sugarite canyon state park

Me and all the guy have an annual ice fishing trip to lake Meloya and we have a blast doing so. It a nice lake to go and fish on. Love this place! See you all next year!!!

We walked around a lot of the old mining camp. Saw mule deer & wild turkey while we were out there. It was a nice outdoor experience.

This is an unexpected gem just off I-25 and is a delightful place to stop awhile.We were enroute from Hobbs to the Denver area and stopped to fix/eat lunch. Next time we will stop and stay awhile. There is a small campground with RV hookups. It doesn't resemble other parks in that it has gravel roadways and seems less developed. Nice spacing between campsites. The camp host was most welcoming. There is another campground without hookups that was closed for the season so we could not see it.A couple of lakes afford fishing. We weren't fishing this time, but found a plesant place at the edge of the lake to picnic ... nice views ... but would certainly have been nicer before the fire.Allegedly there are remnants of a mining community ... we never saw. The Visitors Center was also closed so had no one to pester with questions.Bottom line: I bet this place is busy in the summer. On our next trip we will be sure to stop and spend a night ... maybe even get a fishing line wet.

My wife and I enjoy visiting Sugarite State Park. So much to do... if you enjoy kayaking, hiking, fishing, relaxing or learning about local history and the coal mining camp Sugarite Canyon is for you. Rangers are very helpful and there is plenty of wildlife. This is one of our favorite places to visit.

We travel I-25 a lot, but this is the first time we've visited Sugarite State Park. It was well worth the extra miles and time. Fortunately the visitor center was open when there and Ms. Walsh really made the stop worthwhile (telling us the history and recommending things to do). If you're into history - this is the place to go.

From history to scenery to fishing to hiking... this park is perhaps the best in all of New Mexico. Some highlights:The hiking trails are designed with nature in mind. Each trail takes hikers directly away from developed and vehicle-accessible areas and into the backcountry.Wildlife! Bears, deer, elk, turkeys, beavers, fish, birds...History. Hike through the authentic and genuine "ghost town" ruins of Sugarite, New Mexico. Follow the trail east up to the original mine locations. And explore off-trail (for experienced hikers) to discover other areas of the town and mining ruins.And don't forget the Lake Dorothy and James John Colorado State Wildlife Areas adjacent to the north. Combined, they measure about 12,000 acres of mostly-undeveloped natural environment. Outstanding!

Soda Pocket campground at Sugarite was my favorite campground on earth. A terrible fire tore through the park in summer of 2011. I saw the devastation in 2012 but returned to look again in 2014. While many of the tall pines are dead, the locust trees, scrub oak and wild flowers are still there. It will never be the same but is still beautiful.

What a wonderful day fishing at the upper lake, Maloya! the scenic view in Julky is just unbeatable. No cell service, no problem. Great way to undwind from fishing or just walking the lake. Load of perch but the trout bite as well.

Great park with fishing and lots of trees. Close to Raton, New Mexico and all the amenities of a town.

My husband and I loved this place. It was clean, the camp host Mike and Dee were very hospitable. This is remote from Texas and surrounded by gorgeous mountains. There are tons of birds. The only thing we didn't care for was that where we camped (Lake Alice) the camp toilet was a very built bathroom...which housed a hole in the ground and toilet to sit on. It was a soupy, swamp of icky stuff.

Very small, remote campground full of wildlife. We saw about 10 deer within two hours of our arrival. We did not see any bears, but the camp host had just seen one on a trail before our arrival. There are special bins for keeping your things locked up and away from the bears. Mike and Dee, the camp host, were so friendly and helpful!

Wonderful place to camp. Camp hosts were very helpful. Facilities clean, but showers required traveling to the camp entrance. Hummingbirds were everywhere, and we enjoyed an abundance of other wildlife from our campsite. Follow the instructions regarding bear safety, and watch out for the poison ivy. Ouch!

We stayed at the lower campground. It is a popular destination and the spots are in demand, so get there early. Most of the campsites are nicely shaded and protected from the view of neighbors. Just make sure you communicate your plans with the campground host; we left to explore for the day and our spot was given away!

I brought a church youth group climbing team to the Gamble Oak group site (right in view of the climbing cliff). The group site was clean and large and AMAZING! There were enough tent spaces for everybody and picnic tables as well. We had a very nice M/F pit toilet right in our site so we didn't have to walk very far. The rangers were all very friendly, especially Mack, the head honcho. We climbed the rock cliff behind our site (nice little walk up to them) and boated around the lake. It was a great experience all around! I will plan on bringing not just a group again, but I'd like to do a family trip there as well! There was a county wide burn ban -so no campfires- that was the only regret.

Love Sugarite (Sugareet) Canyon State Park!! We have visited here many times. We have enjoyed camping at Soda Pocket camp grounds as well as staying in Raton at motels and just coming out to fish!! Lake Maloya is a wonderful place to fish! Several of us in our group were catching 2 trout at a time. Of course, it didn't seem to matter what I used for bait...all the small mouth bass wanted it! I had to be quick to catch a trout, but my son was bringing them in left and right!! When our boys were smaller, we loved the Ranger programs. Seems like they have something different every week during the summer...I remember one summer, the boys learned about the different types of fish and how to recognize them along with making fish prints that we still have to this day!! This is truly a wonderful place to take your family. This was once a coal camp, and there are trails everywhere for you to hike as well. Don't forget to stop in the visitor center!