## Overview

 Big Meadows is located in the San Juan Mountains in south-central Colorado, about 11 miles west of South Fork. The campground is lightly wooded with spruce trees, creating a beautiful meadow atmosphere. The Rio Grande National Forest spans 1.86 million acres in south-central Colorado. The Continental Divide runs for 236 miles along most of the forest\'s western border, presenting a myriad of ecosystems from alpine desert to dense wilderness.
## Recreation

 An accessible fishing pier, located on the north shore of the reservoir, allows anglers to cast for rainbow, brown and brook trout. Hunting, boating and hiking are also popular pastimes. Hikers and horseback riders will enjoy the 6-mile Archuleta Trail. The trail accesses the Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado\'s largest wilderness, which boasts the headwaters of dozens of major streams and rivers that feed into the Rio Grande and San Juan rivers.
## Facilities

 Each site has a campfire ring and picnic tables. Drinking water is available. The nearest dump station is 13 miles away, and a boat ramp is located on the north shore of the reservoir.
## Natural Features

 The campground meanders up a mountainside above Big Meadows Reservoir in a series of loops. As a sub-alpine region, the campground gets more rainfall than the opposite side of the lake, resulting in plentiful wildflowers and aspens surrounding the campsites. 
## contact\_info

 For facility specific information, please call (805) 434-1996. 
## Nearby Attractions

 The surrounding area has plenty to keep visitors busy, with attractions like Great Sand Dunes National Park, Native American ruins, remnants of the Spanish Conquistadors and gold rush ghost towns. The Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Ranges are laced with trails for avid hikers.

Big Meadows Reservoir Campground (south Central Co)

Great campground all around. The Reservoir has some of the best fishing we have found.  We caught our bag limit every time we fished.  The campground is nicely treed and the spaces are more private than most. The vault toilets are the cleanest and nicest I have ever seen! Be advised that if you are in an RV, you must bring your own water.  There are no water hook ups,  only to fill containers.  There is trash service, but no electric or dump station. There is a really nice trail around the lake. 

Hidden Gem 

National campground with spectacular views of mountains and lake. Some secluded campsites but most have a view of the lake. Most of the Pine trees were hit with the Pine beetle, some still remain along with all the Aspen trees, even with some Pine trees lost this place is Beautiful!

Remote feel with beautiful scenery 

Views of the reservoir are so beautiful!  We stayed on site #8.  Nice size, slight views of the water, it was nice!  The fishing was great, the hiking was nice, the bathroom is impecable!  Kudos to the hosts!!!!  We will be back in August.  

Beautiful site 

Loved it so much the first time that we came back!  For the best views, make sure to book in the lower loop.  We stayed in site 11.  Not the best views of the reservoir but decent.  You can hear the waterfall.  Campground sites at close to 10k feet in elevation.  Keep that in mind.  We enjoyed a great little hike around the reservoir plus amazing fly fishing the next morning.  Can’t wait to get back!

We went back!

Great views of the water.  Sites are nicely distanced.  It was cold and windy during our stay but the scenery made up for it.  Campground is nicely taken care of and the host was helpful.  Can’t wait to come back!

Happy to be back here!

I couldn't ask for a better place to go visit! Right off the bat, the scenery is phenomenal. It's everything we wanted in a Colorado vacation. The mountains were spectacular. The water was cold and clear. It was perfect. To start, we stayed in site 38. It's pretty far back off the water, but it feels so cozy and private. It's a level site that works for a shorter trailer or popup. It's close to the drinking water and bathrooms. 

Let's talk bathrooms for a second. I was nervous having never used a vault toilet. The camp host does an excellent job of cleaning! I was pleasantly surprised. There was air freshener so it wasn't smelly at all. 

As far as activities go, there's a short hike to a waterfall that's easily accessible to the base. If you're feeling adventurous, it's fairly easy to climb up to the top. So fun! My 8 year old LOVED this and begged to go back. There's also a two mile trail around the the reservoir. We didn't walk the trail because we ran out of time, but our campground neighbors did, and they enjoyed the views. As well, on a clear night, you can see so many stars. It was cold at night, but well worth bundling up to watch the sunset and check out the night sky. Star gazers, this will be right up your alley. 

If you're looking for additional activities in the area, we visited Treasure Falls and Lobo Overlook. Both were a short drive, and easily done with kids. 

Overall, this was such a great trip. 

(For interested parties, there was limited cell service with AT&amp;T and T-Mobile)

Fantastic vacation

This camp ground is fantastic! The camp hosts were extremely friendly 2021 is their first year here and everything is extremely well maintained, the pit toilets even smell like apple Haha. Make sure to show your America the beautiful pass or senior pass for half off sites. Large lake in view of most all camp sites. Be sure to take the trail to cascade falls near the back of the camp site. Would camp here again! 

Relaxing spot with lake and waterfall access 

 Let me start by saying we are tent campers. We stopped at Big Meadows in hopes of doing some fishing w our 13 and 4 yr old. The campground was a bit off the highway and we saw countless waterfalls along the way to the campground entrance  Immediately upon getting to our site my heart sank because I realized our site didn't have a tent pad. I think I was so excited to find a site close to the water that I missed that. We were able to make due, but I DONT recommend this site for a tent. Its a shorter, back in site with a little path down to a bridge. Gorgeous view. Upon walking around, I saw numerous sites, including site #5 that had a tent pad, that would be much more preferable if youre a tent camper. Now, the most impressive part of this campground is its bathroom on the lower level loop.  Although a pit toilet, its should win an award because of its cleanliness. 
Firewood is 10$ a bundle here. 
Several people fishing. Friendly hosts drove by a couple of times. 