- Thread Starter
- #21
Mojave
WKR
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2019
- Messages
- 2,424
I drew Rhodes Canyon after Thanksgiving. Where would be the typical entrance into WSMR for RC? Trying to plan logistics and where to stay, etc. What would be the closest town? Alamogordo?
Sometimes they do Rhodes out of the Tularosa Gate, and sometimes they do it out of the SMR gate.
Tularosa gate is north of Tularosa about 15-20 miles.
Small Missile Range gate is about 8 or 9 miles past the White Sands Headquarters exit. 25 miles east of Las Cruces off of highway 70.
If there is testing south, they will run you out of the Stallion gate about 15 miles east of the town of San Antonio.
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Almogordo has hotels, not super nice ones, but the town is fine.
Las Cruces has every level of hotel.
Socorro near San Antonio has hotels.
If you have a legitimate military ID card holder with your group or you are one, you could stay at the Army Lodging ran by Holiday in on WSMR headquarters. It is a repurposed 1960's hotel from the Army days but has been recently updated. There is also a campground on WSMR contonment, but you have to be a military ID card holder.
Holloman AFB in Almogordo also has lodging and a campground. They are extremely gay about firearms on base.
Fort Bliss has both lodging and a campground.
For hunts out of Socorro/San Antonio you can camp on the BLM, I think it is the first 5-10 miles North of Stallion headquarters.
There are campgrounds in Almogordo and Las Cruces that are not associated with the miltary, and BLM and Forest service, but it will be a huge drive if you have a SMR hunt.
Rhodes if they are running it out of the Tularosa gate, you could always stay in Ruidoso or Cloudcroft and drive down the hill if that was your thing.
I drew Cloudcroft area for deer a couple years and lived on WSMR and never slept a night in the unit. Always just as easy to sleep in your own bed.