$20 - $22 / night

Camper submitted image from West Chicago Creek - 1

Camper submitted image from West Chicago Creek - 2

Nature

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Official

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Roads

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Camping

Established Camping

West Chicago Creek

13 Reviews

About

National Forest

Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG

Overview

West Chicago Creek Campground sits along its namesake creek at the base of Mount Evans and is located off Highway 103 on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in central Colorado. It is a popular facility for hiking and fishing enthusiasts.

Recreation

The area provides easy access to many hiking trails that lead into the Mount Evans Wilderness. West Chicago Creek offers good fishing for rainbow, brown and brook trout.

Facilities

There are 15 sites available all suitable for RV and tent camping. Each site contains a tent pad, picnic table, charcoal grill and fire ring. Other amenities include a vault toilet, water spigot and trash dumpster. There are no RV hook-ups. Firewood is available for sale during peak season at the campground.

Natural Features

The campground sits at an elevation of 9,600 feet in an aspen and lodgepole pine forest. The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland are located in the foothills and slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The forests and grassland cover 1.5 million acres and extend north to the Wyoming border, south to Mount Evans and west across the Continental Divide. The area encompasses mountains, lakes and five scenic byways, designated by Congress for their scenery, wildlife or history, including the highest road in North America. Mount Evans Road, also known as Colorado Highway 5, allows visitors to drive from 10,500' to 14,130' above sea level in just 14 miles.

contact_info

For facility specific information, please call (530) 529-0578.

Nearby Attractions

Nearby Idaho Springs, a former mining town, makes for a nice outing. History buffs will appreciate the Argo Gold Mine and Mill Museum.

Suggest an Edit

Location

West Chicago Creek is located in Colorado

Directions

I-70 westbound, Idaho Springs exit #240 - Hwy 103. Go south for 6.5 miles and turn right on southwest Forest Service Road 188 (West Chicago Creek Road). Go 3 miles to campground. The last mile of dirt/gravel road is one lane with pull over's and contains two sharp switchbacks.

Coordinates

39.6790389 N
105.6574194 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next 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
Firewood Available
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets

For Vehicles

Big Rig Friendly

SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE

$20 - $22

/ night

First Come - First Served

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(877) 444-6777

Roger H.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 21, 2023

Why do you think we're closed?

Our season runs from late May until late September.

I'm the campground host this year.

Unfortunately we still haven't fixed the water pump issue yet so please be prepared.

William C.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 5, 2023

Quiet Campsite

Quiet campground- especially early in the season.

$22/night; Firewood bundles on-site for $9.

Each site has a picnic table and a bear box for food storage.

Bathrooms were clean. Sites are smaller and very close together. Little privacy if visiting during a busier time.

Sites 7, 9, and 11 have trails that connect back to Chicago creek just a short distance away. Hiking trails are close by to nearby forests land. No cell service.

Site9

Month of VisitJune

Veronica S.

Ranger

Reviewed Jul. 22, 2022

Pick the right site

This campground is sorta remote, but also not. It's close enough to civilization that there was a LOT of activity both in the campground and at the nearby picnic area. Choose a site on the outside. The ones closest to the wilderness trailhead were by far the best. Do not choose site 8. There is no cell service. No drinking water (well ran dry). Host is nice. Bathrooms usually smelled okay inside (but they smelled like vault toilets normally do on the outside, so again, don't choose site 8).

Here's some quotes from my travel log:

"The last bit of the road to the campsite was super duper rocky and narrow. I’m sure all that soft-roading wasn’t great for the hole in the tire. We set up camp and soon it started raining. Luckily I had put up a tarp over the table so we sheltered under that. The campground had a lot of kids and it was noisy. I also stupidly chose a spot right next to both the ONE vault toilet (2 toilets, one building, for the whole campground) and the dumpsters which were the most excessively bear proof dumpsters you’ve ever seen (hard to use and thusly very loud). The bathroom doors were slamming all evening and the smells coming from both were there, loud and clear for the duration of our stay...

...I decided to go for a walk and saw that we were right next to a picnic area and trailhead for some Mt Evans wilderness trails. There was a very large group in the picnic area. It started raining and I headed back to the campsite. Once the rain calmed down people started doing fireworks. In a designated wilderness area. Come on people, really? Forrest and I went to town to grab some things and when we came back all the people had left and the fireworks were done. Forrest and I went for a little walk on the trail along Chicago Creek. It was beautiful. We saw some moose poop. When it was time to go to bed I took Forrest into the vault toilet and when we came out a baby moose zoomed past us right through our site! The neighbor mom was like,“It was a moose right? My husband doesn’t believe me!” I said yeah it had to have been and asked the other neighbors, an older couple who looked like they know a lot. He said, “Yup, it was a baby moose, watch out for mama.” It was an exciting Fourth of July surprise. That night there was an hour or two or more… It was a long night… where someone’s car alarm kept going off. We could not figure out what or why or where."

I totally forgot to take a tour video and pictures what with all the storms and the altitude sickness my son and I got from driving up to the Mt. Evans summit.

Overall, if I go back to the Idaho Springs area again, I'd probably stay here again, but I'd choose a better spot and not go on the Fourth of July (this was just a cooincidence on our roadtrip).

Site8

Month of VisitAugust

Danica L.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 8, 2021

Clean and great location

This had to be the cleanest campground that I had ever been to. The host was amazing, very nice and had the cleanest outhouse toilet I've encountered!

Great 9 mile hike down Hells Hole Trail, with picnic spots and a creek to filter water from. At the end of the road so pretty quiet as far as traffic is concerned. 16 sites, spread out decently, trees for hammocks and fire pits.

Site14

Month of VisitOctober

(6) View All

laura S.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 9, 2021

Nice spot close to town

Decent little campground not far away from Denver. Idaho Springs is close for a meal or other things you might want. Sites were clean, some pretty spacious but the ones in the middle were on top of each other. A nice hike right out of the campground. No where else to drive on the road, so it’s nice and quiet at night! No water, no cell service.

Month of VisitJuly

Riley S.

Guide

Reviewed May. 30, 2021

Self Retreat

What an amazing campground, such beautiful scenery and very quiet. Roughly 16 very spaced out sites. Fire pits with grill top and picnic tables at each location. Sites have bear boxes for protection and safe keeping.

Site5,11,12

Month of VisitJune

(7) View All

Chris E.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 29, 2020

Nice but could be better

Good location overall, close to other mountain amenities but the campsite itself was nothing special. Site was spacious, well maintained, and seemed in good order with no problems at a high level. Bear boxes were a great amenity that I wish more camps had!

No water (website said it has water) (COVID?), absent host, and nearby lake turned out to be private ownership.

Benjamin R.

Scout

Reviewed Jun. 19, 2020

Excellent Campground, Excellent Host

We stayed here this week and had a wonderful experience. Our site was clean and well-maintained. All the sites have a bear box to put your food in. The pit toilets are the cleanest I have ever seen. The campground host Mike was very friendly and seemed invested in making sure everyone had a good time. Some other reviews mention that the dirt road to the campground is a little difficult, but besides being bumpy, it should only be an issue for trailers and RV's. Definitely hoping to stay here again!

Month of VisitJuly

Denise ,.

Scout

Reviewed Jan. 3, 2020

West Chicago

Very clean and fabulous set up for exploring. We stay at this campground every year we go. Love this place

E H.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 20, 2019

Cleanest vault toilets anywhere

Stayed here a few weeks ago for a couple nights and man, the host was awesome at keeping the place neat and clean. The road in wasn't too bad but there is one hairpin turn that made we questill on how the small trailers/ rvs made it up there. We tent camped and enjoyed just hanging out by the stream during the day. Watch out for wildlife in the mornings! Had a moose and a deer stroll through the campground, plus some aggressive chipmunks stealing my dog's food.

Mike S.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 12, 2018

Great place to stay, but Mt. Evans is 10 miles away

I love this place. The campground is full every weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day due to reservations made at recreation.gov up to 6 months and more than 48 hours in advance, and being so close to metro Denver.

The campground has 16 sites; 4 Walk-In, 1 host and 11 are reservable. Check in after 2:00 and check out by 1:00. If someone has a reservation, like a hotel, their site is held until 1:00 the next day because of the Forest Service rule that the campsite must be occupied the first night and they could have had delays.

The campground is at 9600’ and the last mile of the dirt road is a bit rough, but I have seen low profile cars and 42’ Class A motor home with a towed vehicle. Well water normally supplies the campground to faucets, but has not been productive the entire 2019 season and there are vault toilets. Each site has its own bear box and fire ring. The creek is less than 100 meters from the campground and fishing this year was poor... water level was low. Lots of great hiking and climbing in the area. About a 40 degree difference between day and night. During the fire ban, dispersed camping is limited to just a few areas so the campground is a great place to stay and you might still be able to have a fire in the fire ring. Privately owned cabins can be seen as you walk through the woods. Hell’s Hole Trail is a few hundred yards from the campground. I’m looking forward to going back there as host next year.

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Karen B.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 13, 2017

Fall camping is the best

As one other reviewer stated the road is a bit sketchy but well worth the trip. The sites are clean, the host is friendly and the bathrooms are decent. What is amazing is the fall colors, the river and the hiking. We always try for the last weekend of the season. Very quiet, and lots of trees changing colors. Enjoy!

Month of VisitOctober

Madison G.

Ranger

Reviewed Jun. 21, 2017

Camping at Chicago Creek

I always end up at Chicago Creek after spending an evening in the Denver/Boulder area and attempt to head west afterwards. Only an hour-ish from the city, this campground is perfect for people heading west from Denver and are looking to be immersed in mountains. The road up to the site is a bit sketchy, so try to arrive before nightfall, although I've always arrived after dark. If the campground is full, quite often people camp just past it, at the end of the road. There are signs that say "No Camping" but I've never had an issue and there are tons of people there. Afterwards, enjoy breakfast in Idaho Springs or continue up the road to Mt. Evans summit!

Site5

Month of VisitJuly