The Indian Paintbrush Campground is located within the county-run Bear Creek Lake recreation area outside Denver, CO. In close proximity to the city of Denver and popular tourist destinations like Red Rocks amphitheater, the Bear Creek Lake Park camping blends urban and rural qualities to make one of the finest camping destinations around Denver. The campground has 47 campsites, 3 cabins, 2 yurts and 1 group site.

Indian Paintbrush Campground—Bear Creek Lake Park

While this campground is minutes from the city and seconds from a highway, at night you feel like you are in a quiet, mountain campsite with stars to gaze for days. Proximity to Red Rocks amphitheater, Bear Creek Lake, Big Soda Lake, and a genuine braying donkey were a huge plus.

Mountain experience in the foothills

Close proximity to the highway. Clean level spots. Geared more towards RV camping. Pros: great views of the foothills. Lots of park amenities like horse stables, archery range, swim beach, boat rentals, hiking trails, picnic areas. Con: Orange glow of Home Depot sign at night and no shade during the day. Your camping reservation (strongly recommended) includes park admission.

Best of City Camping 

This was only a 15 min drive from our house, right off the highway! Campsites we’re clean and numbered but very close together with no trees to separate you from your neighbor. They have a nice lake for swimming (gravel beach) with paddle board, kayak, and paddle boat rentals. We did the paddle boards for $20 an hour (seemed a little high for an hour) but it was so much fun! The view of Red Rocks was a treat!

One other note, most of Colorado has a fire ban because of the lack of rain and wildfires. We were able to still have a fire, which is a MUST for camping :) but still be careful of course!

Enjoy!

Easy getaway

I love that it is not as packed in the back of the reservoir as it is at the sand beach. There isn't too much parking but has a few good trails to bike and hike. Lots of canopy covered forest in the  campsite area. Big Soda Lake is crazy busy. Don't expect to be able to make it back in if you leave and it's hard to find a quiet spot as most of the area is crammed with people.

Location is a plus!

We chose this campground to be close to Red Rocks for a show. We didn’t expect much from it, but we really liked it! Yes– as some reviews say– you can see Home Depot from the campground. However, there are tons of trails and a lake to explore as well!! The sites are electric only, so make sure you dump/fill before you get set up. Also, the showers are coin operated. The hosts were awesome here. We really enjoyed chatting with them! The campground is super popular so if you are thinking about going and there is actually availability, book it!!

Great campground close to Red Rocks with lots to do!

My oldest daughter (27) and I went on our first trip without my husband along. We stayed at Indian Paintbrush Campground in Bear Creek Park in Lakewood, CO right next to Red Rocks Amphitheater. We went to a concert (Old Dominion) and it was a perfect set up. Lyft picked us up and dropped us off from our site. We could not have been closer. There were coyotes, owls, and rabbits in the huge urban park. Highly recommend this spot for concerts at one of the best venues ever. 

Red Rocks

Really calm vibe here. Me and my girlfriend stayed here for 3 nights while the camp
Was completely full. The amount of space they give each camper spot is more than plenty. Lovely clean facilities. Very well taken care of camping ground. Tons of trails and other activities to do here. I throughly enjoyed all the things about this place. I will come back and stay again if I am in the area.
Perfect place to camp if you are going to a red rocks show. It’s only a 10 min drive away. 

Super chill 

I've stayed here twice, the first time in a tent, and the second time we rented a yurt. The tent spaces are very close to one another so the yurt was way worth the upgrade. This campground is a bit urban-feeling. Had nice shower house and bathrooms.  
We had a lovely day hanging out by the lake.

Convenient for Red Rocks

Had a relaxing few nights here.  Kids loved the playground at the campsite.  Lake was peacful and calm.  

Great time!

Clean restrooms and friendly staff. Not a lot of natural shade so be sure to bring your own. Get up early if you don’t want to fight crowds at the lakes for water activities. Trail ride at sunset was a lit of fun and the sunsets did not disappoint. 

Get to the water early

Super clean campground. Close to Red Rocks and Denver. You have to drive a bit to get to the lake. Some nice hiking and biking trails off the campground. Beautiful views of the mountains. Has trash and recycling areas. Would stay here again!

Great campground

We stayed here for a total of 4 days and loved it! Bike paths were plentiful, a lake to swim in. They also had paddle board rentals for a good price, which we did and had a blast! Playground at the campground was perfect for my son as well! It’s now on our list of favorites!

Great park!

Loved the hiking and biking trails. Beautiful lake for swimming and paddle sports. Will definitely be returning for the archery and horseback riding.

Great Campground

$35 per night with 30 or 50 electric hook up.  Right next to Red Rocks! Lots of hiking, or biking trails. Nice pay shooters.  $1 for 5 minutes.  Sites are not too close together, though not spaciously apart.  I imagine it's packed in season being so close to Denver.  No wifi.

Beautiful views

With a lake, horseback riding, hiking and more this is a fun place

Fun 

The lady running the entrance here when I went is extremely nice! Made me want to come back! I was also relieved the park was well located and didn’t require any scary driving since it was my first big trip with a trailer. Getting through Denver was about the worst of it, and that wasn’t so bad. 

It was not super full when I was there, but then filled up on my last night probably due to bad weather in Nebraska. The park was clean, felt super secure, and the spots were spacious. The hookups and water spigots were well located. Easy to access and park in. If you’re seeing a show at red rocks, like I was, it’s amazingly located. I imagine if there weren’t a fire ban it would be a more fun, social experience with other people staying there to go to the same show. 

Edit: returned in October and even more beautiful, quiet, and lovely. Will always return here. 

Very nice staff

We stayed here two nights and chose the campground due to its proximity to Morrison and the Red Rocks Amphitheater. They have showers for $1 that last 5min which is more than enough. There is a dump station and a water fill station as well. 

Great place if you’re going to Red Rocks

We only stayed overnight, but easy enough to navigate into park and find our site #31. Site close to loop and short walk to bath house. We left before sunrise and went to Red Rocks Amphitheater maybe 10 minutes. Great park to exercise, view sunrise.  We returned to campsite, showered (coin operated) and drove around Bear Creek . This would be a great place to relax for a few days, camping sites are not private, but lots of recreation facilities. 

Great Location next to Red Rocks park, hot showers

Big campsites. Can be hard to get a spot in the summer but great biking, hiking right from the camp site. Close to highway but can hardly hear and traffic noise. Reservoir in the park for swimming and fishing. 

Great camping right in town

Pros:

\- great location for exploring Denver

\- beautiful sunset 

  

Cons:

\- SO MANY FOXTAILS which can be deadly to dogs, and my site was covered in them. They're also everywhere throughout the campground. So if you have dogs I would not use this more than a stopover to recharge.

\- Highway noise was very loud if outside rig 

  

Cell: you're in the middle of a city, both AT&amp;T and Verizon worked just fine

Beware of the foxtails

This was our first time staying at Bear Creek Lake. The park is not part of the Colorado Wilds or CPW State Park system, but daily vehicle fees are included with your camping reservation. Our towed vehicle was included when we checked in at the ranger station.

  

The campground is at the back of the park, roughly 2 miles from the entrance. There is a lot of bike traffic and windy roads. Sites are mostly level, electric only, and relatively close together. We stayed in Site 41 which was walking distance to the pit toilets and water spigot. We had no trouble fitting our 29' Class C, tow dolly, and towed vehicle. 

  

We filled our 7 gallon water jugs at the spigot to top off our fresh water tank. The spigot is the terrible skinny faucet that is not threaded as to dissuade RVers from connecting a fill hose to it. If you want to fill water jugs like we did, bring a short (&lt;6') hose and a water bandit so that you don't waste water.

  

Pit toilets and flush bathrooms were clean and well maintained. The bath house at the center of the campground features coin operated hot showers, $2 for 10 minutes. The water temperature was very hot, but manageable. A great convenience since there are no sewer hookups at the sites.

  

This is a great place to camp if you want to explore Morrison, Golden, or catch a show at Red Rocks. The main park entrance closes at 9:30 and a back gate accessible from I-470 opens that allows access to the campground. We had no trouble getting an Uber to pick us up to go to Red Rocks, but had several driver cancellations trying to get back after a concert.

The perfect spot to camp to enjoy Red Rocks

Amazing views, friendly staff &amp; nice set up. Wish we could have stayed a little longer. But definitely helpful when passing through.