Destinations

~Merus Adventure Park

With over 5500 acres of canyon land to explore there are many off-road trails from easy to insane with some of the best primitive campsites available in Texas. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in America and if you’re into overlanding this is a must stop in Texas.

~Angel Fire New Mexico

This is a small town nestled in a valley 8400 feet above sea level. This makes it an ideal summer location to escape the heat or go skiing in the winter. Renee and I spent two nights here, one at a ski lodge and one at a campsite in the Carson National Forest. The campsite was by far the best view and food we had during the trip.

Merus Campsite Location

~ The campsite at the location in Merus was deep inside the Palo Duro Canyon. I chose this spot because I was weary of it being too windy on top of the canyon. However, the views are much better above the canyon rather than inside it. This is a trade off you have to judge for yourself.

Campsite coordinates: 34.91522, -101.43762

Campsite accessibility

~ The trail to the this campsite is possible by any 4-wheel drive vehicle or a two wheel drive vehicle with decent ground clearance. There is a portion of the trail that requires GMRS radio capability to call in before going on the trail. Merus is private land that is open to the public, but you have to obtain camping, trail, and park passes before hand. You can reserve these passes on their website merusadventure.com.

Trails and Route

~ The trail to the campsite follows the Merus 101 which is like the highway of the canyon. My route started off at the Merus base camp which is where you check in and air down your tires.

Once we left the base camp we headed down the Merus 101. One obstacle that needs to be accomplished is dropping into the canyon. This is where the GMRS radio comes in handy. Before dropping in you have to call in on the radio to see if anyone is coming up, silence on the radio is the greenlight. After dropping in its a windy trail all the way to the boots-off campsites, but as mentioned before this trail can be a little intimidating but is easily possible for any four wheel drive vehicle.

Points of Interest

~ Merus Adventure park is the place to be for overlanding and off-roading in the Palo Duro Canyon. Exploring the privately owned portion of the second largest canyon in America delivers the best camping views in Texas and has plenty of off roading trails to explore.

Angel Fire Campsite Location

~ This campsite was nestled on top of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range near Angel Fire New Mexico. This mountain range is largely located within the Carson National Forest.

Campsite Coordinates: 36.29243° N, 105.32097° W

Trails and Route

~ The trail to this campsite begins just south of angel fire on highway 434. Taking a left on Osha rd you will end up on Forest Service Road(fsr) 76. The campsite sits near the top of Osha Mountain and is a little ways down fsr 76 on the right. It is a quiet and peaceful spot, only a few trucks and side by sides drove by and the wind was mostly blocked by the trees.

The fsr road to the campsite is mostly a smooth dirt road accessible by mostly any vehicle. It’s an easy drive along the mountain with campsites all throughout the trail. It was July fourth when we camped here and there was a handful of other campers but it wasn’t crowded at all.

Points of Interest

~ From my point of view the places that interested me the most was the mountains and the mountain trails. Looking on Onx there are plenty of trails on the Sangre De Cristo Mountains to explore. The campsite I noted in this email is a good starting point to begin an epic New Mexico overland trip.

Gear notes:

~ Devos Light Ranger: This camp light is perfect for setting up camp and grilling a steak when you get to the spot after dark. It raises up around 8 feet and has lighting in a 360 degree coverage. The cool feature of this light is you can section off the lights with some on and off so that light isn’t wasted pointing in unneeded directions. https://amzn.to/3Oqwbav

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