Camping in New Mexico during your river rafting adventure

The Orilla Verde Recreation Area (OVRA) stretches along seven miles of river, from Pilar upstream to Taos Junction bridge. State Rd. 570 leads upriver from Pilar, and provides access to a number of campgrounds managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in OVRA. Fees are charged for the use of OVRA and the campgrounds. All but one campground are on a non-reservation, first-come-first-served, basis. The group site at the Rio Bravo campground must be reserved in advance, by calling the BLM at 575-758-8851. Shower facilities and hook-ups are also available at the Rio Bravo site (upper photo). The New Wave No Wave Float and Rio Grande Gorge trips travel the river through OVRA. The Racecourse trip travels the river just downstream of OVRA, while the Taos Box trip ends at the upper end of OVRA, at Taos Junction bridge. Thus, the campgrounds of OVRA are ideally situated for those rafting with New Wave. Additionally, there are opportunities for hiking, bike-riding, fishing, bird-watching and nature photography. More photographs and discussion of OVRA can be found at New Wave No Wave, our scenic float. The lower two photos are of the new Arroyo Hondo campsite, opened in April, 2012.