2024-09: Cochiti Recreation Area, NM

Milestones

• 10th U.S. state camped. SHOW ON MAP
• Part of my 3rd Annual “Bike-A-Palooza” (SEE the Whole Trip)

Camping in the Dirt

It’s hard to put a positive spin on this. Choosing this campsite was not my best decision. The US Army Corps of Engineers did a great job of building the Cochiti Reservoir, but they must have been too exhausted to spiff up the surrounding campground. It was a bit rough, to say the least.

I slept two nights at this campground. Both nights I used my “Portable Evaporative Air Cooler”, and it helped with cooler temperatures and “white noise” to drown out the talking/music coming from the neighbors. There were a ton of RV’s at the campground. All in all, I slept pretty well.

I also have to say, the picnic table was very nice.

Cochiti Reservoir

This reservoir is on the Rio Grande, about half way between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Cochiti Dam is one of the 10 largest earthfill dams in the US. By volume of material, it is the 23rd largest dam in the world at almost 63 million cubic yards. Cochiti Dam was considered for the use of nuclear explosives to create large amounts of rockfill aggregate. Since the Cochiti project was already underway, the proposal was abandoned.

Here is a view of the outflow from the reservoir that continues the Rio Grande River downstream to Albuquerque.

Here’s the Rio Grande looking south from the reservoir.