Gallo Campground

My guess is this would have been an amazing place to camp. After over 6 hours of driving, including something like 40 minutes on unpaved roads in our little Ford Focus, we arrived at beautiful Gallo Campground. As luck would have it, though, the site we had booked was next to the group campsite, where there were about 20 fifth graders running around, being watched by maybe 6 or 8 adult chaperones.... My guess is this would have been an amazing place to camp. After over 6 hours of driving, including something like 40 minutes on unpaved roads in our little Ford Focus, we arrived at beautiful Gallo Campground. As luck would have it, though, the site we had booked was next to the group campsite, where there were about 20 fifth graders running around, being watched by maybe 6 or 8 adult chaperones. I looked at my husband and said, “This is a nightmare.” The children were as loud as dogs. We had come to camp at Chaco specifically for a sense of serenity, calm, and quiet. With a pack of children occupying the site next to us, that would clearly be impossible. We decided to give up, spent a little time checking out the park, then left and stayed elsewhere for the night. I was really looking forward to the stargazing, but I know I could never enjoy it amidst the endless chatter of children. My suggestion to the powers-that-be: get rid of the group site!

Chaco is a beautiful place and we enjoyed the hiking, but our experience was ruined. We rented a group campsite for 2 nights with the minimum number of people I could do it with which was 10 (keep in mind the max number of people is 30 who can be in the group site). We have all camped many times (at different places) before and have had no problems and we are all respectful of the fact that we are... Chaco is a beautiful place and we enjoyed the hiking, but our experience was ruined. We rented a group campsite for 2 nights with the minimum number of people I could do it with which was 10 (keep in mind the max number of people is 30 who can be in the group site). We have all camped many times (at different places) before and have had no problems and we are all respectful of the fact that we are near other campers and we keep our voices down and we don’t do anything crazy or loud. However, the way the group campsite is set up we are right next to individual sites and it is on a canyon wall so it makes it so all sounds are amplified like we are in an outdoor amphitheater. After a night there and half a day of hiking and coming back to the campsite to play games, have a few beers and relax (again, not rambunctious at all), 2 rangers and a cop show up and say we have to get out immediately because there was a few people that had complained about us being too loud. We had booked for another night and had no warning, and we felt like we weren’t being loud at all, it was the effect of the canyon wall that made it sound loud. They did not let us ask questions or anything they said we had to leave ASAP, we respectfully said ok but that we had been drinking and couldn’t drive yet- one of the rangers said it doesn’t matter we had to leave now (basically telling us to drink and drive, which is crazy). The cop was like no we cannot tell them to drink and drive. So the rangers said fine, but start packing and be gone within the next hour or so. So we had to leave. I later requested a refund for the next night since we couldn’t stay and was denied the refund. The point being, I would not recommend this campsite at all, especially to anyone thinking about booking the group campsite, and to anyone who is sensitive to noise because sound carries. If someone had the max number that could be there of 30 people (or honestly any number) then I have no idea how they would not get kicked out too, even talking at a whisper the whole time. They should not have group sites available in an amphitheater where sound carries and right next to individual sites, it is just set up very poorly and designed for people to not be able to actually camp and enjoy themselves even trying to do so in a quiet respectful way. To end this on a more positive note - the one night/half-day we were there was nice, the dark sky was great and we saw the Milky Way. The hiking was awesome, and it’s a beautiful area.

Chaco is a beautiful place and we enjoyed the hiking, but our experience was ruined. We rented a group campsite for 2 nights with the minimum number of people I could do it with which was 10 (keep in mind the max number of people is 30 who can be in the group site). We have all camped many times (at different places) before and have had no problems and we are all respectful of the fact that we are... Chaco is a beautiful place and we enjoyed the hiking, but our experience was ruined. We rented a group campsite for 2 nights with the minimum number of people I could do it with which was 10 (keep in mind the max number of people is 30 who can be in the group site). We have all camped many times (at different places) before and have had no problems and we are all respectful of the fact that we are near other campers and we keep our voices down and we don’t do anything crazy or loud. However, the way the group campsite is set up we are right next to individual sites and it is on a canyon wall so it makes it so all sounds are amplified like we are in an outdoor amphitheater. After a night there and half a day of hiking and coming back to the campsite to play games, have a few beers and relax (again, not rambunctious at all), 2 rangers and a cop show up and say we have to get out immediately because there was a few people that had complained about us being too loud. We had booked for another night and had no warning, and we felt like we weren’t being loud at all, it was the effect of the canyon wall that made it sound loud. They did not let us ask questions or anything they said we had to leave ASAP, we respectfully said ok but that we had been drinking and couldn’t drive yet- one of the rangers said it doesn’t matter we had to leave now (basically telling us to drink and drive, which is crazy). The cop was like no we cannot tell them to drink and drive. So the rangers said fine, but start packing and be gone within the next hour or so. So we had to leave. I later requested a refund for the next night since we couldn’t stay and was denied the refund. The point being, I would not recommend this campsite at all, especially to anyone thinking about booking the group campsite, and to anyone who is sensitive to noise because sound carries. If someone had the max number that could be there of 30 people (or honestly any number) then I have no idea how they would not get kicked out too, even talking at a whisper the whole time. They should not have group sites available in an amphitheater where sound carries and right next to individual sites, it is just set up very poorly and designed for people to not be able to actually camp and enjoy themselves even trying to do so in a quiet respectful way. To end this on a more positive note - the one night/half-day we were there was nice, the dark sky was great and we saw the Milky Way. The hiking was awesome, and it’s a beautiful area.

Location is incredibly unique and unforgettable, if you pick a campsite close to the cliff then you will be sleeping right next to 1,000 year old ruins. At sunrise, the sunlight illuminates ancient petroglyphs (rock carvings) on the cliff, and at sunset, the light shines through a natural rock archway. The night sky was also beautiful. The bathrooms were clean when we visited, and have flush toile... Location is incredibly unique and unforgettable, if you pick a campsite close to the cliff then you will be sleeping right next to 1,000 year old ruins. At sunrise, the sunlight illuminates ancient petroglyphs (rock carvings) on the cliff, and at sunset, the light shines through a natural rock archway. The night sky was also beautiful. The bathrooms were clean when we visited, and have flush toilets, and sinks. You can get service and free wifi at the visitor's center which is very close.