Tumblewagon

Campground Review: Cactus RV Park, Tucumcari, NM

Nathan posted this in Places

Tucumcari is unlike, well, most anywhere you’ll find along a US Interstate. It is, essentially, a strip mall. However, you won’t find an endless (literally) chain of Holiday Inns, McDonald’s and Walmarts. It’s not that they don’t exist, in other parts of town or along the outskirts, but Tucumcari’s main drag, part of historic Route 66, that dashing road so many a traveler hitched, bitched and made it rich (that may not be true, but it rhymes) along back in the heyday of the motorcar, is packed full of a rarity on the I-## system: the local business. Places with names like Del’s, Dean’s, the Golden Dragon and Ken’s Ice Cream. The Safari Hotel, which proudly boasts “American Owned” and a dozen or so other local motels, in the old school sense where you had enough room to park your car and tuck through a thin door, to sleep over for a night before making your way further down the 66 highway. I wouldn’t want to live here, but it’s a sweet spot to find ourselves in for the night.

And the RV parks are aplenty, from KOA to five or six local places, some more “trailer” than others. We found ourselves with the good fortune of staying at Cactus RV Park.

The website is very friendly and that, combined with the fact that it’s the closest park to downtown, is why we chose the place. Upon our arrival, the owner was just as friendly, a dark skinned fellow all too eager to help us find a comfortable spot. I told him we didn’t need cable and he gave us a discount on top of our Good Sam 10%, and then proceeded to tell us that if we wanted to use the cable, he wouldn’t mind. He is currently in the middle of remodeling the whole place, having recently purchased it and apparently transformed it from a long term park full of immovable trailers, to a cute and clean little RV park. The website now boasts “We are mostly an overnight RV park. Stay with your kind of people, the overnight traveler.”

There are no laundry facilities, bathrooms or showers, the owner informed us “We’re new. We’ve got to tear it down before we can build new.”

So let it be known: Cactus RV Park is an absolutely no-frills place to stay for a night, maybe two, get your fill of Tucumcari and keep it on down the road.