Cienega Picnic Site in NM -- Campground & RV Camping in New Mexico
Cienega Picnic Site in NM
U.S. Forest Service allows overnight stays only at the designated sites here.
Cienega Group Picnic Site is a shaded, flat day-use facility located along a mountain stream just off the 536 Scenic Byway. The site accommodates up to 50 people and offers picnic tables, grills, bear-proof trash receptacles, and accessible vault toilets, though no drinking water or covered shelters are provided. An accessible interpretive sidewalk built with the NM Association for the Blind winds around the wet meadow, while nearby trailheads connect to multi-use mountain crest routes popular with hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders. No overnight camping.
Road difficulty 1 of 5 -- an easy drive in. Recorded as maintained for passenger-car comfort, paved, pitching to 12%. Flat ground is scarce -- under a tenth of the terrain within a few hundred yards is level.
Cienega Spring lies 0.1 mi off. Sandia Mountains stands 3,126 ft above the site, 4.3 miles northwest. Night skies measure Bortle 4 -- a rural sky with a glow on the horizon. The nearest town, Sandia Knolls, is 4.9 mi off.
September normals 47–75°F, 1.8″ rain. Monthly averages, PRISM 1991–2020.
Set by U.S. Forest Service. Stage 1 and 2 orders change within days -- check the current order before you build a fire.
fs.usda.gov