Report from the field: Navajo Lake camping a mess

Iam an out-of-state camper. I am at Navajo Lake State Park campground, and this place is a mess. There are real water and sanitation issues, there are no working showers and the garbage has not been picked up for weeks, which seems to have caused a fly infestation. I have filed a public health complaint.

The manager did stop by to hear my complaints and seems to be trying to address some of the issues, but this is bad. It seems the trash collection company under contract fails to come as promised. The showers are a real issue for me; I am a tent camper and was counting on showers and functional bathrooms. The state park website doesn’t have an alert that states there are no showers available and that it might not be safe to be outside due to fly infestation. I have driven 1,400 miles to this location. I talked to local RV campers who come and are thankful to have their own facilities; they told me it has been like this for a couple of years, but they love the area.

July 29

It rained last night, a real downpour; water washed down the slope against my tent, but there’s no place on this site to set up out of wash. They told me this is monsoon season here. Why is this site shown as a tent site? It is not really safe in this case.

I looked around, and very few sites in this campground really can safely support tents, even without the rain. I checked the websites, both New Mexico and Reserve America, and they both show all sites as available for tents. Whose responsibility is it to properly inform campers of actual site conditions?

The maintenance manager told me I could get a shower at the Cedar Loop and I did get a nice, warm shower.

July 30

I went back up to Cedar Loop, and now that shower is closed. I caught the maintenance manager, and she said the water is so low due to pump problems, she is trying to reduce usage to keep water at the hookups. There are actually some campers washing their camper units unaware of any water issues.

I wash up out of pans I carry with me and in the lake.

Aug. 2

I caught the manager; the showers will be open Thursday, Aug. 4. Great news!

Aug. 4

Showers are open. Cold water only!

Marvin Colwell is an Arizona resident recently camping in New Mexico.