Sumner Lake State Park Eastside campground

This campground is close to the lake and less parking-lot like than some of the other campsites, yet it does have some amenities such as sun shades and electricity. In the primitive part of the campground, you can camp right on the lake shore.

Campground data

Waypoints

Maps

Getting to the campground

About the campground

Plants around the campground

Comments

Campground data:

Controlling agency:	New Mexico State Parks; Sumner Lake
Region:	East-central; Sumner Lake.
Campsite count:	9.
Visual density:	9.00.
Fee:	$10.00. $8.00 for primitive site (only trash cans); $10.00 for sites without electricity and with water nearby; and $14.00 for sites with water and electricity.
Season:	April 01 to September 30. Spring is likely to be windy.
Dogs:	Yes. Dogs must be on a leash.
Horses:	Unknown.
Handicapped accessible:	Yes. Toilets are accessible. Some campsites are more accessible than others.
RV parking surface:	gravel
RV pull-through spaces?	No.
General notes:	All sites have sun shelters. Sites with electricity have shelters with stucco walls. Firewood is for sale just outside of the park on the west side.
Campground facilities:	water, trash can(s), vault toilet(s), flush toilet(s) (on the other side of the lake at the Pecos and Mesquite campgrounds), electrical hookups (only at some campsites), RV dump station (on the other side of the lake.).
Campground attractions:	wildlife (along the Pecos River Flyway, so lots of birds at some times of year. Also, water in the desert always brings animals.), wildflowers, fishing, boating, swimming, scenery, lake.

When we visited it:

Date:	2009-04-12
Cleanliness:	9. Most sites have nothing but occasional small pieces of litter; occasionally a site will have a large piece of litter like a can or a cup.

Waypoints:

Waypoint	Type	Description
SumnerEastside	Campground	Sumner Lake Eastside campground

Maps:

Paper maps:

Map name	Cartographer	Year	Scale	Topo map?	Online access	Notes
Wildernesses of New Mexico	US Forest Service	1981	1:1000000	N	No online copies.	Base map with national forests, wilderness areas and highways.

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Getting to the campground:

From I-40, take Exit 277, US84 south towards Fort Sumner. After 31.8 miles from I-40, you are at milepost 10. Turn west (right) at NM 203. The sign says 6 miles, but we clocked it as 5.2 to the entrance sign. Just 0.2 mile from the entrance sign is the turnoff to the right to the Eastside campground.

To get to Sumner Lake State Park from the town of Fort Sumner, take U.S. 84 northwest 10 miles, then go west on N.M. 203 and follow the directions above.

About the campground:

	Of course, one of the primary reasons to come to this campground is the lake. You have good lake views, and it is easy to walk to. If you have camped in the primitive portion of the campground, you can be right on the lake shore.
Over on the west side of the lake they have this map of the Eastside camping area.
	The primitive camping area only has trash cans, but the road leads right to the edge of the lake.
In the developed camping area, every campsite has a shade. The shades at the sites without electricity look like this. The electric sites have stucco shelters that are more closed.

Plants we saw around the campground:

Christmas cactus or pencil cholla (Cactaceae Cylindropuntia leptocaulis)
Cottonwood (Salicaceae Populus)
Pricklypear (Cactaceae Opuntia)
Rabbitbrush or goldenbush (Asteraceae Ericameria)
Thistle (Asteraceae Cirsium)
Tree cholla (Cactaceae Cylindropuntia imbricata)
Yucca (Agavaceae Yucca)

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