Established Camping
St Charles Campground - Lake Isabel
About
National Forest
PSICC
Overview
Nestled among aspen and tall Douglas fir trees, St. Charles Campground is in a quiet part of the Lake Isabel Recreation Area. Located on the banks of St. Charles Creek, the campground is popular with campers who enjoy the sounds of water tumbling through the shaded boulders.
Recreation
Lake Isabel is stocked with brown and rainbow trout. The accessible lakeshore path provides ample fishing spots. Brook trout can be found in St. Charles Creek. Several trails begin at the recreation area. Hiking opportunities include the Snowslide Trail and the Cisneros Trail. Both trails are also open to motorcycles, and Cisneros is a challenging ATV route.
Facilities
Campsites can accommodate small trailers; tent pads are provided for tent campers. Each campsite contains a bear-proof food locker, picnic table, fire ring and fire pedestal. Campground amenities include accessible vault toilets, drinking water from a hand pump, and bear-proof trash dumpsters. Firewood is sold by the on-site campground host.
Natural Features
The campground sits a mile west of Lake Isabel in the Wet Mountains, a beautiful range in the San Isabel National Forest. At an elevation of 8,600 feet, Lake Isabel was designed and constructed in the 1930s as a recreational haven from the dusty plains far below. Rugged mountain peaks in the area provide water for the abundant wildlife and fish populations.
Nearby Attractions
A nearby lodge offers paddle and rowboat rentals, groceries and a restaurant. Golf courses are about 15 minutes away.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee.__ A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.____ Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive.__ In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
Location
St Charles Campground - Lake Isabel is located in Colorado
Directions
From Pueblo, go 25 miles south on I-25 to exit 74. Drive west 18 miles on state Highway 165. Turn into the main entrance at Lake Isabel Recreation Area and drive to Forest Road 374, the second left. Follow signs to the campground.
Address
SAN CARLOS RANGER DISTRICT
3028 EAST MAIN STREET
Canon city, CO 81212
Coordinates
37.9811111 N
105.0655556 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Group
- Cabins
- Tent Cabin
Features
For Campers
- Market
- Trash
- Firewood Available
- Drinking Water
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Water Hookups
- Pull-Through Sites
- Big Rig Friendly
Rude workers!!!!!
Every employee working there is extremely rude! My dad and brother had a lady scream in their face when they asked her a simple question. If you want to camp somewhere nice I suggest going elsewhere.
Beautifully Secluded
We have stayed at 2 different camp sites at St Charles & loved every minute of it. The sites are separated from each other with plenty of trees & space. The sound of the nearby river is very relaxing. Amenities are as expected with a secluded campground, we had no phone or internet service at all with AT&T or Verizon. That made it even better, got the chance to disconnect from the world for a few days. Lake Isabel is gorgeous & perfect for our kayaks. Can’t wait until out next trip there. Oh yeah, there’s a new owner of the store/restaurant & it’s better than in the past.
Raindrops on s'mores
We had a lovely time. Spent the first day in our tent due to weather. The road was a bit washed out but the camp host was great. We didn't let the rain keep us down, and the day we were leaving the sun made a visit! Beautiful!
Fall Visit.
Aspen leaves in full color. Peaceful park, great place for hiking. Camp host was great and helped us find a great spot.
Nice little campground but...
We spent 2 nights in site 13 which is a great site that backs up to the forest. The downfall of this site is it is next to the vault toilet and it was very smelly. The camp host was non existent throughout the weekend. Never saw them once service the restroom and they did not give us our lake pass to provide us with access during the day. Being the weekend it was busy and they were not enforcing campsite occupancy so there were several sites with 4-5 cars and lots of extra people which led to a lot of noise. Overall I would definitely go again but only during the week and I would not stay near a bathroom again.
Secluded spot
We lucked out on a first come-first served spot on a Friday - spot #10 is tent only, by a creek and several private trails. The camp was quiet with a vault toilet nearby. We were visited by several mule deer and very friendly chipmunks. Bears are in the area, but a bear-proof locker is on the site. The lake itself is pretty developed with boat rentals and fishing, but if you drive past the group camping there is a great hike that knocked us out. Highly recommend! (July 25, 2020)
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Beautiful
The lake was beautiful! There were several trails nearby and a restaurant that was open on the weekends.
Finding wood was a little difficult but need be, the restaurant sold it for $6.99 a bundle.
I definitely want to come back and backpack the Cisneros trail to see the mines.
Family spot!
Family has been coming for years. The family has property in Colorado city and we still love to come to local mountain! Great fishing, clean, quiet, & plenty of space
Pretty area
Nice campground above San Isabel lake. Good fishing in the lake, we rented a paddle boat while staying there.