Diamond Lake (But Not Crater Lake)

From Crooked River, we were on to Diamond Lake.  This area really feels like the forests around Colorado, especially like in Mueller State Park where we volunteered in 2013.  

We are in the Diamond Lake Resort RV Park which feels like a U S Forest Service campground except we have full hookups.  Pretty nice when the overnight lows are in the high 30s and low 40s.

Diamond Lake is large and popular.  But it is early in the summer season and there aren’t many people here, yet. 

 In fact, we are just about 20 miles north of Crater Lake;  But it seems you can’t get there from here, at least not without driving around 40+ miles to come in from the east side.  We discovered that the north entrance road is closed to all except skiers and snowmobiles.  If only there was still snow still on the ground.  We are glad we saw Crater Lake years ago.  It is beautiful.  We weren’t interested in over 80 miles of driving to see it this time. Here is a link to my post on our 2008 visit to that lake. Crater Lake

Instead, we took a good hike down along the lake shore and to a small lake, Teal Lake.

The internet signal was weak in the campground unless we were close to the lake.  What to do?  Find a picnic table next to the shore and surf the web.

Cochiti Lake Campground

We have been to the Cochiti Lake COE Campground several times and in many ways we really like it. Since it is a Corps of Engineers campground, we get to use our federal senior pass and the cost is only $10 a night for a 50-amp electric site. Our section site did not have a water or sewer hookup. The park gives easy access to Santa Fe and the sites are large.

One downside is the really narrow asphalt parking pad. We did have a pull-through site, but look at how close our front steps are to the edge of the pavement. We had to be careful going in and out of the door.

The site is large and has a concrete picnic table--down 7 steps from the RV. We didn't use that area. I only used the loop restroom once, but enjoyed the mural inside.

This is a view of the lake. We saw a few fishing boats on the water and saw a couple of pontoon boats moving that direction. One marina has quite a few sailboats. We only saw one out on the water.

This was one amenity we really enjoyed. Our Verizon broadband card had an excellent signal.

I found some poppies in the campground. We have seen them in Arizona and California but I didn't know they grew in northern central New Mexico.

I am sure we will stay in Cochiti Lake Campground again in our travels between Colorado and Arizona.