Tumblewagon

Campground Review: Siesta RV Park, Las Cruces NM

Nathan posted this in Places

We only stayed for a single night in Las Cruces, though it came highly recommended by both the Internet and various West Texans. We were simply passing through on our way to another land, but I do feel the layover was a fortunate one. Las Cruces is a big town, or some might say a very small city, and we only experienced the small area known as Mesilla. To keep this review in line with our stay, I’ll make things brief:

The Mesilla neighborhood of Las Cruces, NM is a splendid place to stay for a day, and one might even easily be able to extend the experience for as long as a week, depending on your ability to shop-til-you-drop or how much you associate the motorcyle with a good time.

All in all, the neighborhood offers a smorgasbord of good restaurants, though heavily leaning towards the Mexican aspect of foodstuffs, but such is to be expected from all states Texas / New Mexico / Arizona. The Mexican restaurants focus heavily on the extremely spicy side of that type of cuisine, which is not to be mistaken for authentic mind you, but nonetheless I suspect any foodie with a flair for snooping around would be hard pressed to require more than a meal or two without finding something they could truly sink their chompers into.

The surrounding neighborhood, aside from eateries galore and even a seemingly quaint coffee shop close by to a fantastic winery serving up magnificent French delectables, makes for a grand enough experience. Easily walkable streets, bike lanes galore, and a small-but-packed-with-local-boutiques plaza were reason enough for us to spend an entire day here, even though we had places to be and only traveled for an hour earlier in the morning. A book store with classics new and old, all of the handcrafts and jewelry shoppes a lady might spend her weekly allotment within, and more than one storefront touting hand dipped chocolates and homemade fudges surround a plaza which promises to hold live music and playing children on warmer days. For the non-smoking traveler, rest pink lung-ed in the fact that smoking is permitted neither in the restaurants and bars dotting the area nor the plaza itself.

Of course, this is not a review of Las Cruces, or even Mesilla, and therefore I’ll get directly to the park itself. It is okay, and on the better side of okay, indeed. I dwelled on the neighborhood surrounding Siest RV Park simply for the fact that nearly all of it’s charm comes from that neighborhood. The park itself is simple, though it offers a modicum of trees, at least one-per-RV, a measure I hold dearly tight to, and the folks running the place are extremely pleasant. They’ll let you know what’s what in town and won’t haggle over a discount here or a parking spot there. There are few extra amenities, expect to be able to wash your clothes but don’t count on a dip in any pools or a swingset for the kids. Mountains tower on nearly every horizon and the highway is far enough away to allow the noise of America’s trucking industry to fade to nothing before it reaches your own rig’s walls.

All in all, I think the experience of Mesilla is worth a night or two in the area, though I don’t expect we’ll personally be taking them up on their monthly rate.