$60 / night

Camper submitted image from Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area - 1

Camper submitted image from Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area - 2

Official

Camper submitted image from Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area - 3

Nature

Camper submitted image from Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area - 4

Roads

Camper submitted image from Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area - 5

Water

Established Camping

Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area

19 Reviews

Closed For the Season

This campground is closed for the season from October 1, 2023 through May 26, 2024.

About

Bureau of Land Management

Gunnison

Overview

Approximately 5 miles from Crested Butte, Colorado, Oh Be Joyful Campground is a 30-unit campground along the Slate River. The campground itself gets its name from nearby Oh Be Joyful Creek that features massive waterfalls and colorful wildflowers in the summer months. The campground is located at approximately 9,000 feet in elevation and the views are spectacular.____

Recreation

This premier area is known for camping, fishing, horseback riding, sight-seeing, hiking/walking, water play, kayaking, mountain biking, wildflower viewing, and motorized recreational uses. A foot bridge allows visitors to access the west side of the Slate River to hike along Oh Be Joyful Creek and into the Raggeds Wilderness.

Facilities

Natural Features

The campground sits directly on the east bank of the Slate River and is nestled in a valley with mountains on either side of the valley. Due to the abundance of moisture in the spring and early summer, wildflowers are abundant. Look for our State flower the Columbine and other species including Indian Paintbrush and Avalanche Lilies.

Nearby Attractions

Fee Info

Fee $20 per night at individual sites, $60 per night at group sites.__ 22 Sites can be reserved 180-days in advance. The remaining 7 sites can be reserved 4 days in advance. Reservations are encouraged; walk-up availability is unlikely during peak season May 27 to September 30.____ 14 Day Max Stay

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Location

Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area is located in Colorado

Directions

From the town of Crested Butte, drive north on Gothic Road. (County road 317) towards Mount Crested Butte. Cross the Slate River and turn left on Slate River Road (County Road 734). Follow this up the valley for approximately 5 miles to BLM Road 3220. Turn left onto BLM Road 3220 and continue for approximately 0.3 miles to a Oh Be Joyful Campground. BLM Road 3220 is steep and rough, low clearance vehicles and larger RVs may want to scout the road before driving down to the campground.______

Coordinates

38.914376 N
107.032762 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Unknown
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group

Features

For Campers

Trash
Picnic Table
Phone Service
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets

SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE

$60

/ night

First Come - First Served

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General Info

Adams

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 15, 2023

Beautiful rustic campground

We arrived at 2:00 PM and there was one site left for first come first served. It was a quiet place with some wonderful walks. Several hunters camping here, so next time I’ll bring orange.

Site15?

Month of VisitOctober

Neal C.

Scout

Reviewed Jan. 13, 2022

Busy but beautiful

Beautiful setting, but very popular so you'll not have much solitude. The road coming of the main road is a bit rough and uneven. Low ground clearance vehicles can make it but go slow. I managed fine with my Honda Odyssey but you could see evidence on some of the rocks and boulders where some vehicles had scraped bottom.

Cattle roam freely as this is open range, so don't be surprised to find that you might be sharing your site with some livestock. Watch your step!

Month of VisitOctober

Tori S.

Traveler

Reviewed Oct. 4, 2021

Great spot, close to town

We stayed at site #1 for 2 nights at the start of off season Oct 1 - Oct 3. The site was right next to the river and you could hear the water running from our camper. The road was very muddy when we came in and a little rough. But we were able to get our 28’ camper down the road pretty easily. We did wake up to cows in our campsite the last morning. Kind of cute.. The fall leaves were beautiful and the campsite was complete with a great view of the snow-capped mountains and groves of aspens changing color. It took us about 10 minutes to get to downtown CB from the site. There was a trailhead pretty near the site (oh be joyful trail) which had beautiful fall scenery. Would definitely stay here again!

Site1

Month of VisitNovember

(6) View All

Ian B.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 23, 2021

About the closest campsite to town

Walk in and hike in spots available close to trails. Walk in spots are not far at all from the cars. There’s a stream that runs alongside the campground you can jump in and rinse off if you’re bold enough. Super chill camp host. You can basically tent or cab camp at the parking lot above the grounds for free.

Month of VisitSeptember

Buddy T.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 4, 2021

Oh Be Joyful

Great spot right on the Slate River. 5 miles from town for a daily excursion. Nice hikes and mtb. Best site close to town!!!

Month of VisitSeptember

Peter S.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 25, 2021

Decent campground; GREAT for young kids (river); great hiking access

Oh Be Joyful is a nice campground with spectacular access to a meandering shallow creek great for very young kids (and others) and with instant access to the Oh Be Joyful hiking trails that lead up modestly for 0.5 miles to miles of more flat terrain and spectacular glaciated canyon views of beautiful peaks, aspen and conifer groves, mountain flowers, and a rushing creek with great waterfalls. So, location (also within about 10 min of town center via a 2-wheel drive / bike friendly dirt road) is superb. The campground offers both decent to rather austere drive-in sites (some along creek) with bear boxes (only CG i know of in area with bear boxes) and tables / firepit (the basics). Some of the walk-in tent sites are pretty good but many are close to heavy foot traffic spots (but some appear to be creekside). (we did not explore all the sites.) There are some sites that rank among the lamest sites i have ever seen... i think walk-in site 6 (don't quote me) fits about 2 - 3 modest tents (no car) and is contiguous with a heavy-foot traffic (and even some vehicles) driveway. It's actually shocking that they call it a campsite ... it's gravel is not even river (smoothened) gravel... it's super lame. But, that one (maybe more?) site aside, the CG is good enough (but does not invite first-come first-serve influx... but rather requires reservations.gov in advance) but it's location is excellent. (The driveway to get from slate river road down to site is a bit rough for 2-wheel drive (doable but rough).) I think the price (summer 2021) was $10/night. Honestly, if you are looking for a more mellow (free) site, or don't have reservations, go one mile up the road to the CG called Musician's Camp (not yet listed on dyrt) which has sites 14 - 17... which are really nice tent spots.

Month of VisitAugust

Emma H.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 5, 2021

Absolutely beautiful

We stayed the night of Sunday 5/30. We had a wonderful experience staying here. The view was amazing. There were lots of nature trails to take as well. The cow poop added character to these trails :). We also really enjoyed fishing in the river and examining the amazing smooth rocks that were all over the place. We weren't too near anyone else so it was a nice and quiet stay. There was a bear box to put all of our food in at night which was nice for peace of mind. We also saw a white tailed deer at our site within moments of arriving :). 10/10 experience!

We did not get much, if any, cell phone reception here. So keep that in mind.

Site6 (main loop)

Month of VisitJune

(10) View All

Jason R.

Traveler

Reviewed Apr. 24, 2021

Amazing place! Beautiful hope you like cold water!

I can't on and off at this site. Periodically for over 10 years one of the best places in the United States.

SiteSite 1

Month of VisitAugust

Joey B.

Guide

Reviewed Nov. 13, 2020

Perfect weather in October!

Drove out with some friends from Kansas in early October this year and the views and weather was Amazing! Campsite has “fees” through an honor system so you no host to worry about you come and camp as you go here. Place has fire pits bathrooms! One of my favorite spots to camp in Colorado so far.

(6) View All

Morgan Y.

Ranger

Reviewed Nov. 2, 2020

So close to town

Small campground and the spots are close together. But, hey, you are along the river and just minutes to town. Well worth it.

Leave no trace.

Danny A.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 1, 2020

B E A U T I F U L

This place is one ofcmy, favorite spots I've camped at. There road down to the river is a bit rough, but if you're careful you can make it. There are camp sites on the other side of the river so if you go late in the season you can drive across, otherwise you'll need high clearance to get you to the other side. You'll be in the woods along the river, plenty of cover however there were lots of mosquitoes. Take bug spray. Plenty of hiking and biking all over the place. There is a bathroom near the entrance, but you're better off digging a hole. I'd come here more if it wasn't so far from Denver.

(10) View All

Mark K.

Traveler

Reviewed Oct. 8, 2019

Tent camping

great campground close to hiking, biking, etc. Clean, fairly quiet if no rv with generators

Rachel W.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 3, 2018

Pay-per-night, basic campground near the trailhead.

We arrived late in the evening, & chose site 2 near the camp host & pit toilet. This campground is heavily treed, so there's plenty of shade. The Slate River is great for soaking trail-weary feet after a long hike back from Blue Lake & the passes!

(I'd like to add photos below, but that feature doesn't seem to work with my cell phone?)

Site2

Month of VisitAugust

Victoria F.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 2, 2018

awesome water access!

we loved it! other than the Neighbors being so close by it was amazing. we had really close water access.we stayed at #11 so cool I think it had the best amount of tree shade available and cuz we were so close to the Stream the dogs had a blast we even went fishing and found a honey hole I caught 9 fish in an hour. it was cool to watch all the cars drive-thru the stream Crossing access to the other side where there were more campsites. it really was so much fun it was super easy to walk down and Upstream with the dogs and they had plenty of places to stop and have some safe swimming without being pulled up or Downstream.

(15) View All

Maria N.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 16, 2018

near town and to trailhead

great area to camp if your planning to hike into the oh be joyful basin, the hike is awesome! also not too far from town. you wIll need high clearance vehIcle to cross Slate river.

Amy H.

Scout

Reviewed May. 31, 2018

360 degree view of amazing mountains

This campground is in the middle of one of the prettiest places in Colorado. Crested Butte is an amazing place to begin with but this campground makes it even better. Most sites are next to the creek or at least close enough to hear the peaceful flow of water. Some sites require fording creek so make sure to bring a 4WD or AWD in case the water is high. Additionally some sites may require you to park 50-100 yards away. First come first served, 5-10$ a site. I will be going back again this summer!

Site19

Month of VisitJune

Ali W.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 21, 2016

Great free campground in Crested Butte!

We visited this campground for Labor Day. First come first serve spots, only a restroom before the river crossing. There are two areas of the campground, before and after the river. The river was easily passable during this time of year with a higher clearance vehicle. I personally think crossing the river has the best and most quiet spots. There are a lot more spots than what meet the eye, be sure to explore before you set up camp! This camp can get very crowded, so I have heard they will start a pay system for next summer, either way this campground has great access to bikes trails and hiking trails and listen to the calming sound of the Slate river in any spot in this campground. Can't wait to go back!

Beth W.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 29, 2016

Amazing views right next to the Slate River

This campground is absolutely incredible. With sites right next to the Slate River, the views are amazing. To get to the campground you head out of Crested Butte and down a minimally maintained road, down to the valley.

Lynn J.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 18, 2016

Oh Be Joyful

This is a small campground along the Slate River outside of Crested Butte, CO. There are bathrooms and tent sites. No utilities. Abundant hiking, fishing and mountain biking opportunities.