Nine Mile Picnic Site
October 2026
About
Overview
Situated along the Sandia Crest Scenic Byway 536, at a cool 9,200 ft of elevation, is the large and often shaded Nine Mile Picnic Ground. Newly renovated to address maintenance needs, the picnic area now offers a combination of single, double, and group picnic sites, vault toilets, hardened walkways, grills, serving tables, information boards, and access to near by trails. Surrounded by aspen, spruce, and fir trees, this forested site offers rest and relaxation conveniently along the Byway. Parking at Nine Mile Picnic Ground is subject to the standard amenity fee. All picnic sites are first come, first served. Follow all rules and regulations. Please remember to take extra care to "Leave no trace" when you visit your public lands. There is no overnight camping at Nine Mile.
Recreation
Nine Mile Picnic Ground is perfect for a relaxing picnic, with wildlife viewing opportunities, or access to a number of near by trails, including the popular Challenge Trail #233.
Facilities
Each picnic site has tables and a grill. There is a combination of single, double, and group picnic sites all available on a first come, first served basis.
Nine Mile Picnic Ground includes two vault toilets, information boards, bear safe trash receptacles, hardened walkways, and accessible parking.
Natural Features
The area is heavily wooded with aspen, spruce, and fir, with a mixture of level and hilly ground.
Nearby Attractions
Nine Mile Picnic Ground is located along the 536 Sandia Crest Scenic Byway. Also along the Scenic Byway are a number of Forest Service picnic grounds and trailheads as well as the Sandia Crest area which includes the Sandia Peak aerial tramway. Below, along the Byway, is also the Sandia Peak Ski Area.
Phone: 505-281-3304
Is NINE MILE PICNIC SITE fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches NINE MILE PICNIC SITE in Tijeras, NM for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching NINE MILE PICNIC SITE for cancellations is the paid part.