Camping and RV Parks

Oaxaca has two trailer-camping parks. Most accessible, but less inviting, is the Oaxaca Trailer Park (900 Av. Violetas, owner’s tel. 951/515-0376, or dial cell 044/569-5528 in town, hookups $15, tents $10), at the far northeast side of town. Once a very popular facility, the Oaxaca Trailer Park has been partly converted to offices and apartments as of this writing. Nevertheless, it lives on, still with dozens of all-hookup spaces and tent spaces remaining. Amenities include big shade trees and diagonal parking space for the largest rigs, clean hot-water showers and toilets, a manager-watchman, and the original sturdy security fence. Get there by turning left at Violetas, marked by the big green Colonia Reforma sign over the highway, at the baseball stadium, several blocks east of the first-class bus terminal on Highway 190. Continue uphill six long blocks to the trailer park on the left.

Although more remote, the second choice trailer park has its advantages. For those who prefer a bit of adventure and wide-open spaces, the San Felipe del Agua Trailer Park (Camino de la Chigolera 10, San Felipe del Agua, tel. 951/516-0654 or 951/520-0947, info [at] oaxacanstuff [dot] com, www.oaxacanstuff.com [1], tents $7, RVs $15) will probably be the best choice for tenters and for rigs 25 feet (7.5 meters) or smaller. It perches atop a valley-view knoll in foothill San Felipe del Agua village [2], about four miles (six km) north of downtown. The San Francisco, California, expatriate owner (and former Oaxaca consular agent) Roberta French and her son Doug French offer all hookups for about 10 rigs in a large country lot with scant shade but plenty of mezcal plants and room for tents. A small clubhouse with kitchenette, shower, and toilet is also available for resident use. Prices include water, electricity, and drainage. Reservations are possible but probably not necessary.

Their hilltop location, at the jumping-off point for rough hiking trails, past waterfalls and meadows, en route to the summit of towering, pine-tufted Cerro San Felipe (elev. 10,300 feet/3,140 meters), appears ideal for experienced, prepared hikers and backpackers. Look at the map at the community park guard station a quarter mile (0.4 km) uphill from the San Felipe bus turnaround for hiking route information. The trailer-park manager might serve as your guide; figure on paying him about $30 for a day’s outing.

Get there by bus, taxi, or car to San Felipe del Agua village [2]. By bus, ride San Felipe–marked Choferes del Sur bus from the corner of Independencia and Reforma, two blocks east of the zócalo, thence following Pino Suárez uphill, past El Llano park. Get off at the San Felipe del Agua village plaza (see the old church on the right) and follow the driving directions below.

For drivers, the jumping-off point to the trailer park is Avenida Netzahualcoyotl (nay-tzah-oo-wahl-coh-YOH-tuhl), which heads uphill at the big green San Felipe sign from its intersection with the Highway 190 thoroughfare (Calz. Niños Héroes), one block east of the Pemex station. Drivers, continue about two-thirds of a mile (one km); at Calle Naranjos (see the hotel sign), bear left around the curve, follow the first right one block, then left after one long block; a long block later, at the big traffic intersection, you’ll see the aqueduct. Turn right, uphill, at the aqueduct, and you’ll be on your way heading along Calzada San Felipe, which parallels the old stone aqueduct on your left. In a few miles the road becomes San Felipe’s Calle Hidalgo, which leads you to San Felipe Apostol Church behind the pocket-sized village plaza on the right.

To get to the trailer park, turn left (west) just before the church and village plaza, on to Calle Iturbide, then right again at the first street, Morelos, then another quick left onto the “Prologation of Iturbide.” After another long block or two downhill, at the arroyo bottom, turn right onto Chigolera; continue, climbing steeply uphill 0.4 mile (0.6 km) to the trailer-park sign and gate on the left.