Gore Creek Campground

We planned a last minute trip from Denver and wanted to find a bookable campground so we had a guaranteed site (we couldn’t arrive until Saturday evening). Unsurprisingly, all campgrounds in the area were booked solid.

This is when a Dyrt Alert saved the day. They gave me a heads up 2 days prior that a site was open. 5 minutes and a $36 site fee later, we had a site for our trip. Which turned out to be an amazing location! The raging creek next to us was a great addition to an otherwise standard site

Great little camp. Around 20 spots I believe. We picked one of the last non reserved spots and dropped $28 in the box. Good privacy, very clean bathrooms, picnic table and fire ring. Groundskeeper/host was awesome. Fantastic spot

Lovely campground with gorgeous views! The path to the campsites in the loop we stayed was short but steep so beware if you have breathing conditions or heavy gear. Hands down the cleanest vault toilets I’ve ever seen. No odor at all! There is no water, so plan for that. And use. The. Bear boxes!

Second time camping here, and it just keeps getting better. Great trail access, 10 minutes to Vail Village, and 30 minutes to Frisco/Dillon. If you’re looking for no frills camping in a gorgeous location, Gore Creek is for you.

This campground is located on Gore Creek. The surrounding area is beautiful. It's appropriately 10 minutes from Vail and quite. The bathrooms are vaulted toilets and the roads are all dirt. I would not attempt this campground in a rig over 35 feet as it becomes very tight in and out. Being situated on Gore Creek the sounds of the dancing waters are right with you. There are several hiking paths throughout the campground. There is no electricity, dump or water available here so make sure you have plenty before you get in. There is firewood for sale at the camp host site. There are fire rings, picnic tables and bear proff lockers at each site. Nice place to re focus. Verizon worked well. Have fun and safe travels.

We did a bike ride through Vail to West Vail. Beautiful but uphill on way back. Also can bike Vail Pass from campsite. Our campsite was across from the restroom and next to Gore Creek which was beautiful. Campsite to close October 3rd. We did get some cell service through our cell boast on our Verizon network.

Great campground. Campsites spaced apart. If you can reserve site 10 to 13. They are on the Creek. Only a few miles from downtown Vail. CO. Camphost was friendly  and helpful. Firewood on site. If you have the forest feeling this is the campsite for you.

Gore Creek Campground is a true gem of the National Forest Service. If you are looking for a great boondocking location that is close to great trails and breathtaking views, this just might be the place for you. The entrance to the campground is ~2 miles off of I-70 Exit 180 on Bighorn Road. Only 10 minutes from Vail Village and 25 minutes from Frisco.

We stayed in Site #8, which provided plenty of room for our 22’ travel trailer and pickup. The sites each have a large picnic table and fire ring.

Pit toilets are spread through the campground and were very clean and well maintained. The campground hosts do a great job of keeping everything tidy and looking great. They also have bundles of firewood for sale for $7 at their site just inside the entrance to the campground.

I can’t say enough about this place. It’s probably my favorite spot to camp in Colorado. I almost didn’t post this review for fear of the secret getting out.

Well maintained and comfortable spot. Only downside is sound off of interstate. Otherwise it was perfect!

We loved staying here! You could hear the river from our site (site 14) it was very spacious, plenty of trees for hammock camping. The views are awesome, we enjoyed just walking around the little trails around camp. The bathrooms are pit toilets but kept clean. No complaints here!

Took my girlfriend here for her 23rd birthday and we were absolutely stunned. The campsites are spaced far enough apart that you can’t see or hear your neighbors, firepits with grates and bathrooms was a pleasant surprise! It was, as she called it “absolute bliss”. Highly, highly recommend and the campsite hosts are wonderful people! Super nice and helpful.

Stayed at the tent camp site. Very nice. Close to the bike trail which was nice, rode up to vail pass. Beautiful. There is some noise from the freeway but if you are closer to the river it shouldn't be too bad. The tent sites are hike in but it is not far to walk.

I loved camping here. Some of the campsites require a short walk. We camped with two of our children. Our site was more secluded then other sites. I noticed that some of the sites required walking up a steep hill.

I loved that we could hear the roar of the river nearby. Added to a restful sleep. The toilets were very clean. No showers. There are bear boxes at every site. Everyone seemed friendly. I will definitely be back.

Great campground about 10 minutes from Vail. Close to I-70 but you can faintly hear the cars so its not very noisy. The grounds have about 25 sites, ranging from small to large and some are walk in only. The majority of them have a large enough drive ways to fit a couple cars or a longer RV. There are fire rings and Picnic tables are at every spot. The campground host hangout in an RV upon entering the campgrounds, you can pay & reserve spots with them, as well as purchase bundles of wood. Vault toilets are located in a few spots around the campgrounds.

In the immediate area there is great hiking on the Gore Creek Trail and Deluge Lake Trail. Both ending at high alpine lakes but can be difficult hikes. The Gore Creek Trail is relatively easy until it turns towards the lake, making this a great trail to take a short hike. The Deluge Lake Trail is one of the hardest trails in the Vail Area.

The Vail Pass bike path runs next to the campgrounds and is the most popular and difficult road biking path in the Valley. This can also be used as a spot to take a walk or a run, be careful of up and down hill bikers. Gore Creek, which runs though the campgrounds and up into West Vail is home to gold medal waters and some of the best small creek Fly Fishing in Colorado.

These sites do not fill up quickly but advanced reservations can be made and should be during Vail's High season (June - August). Overall this is a great spot if you are passing through or are looking for a quick getaway.

We stayed at the Gore Creek Campground last summer 2017 on a drive from Southern California to Denver, CO. We took highway 15 through Nevada and Utah, and connected to Highway 70 in Utah to Colorado. To budget this trip, we tried to camp most of the way out and back to California - we saved our Airbnb rentals for Denver, where I️ was competing in Pole Theatre USA, an international pole dancing competition. We wanted to find a spot to camp for the night that was close to highway 70 and not toooooo far outside of Denver - Gore Creek Campground was the spot. It’s about 10-15 minutes outside of Vail, and about and hour and a half outside of Denver.

Campsites at Gore Creek are reservable ahead of time on recreation.org - we planned this trip about 6 months in advanced so had no problem reserving a site for one night on a weeknight. This campground is fairly small, however, with fewer than 30 sites, so I️ imagine it fills up quickly during the peak summer months. There are mostly drive-in sites in this campground, but there were some neat walk-in sites in a loop beyond the drive-in sites.

Gore Creek is a beautiful wooded campground that sits next to Gore Creek. There are a few ‘riverside sites’ in the campground, that were 60 yards or so from the creek. We had our pick of the sites that many months in advanced, so we chose site 9 as it appeared to be well secluded and close to the river - both were true! The area is densely wooded, so the sites have a lot of privacy, and the sound of the river is relaxing and peaceful at night, and drowned out most of the noise pollution from the nearby highway.

Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. The camp hosts were extremely kind and welcoming, and kept the grounds and the vault toilets very clean. There is NO WATER available at Gore Creek, so make sure to bring in plenty of water for cooking, washing, and drinking.

WARNING: You ARE in bear country - be bear smart and safe and use your bear box! We had our own bear box in our campsite - I believe each site has its own food locker. Try to lock all of your food and toiletries inside the food locker - they are large, and we have always been able to fit our big cooler into locker. If you do have to leave a cooler in the car, I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows - he suggested putting put a towel and gear over your coolers when keeping them in the car overnight in bear territory.

There is a lot of beautiful hiking trails in the Vail - Gore Creek area. We did not have much time to explore as I️ had an appointment in Denver in the afternoon, but the area is absolutely gorgeous.

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $25/night

Plumbed Toilets: NO - vault

Water: NO

Showers: NO

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grate: Yes

Shade: Yes

Cell Service: Yes

Trash: Yes

Animal Bins/Food Lockers: YES

We stayed at Gore Creek for only one night, but we were very impressed! It only takes 10 minutes from downtown Vail, but the campground feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. Lots of trees, and the sites are fairly private. Each site had a bear locker, fire pit, picnic table, and long parking spot (30+ ft). Gore Creek runs right next to the sites on the left side of the campground. I would recommend trying to get one of those because the sound of the river drowns out the road noise that you can hear in the distance. The bathrooms were amazingly clean so that was a very nice surprise. I would definitely stay here again if we were in the Vail area.

When we arrived at Gore Creek Campground all the spots were full due to the GoPro Mountain games in vail. We decided to go around the corner and hike up Gore Creek trail a bit and do dispersed camping. There were a few spots about a 1/4 mile up the trail that was taken already, but we were able to go up a little further and find a relatively flat spot. Got up in the morning, drove over and hiked Big Horn trail up to the cabin on top (BEAUTIFUL HIKE)!

A great location right by Vail, Gore Creek Campground has a great setup - private, clearly defined campsites, fire pits, picnic tables, and bathrooms. No running water though so stop by the Safeway in West Vail and pick up a couple gallons. Great place to camp, felt safe and comfortable. Only downside for me is the consistent hum of the highway not far away.

Campsite campsite 9 10 11 and 8 are good there's a little bit of road noise if your towards the entrance but the Aspens and the Ponderosa Pines are well worth the view hiking trails great place we stayed in August

We love the creek the dogs loved it beautiful place good camping. There was lots of room for the dogs the campsite was also very easy to back into it was well maintenanced clean. And lots of trees I was able to hang my hammock for beautiful resting view of the trees!

this camp ground is located just a few short miles east of Vail village, which is loaded with activities. 2 miles west there is a great river entry in the spring. Lots of hiking and biking trails located close by. And Vail pass for hiking and biking.