Brantley Lake State Park Campground

33 East Brantley Lake Rd, Carlsbad, NM 88221

Date Visited: May 2018

Site: #24, BACK-IN, ELECTRIC AND WATER (dump station)

We paid: $18 PER NIGHT

Review: This reservoir is north of town (Carlsbad) and not the prettiest setting, but the lake is nice to walk down to. We had many visitors to our campsite—cottontail rabbits, Texas (black-tailed) jackrabbits, some kind of quail, and many other birds.

The campsite had some shade and was very level. The dump station worked well. Each campsite has a covered picnic table, so you may be able to eat outside, though it was very hot when we were here in early May.

We stayed here to give us access to both Carlsbad Caverns (Slaughter Canyon Cave, Natural Entrance and Big Room) and Guadalupe Mountains (McKittrick Canyon hike—long and hot), both of which were well worth visiting. 

We would maybe stay here again if we were in the area, but it wasn’t amazing.