Arapaho Bay Campground

Stopped by to SUP after some nights in the Arapaho National Forest. I day-camped for $5–multiple points to picnic with tables with loads of shade (but not shaded parking) to SUP on lovely Lake Grandby. Vault toilets available throughout the area. I considered overnight camping but felt too busy even on a Tuesday. Beware the wind—would have paddled sooner on the water but the wind was fierce for a few days straight.

We’ve been to this spot before and loved it! They have a ton of first come first serve spots, but the whole campground was full by the time we got there at 8pm on Friday

This place is really beautiful, clean, the place we stayed was roaring fork 055 nice view, great sunset 😍 I definitely recommend it.

We stayed in the Roaring Fork loop, and it did not disappoint! The sunsets were amazing, we saw a moose in the morning drinking from the lake. Plenty of trails, and being right on the water kept us busy all day. Plus we weren’t to far from Grand Lake so we made a visit there for food, and some hiking. We would definitely recommend!

Beautiful location!! Moraine Loop is on the water. Hike Monarch Lake Loop, fun relatively easy 4.25 mi hike with 289 ft elevation gain.

The camp ground hosts are amazing! The camp ground is clean and very well taken care of! It's quiet and very peaceful! Cell service for Verizon is good!

My husband and I were pleased with this campsite! We celebrated our 1 year anniversary here!

The campground is small in size but each site was equipped with everything you needed. The bathroom was one of the cleanest campsite bathrooms we’ve ever seen and there was no trash spread on the grounds. Very clean. The view of the mountains was incredible even with the downpour of rain and heavy fog. We stayed in a #vanlife camper van so getting wet and staying warm wasnt and issue for us. 🙂 Because you’re well in the mountains, id definitely suggest packing several tarps for ground and roof cover if you’re using tents! I missed out but my husband and other campers saw a large moose just 2 camp spots away from our spot!

This campsite is situated along the CDT so you can imagine just how beautiful it is. It has a lot of different hiking trails for exploring and photography!

Estés park and RMNP are not far from the campground at all which was a HUGE plus! Before we camped, we hiked the Dream Lake/Emerald Lake trail in the park. The views along this hike are breathtaking—my camera and i were very pleased!

Pets are allowed at the campground and there was a water spigot outside of the bathroom. No fires were allowed during our stay due to fire danger.

We will definitely be camping/exploring there again!

Just retuned from 2 nights at the Arapaho Bay Moraine Campground with our 2 kids and 2 dogs. Site 50 held our 20ft trailer and truck, but many sites were smaller we had a blast playing in the water, fishing, and watching the two moose that visited our campsite! Facilities were clean, and at least our loop had good trees for privacy. The dirt road around the lake was being graded as we left, but wasn't horrible before! We will be back for sure. Make sure you pack bug repellent, biting flies and mosquitoes were always present.

This is a great campground; clean, easy access, with tons of shade even though it's close to the lake which I love. It's essentially split into 3 sections (Arapaho Bay Big Rock, Morraine, and Roaring Fork). They're all essentially the same campground but they are run by different hosts. Roaring Fork and Morraine are right on the lake but have NO shade. Arapaho Bay- Big Rock is fully shaded and still only <5 minute drive (probably a 20 minute walk) to the water. 

Also, we saw a baby moose and his mama while we were here! Camped here late July and it was great weather for hiking, kayaking, and sleeping under the stars!

Please be aware that CO weather (especially in the mountains) is very prone to quick changes. Come prepared with lots of layers, weather-proof clothing, and tents that can withstand a storm.

Nice sized spaces, many sites close to the water, good wildlife sittings (moose, bald eagles, bear) beautiful large lake with Colorado River headwaters, near town of Grand Lake and entrance to Rocky Mt. Natl Park. Only thing missing is some hook-ups.  We love it,

Here are a few pics from the Roaring Creek Campground Site #69 taken on 09/26/2020.

Site was fantastic, with a nice host, good access to the lake, and just a good location overall. Clean, well maintained site. Made the mistake of picking the site near the entrance but still ok since roads weren't that busy.

Be warned: road in across the dam is ROUGH to the point of hazard, and lacks guardrail. Significant safety concern for others or those with large or unwieldy vehicles.

We were looking for first come first serve sites, as there was nothing available to book the week before our visit. We tried the roaring fork loop first and it was very full (we arrived at 1pm which is their checkout time). Got a little nervous, but the Moraine loop had 3 openings! The camp host, Jackie, was amazing and tipped us off to a lake front spot that someone had no showed for. The views were incredible, and we pretty much had private lake access for our paddle board and kayak. Not the most private campground (we could see both of our neighbors), but the views made up for it. There was no shade at our spot, but again, that didn’t really matter to us because the lake was so beautiful. It’s very close to several trailheads as well. We will be going back!

Stayed in the Roaring Fork area waaaay in the back of this campground. Surrounded by mountains and right on the lake shore made this a great location. You can hear the Roaring Fork gushing nearby. Thankfully the site neighbors were quiet and courteous, because there is no privacy. Lots of fat little chipmunks!

The first come first serve sites fill up by early Thursday. Get there earlier in the week and you will have a better chance of getting a spot. And screw recreation.gov for making reservations in outer nightmare

Loved my stay here! All sites were full, but everyone was respectful and sites were spaced well apart. Stayed at site 40 on the Moraine loop. Big sites, big fire pits, clean facilities. No bear lockers and only vault toilets, nowhere to wash hands so bring hand sanitizer. We had a little bit of shade at our site which was great. Camp management was very very friendly and welcoming. They're not kidding when they say bear country- had bears at our site and around the campground 2 out of 3 nights!

Make sure your are I time because if you are not Bob will sell your sight out from under you. The policy is not overtly advertised or any where on the app. We arrived 15 minutes late to find another camper in our RESERVED spot. Bob is a coward the hides behind this bullshit policy and screws people over.

We love this campground and come back once a year. There are 3 loops 1) Big Rock(?) 2) Moraine 3) Roaring Fork. We’ve stayed at 1 and 3. We loved the Roaring Fork loop as it is right next to a natural waterfall which provided wonderful noise while sleeping.

Loops 2 and 3 have less tree coverage but are right on the water. The views are beautiful and there is water to play in. We bring kayaks and launch off the boat ramp (which was closed while we were there) other people brought SUPs and the water is calm and relaxing. You could go into Grand Lake or Lake Granby/Shadow Lake and rent a boat for a day if you so desired.

Hiking - 1 mile away is Monarch lake which offers a great simple hike for kids and there off shoots that head to other lakes that we haven’t been able to go in yet due to the kids with us.

Sites - the sites are smaller so I’d recommend booking one for each party going with you as they are small to share. There has definitely been an increase in trailers/RVs over the years, but add us to that list. They have Bear boxes for each site and the bathrooms are adequate. Kind people are all around (one nice man helped us park our trailer since it was our first time, and a tricky back in). LOVE THIS PLACE!

The drive in is not the best. A lot of washboard dirt road. It is crowded. That’s the worst thing I have to say about it.

We were lucky enough to snag a first come first serve site on forth of July weekend. I’m pretty sure that we got the best site on the entire camp ground. Up on top of a small hill, next to some large rocks you could climb to that overlooked the water.

The host at this site was absolutely wonderful and kind, and the facilities were very clean.

We couldn’t have asked for a better first camping experience!

Good campground not to far from Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s about 9 miles off the main road so it’s a good drive back in there but nice area right by the lake and some streams. Tons of hikes and fishing right by the campgrounds. The spots are mostly small so not many would hold a large trailer. Most of them have a spot for a tent as well and ours was well spaced and covered from other spots by brush and trees. Lake is huge and the cove we were by was good for paddle boarding and kayaks. Also saw lots of wildlife all around.

there are sites at the north end of the grounds that are next to a waterfall and if you like sleeping with white noise its perfect.   but it gets a lot of sunlight.  videos of it here... https://youtu.be/oMxvSNyWEfI 

if you want more shade the more southern sites have tall trees to prevent your tent from becoming an oven.  I had no trouble finding downed trees to use for wood but i had to haul the wood 1000 feet back to camp.  

every trail i found did not allow bicycles.  which ruined a lot of my fun. but there is other stuff to do.

Hi recommend!!

No electric or flush toilets but that didn’t matter. The campground is located about 8 miles from the main road and a short distance from Monarch Lake. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get into downtown so it’s peaceful out in the campground. water is close and easy to pull off the side of the road and walk down to secluded beaches. Lots of critters and even saw some moose here. Sites here vary from shade to none; close to water and away; tent and space for a big event. Its a great spot for families as you have plenty to do even if you just want to walk. We saw several families out for bike rides as the road within the campground isn’t that busy.

A short distance from Monarch Lake, where fishing is easy, and the bridge provides a great view of rapids in the late spring / early summer.

It can get a bit busy here though so make sure to book your site online beforehand and pick one next to the lake. Odds are the park will be full of you're visiting June - August.

Like most mountain camping, it does get cooler once the sun sets (usually around 40-50 degrees) so come prepared!

Arapaho Bay Campground is on Lake Granby in the Arapaho National Forest to the south east of Rocky Mountain National Park's Grand Lake entrance. It's about 20 miles (40 minutes) to that entrance which takes you in on Trail Ridge Road (Route 34). From there, you can take this scenic byway to the east side of the park. Don't miss this road!

Like many parks in Colorado in 2018, there is not a lot of shade because of the pine beetle infestation. There are 3 loops which seem like separate campgrounds; there's a pay station at each entrance if you haven't paid in advance. And you'll need to pay the day use fee of $5/day if you don't have a National Parks Pass. The Forest Service gets my applause for keeping the gravel road in good shape; it's not a teeth-chattering drive.

We snagged site 72 in Roaring Fork loop on a walkup at 10 am as the previous occupants were leaving. (Other loops are Moraine and Big Rock on the way in.) The reserved sign indicated the site was available until the next day, and we confirmed that on recreation.gov. You can't completely rely on recreation.gov; some sites specified as walkup that day were reserved. There are some non-reservable sites (saw a few in Moraine Loop but did not get to Big Rock). We always check recreation.gov for info on federal campgrounds even if we're not making a reservation.

Great sites: Sites 72, 73 (double fee) and 70 (weird numbering) are out at the end of Roaring Fork with beautiful views of the lake and mountains as well as a sandy beach. Check out the photos.

Activities: Monarch Lake is a few miles away and has a 4 mile loop trail with varied scenery. Parents were carrying small children in front/backpacks, so it's a fairly easy hike. Roaring Fork Trail at the entrance to the camping loop provides a bigger challenge. It's 6 miles to Upper Lake with a 2000 foot climb. (Or Watanga Lake is also 6 miles.) The trail climbs quickly in the beginning. You can walk up for about 20-30 minutes and get close to Roaring Fork Arapaho Creek. There were great views of Lake Granby and the Roaring Fork and Moraine loops. See photos.

We loved camping here. There was plenty of shade and camping lots seemed large. We had many moose sightings in the campground during our stay. Kayaking and swimming in Lake Grandby and hiking nearby areas was a lot of fun.

Great place to camp if you want to do a hike from the monarch lake trailhead the next morning. The campground has fire rings, picnic tables, toilets, and water. The sites are pretty close together - not much privacy. There's also tipis you can stay in here. The best part about the campground is being near Lake Grandby and Monarch Lake, as well as the hiking trails. I did the hike to Crater Lake. It was 15 miles and took 8 hours, so it was good that we camped near the trailhead. The trail passed many waterfalls and ended at 2 beautiful alpine lakes. It was well worth the effort. You can also backpack the trail and camp at the lakes overnight. A permit is required to camp at the backcountry lakes.

While I did not stay at the campground I wanted to post a quick review to help people out. The campground itself seemed very nice and well maintained but you pretty much need a reservation ahead of time to camp here so make sure you go online or call ahead to check availability.

This is true wilderness camping at its best overlooking beautiful Colorado waters with the Mountains peaking down upon you is where you will find yourself camping with great amenities and water available with just short walk away from your camp. You have to purchase parking pass in the park but it is totally worth it!

This place is such a beautiful and pristine wilderness with many lakes, There is pretty good fishing, some areas are fly fishing only, so be sure to check signs or check with the rangers, This place is just so gorgeous it is one of my favorite places in colorado to visit