of the park:

Lizard Lounge

Apparently once more people are here over winter they have regular gatherings there, but while we were here there was just one, a Thanksgiving feast:

Thanksgiving gathering

A nice bunch of people, and a relaxed, quiet RV park. I can see why many people come back every year to spend the winter here. We probably won’t, as it wasn’t quite warm enough for our wintertime, but if we’re passing this way again, we wouldn’t hesitate to stay again.

Travel from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas

We drove our coach 275 miles, about five hours of driving, from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas.

That was about double what we normally aim for, but we felt we could handle it, since we had two week stays on either side. And yes, it was fine; it didn’t feel like twice as long, due to taking several stops, plus the drive was pretty easy (no significant mountains or other challenges).

The map route, heading south:

Map route

An interactive map, with our stops:

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving RV park

Our coach with the slides in while traveling:

Slides in

Heading down the highway:

Highway

Carlsbad cavepeople in the median, and a mural of their historic aquaduct, the Pecos River Flume, which is also famous for being the only river that crosses itself:

Carlsbad cavepeople

Carlsbad

National Parks Highway:

National Parks Highway

Entering Texas from New Mexico:

Entering Texas

Paladin on the dash, approaching a rest area:

Paladin on the dash approaching a rest area

Rest area

Continuing on down US-62, past the Guadalupe Mountains:

US-62

Guadalupe Mountains

US-62

US-62 to SH-54:

US-62 to SH-54

Mountains

SH-54

A flood gauge:

Flood gauge

Mountains

SH-54

We quite liked this region of Texas; nice mountains etc:

Mountains

Dip:

Dip

Big dip:

Big dip

Mountains

Van Horn, Texas:

Van Horn, Texas

A fuel stop:

Fuel stop

There wasn’t a great place to stop for lunch around the Love’s, but I had an alternative plan; I had spotted a good place to park our coach elsewhere in town:

Lunch stop

Near a Pilot travel center (which we didn’t use for fuel, as we don’t get a discount there):

Lunch stop

We went to Wendy’s for lunch:

Wendy's

A funky camera artifact:

Funky camera artifact

Lunch (it’s pretty rare to have Wendy’s, but their fries are actually quite nice, for fast food; I like the skins-on style):

Lunch

Birds on a wire:

Birds on a wire

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Back on the road; we noticed cotton on the side of the road:

Back on the road

Probably from a cotton field:

Cotton field

Another stop:

Another stop

To check out a roadside art installation, Prada Marfa:

Prada Marfa

A selfie, with our coach in the background:

Prada Marfa

We spotted a border patrol blimp in the sky:

Border patrol blimp

Giant Marfa mural:

Giant Marfa mural

Welcome to Marfa:

Welcome to Marfa

Stardust Motel sign:

Stardust Motel sign

Thunderbird Restaurant sign:

Thunderbird Restaurant sign

Mural:

Mural

We saw several old gas stations that had been converted to other activities:

Converted gas station

A border inspection station; unsurprising, being just north of Mexico:

Border inspection station

Highway

Paladin asleep:

Paladin asleep

Elephant Rock:

Elephant Rock

Highway

Pointy mountain:

Mountains

Presidio, Texas:

Presidio, Texas

Our destination:

Our destination

Jenn checking in; the office is unattended, payment by check in an honor box:

Jenn checking in

We also got to pick our site here; plenty of available options:

Picking our site

Carlsbad KOA Holiday

We stayed at Carlsbad KOA Holiday in Carlsbad, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A decent park, with an onsite BBQ kitchen.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-10-30
Check out: 2022-11-13
14 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 56-81°F, lows around 31-47°F
Some afternoon and evening wind, up to 37 MPH gusts

Noise:

Some road noise, no train noise
A KOA Holiday could be noisy with kids, but it’s mostly empty at this time of year

Site:

#B9, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Very level
Large site: about 75 feet long by about 45 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
50 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (1.5 10-foot pipes needed)

Patio table, chairs, and rocker bench seat on textured concrete patio; fire pit
A few goat’s heads, not too bad

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 13-32 Mbps down, 25-37 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 15-33 Mbps down, 23-31 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
AT&T: 7-14 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 105 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 8-11 Mbps down, 8-40 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Closed pool
Onsite BBQ kitchen
Mail delivery to the office

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Good basecamp for the Carlsbad area

We stayed for two weeks in a patio site and really enjoyed our time here. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, going so far as to help me forward a couple of packages that arrived after our departure. The onsite BBQ was convenient and tasty, especially nice after a day of driving. There is a tiny bit of road noise from the highway, but it was generally pretty quiet. It was pretty easy to get to Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks as well as Sitting Bull Falls and various state parks. We camped at Carlsbad KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

We sprung for a patio site, which included a textured concrete patio, fire pit, rocker bench, patio table, and chairs:

Patio

The utilities; there were two sewer ports, though neither ideally positioned for us, but the water and power were reasonably placed:

Utilities

I mentioned in our previous campground that the water pressure regulator and gauge got frozen and stopped working correctly. So I replaced them while here, plus replaced the water hose with a more flexible one, to make it easier to put away:

Replaced hose, regulator, gauge

Some nice sunsets:

Sunset

A nice feature of this RV park is that it has a BBQ smoker and kitchen, offering various food options. We had a couple of meals from there; especially welcome on a travel day:

Food

Another meal:

Food

Tasty lava cake dessert:

Dessert

We made good use of our griddle while here, including breakfast for dinner one night (with Jenn helping to cook the eggs):

Griddle

We were able to add a couple more National Park stickers on our coach while here:

National Park stickers

Another Allegro Bus next to us:

Another Allegro Bus

And a Vanleigh fiver across from us:

Vanleigh fiver

Another neighbor, a #vanlifer:

Vanlifer

Other sites elsewhere in the campground:

Fiver

Other sites

“Be patient… I am pushing this thing as fast as I can!”:

Other sites

An intriguing configuration: a van and tiny toy hauler trailer. Kinda the best of both worlds (or the worst?); would be good for fitting in small campsites like in many national parks; the benefits of having your home always with you when exploring, but more living space at the site:

Van and trailer