## Overview

 Jacks Gulch Recreation Area is located 48 miles northwest of Fort Collins, in northern Colorado. Visitors enjoy the area for its great hiking, biking and horseback riding opportunities.
## Recreation

 Popular activities include hiking, biking, horseback riding, birding and viewing wildlife. A nature trail circles the entire area of Jacks Gulch, with one section providing stunning views of the Mummy Range.
## Facilities

 The campground offers an accessible group site with electric hookups, and five equestrian campsites without hookups. Additional single-family campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The group site accommodates up to 60 people, several cars and up to nine RVs with hookups. Ten 14-by-17 tent pads are scattered throughout the site. A picnic shelter is provided. Two central cooking and picnic areas are on-site, each with four picnic tables, a charcoal grill and campfire ring. The two equestrian sites have four horse stalls each. Picnic tables, campfire rings and tent pads are provided. Each site can accommodate a horse trailer. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided. Firewood, dead and down, may be gathered in the forest or purchased from the host.
## Natural Features

 The campground is situated in a ponderosa pine forest, dotted with aspens. Grassy meadows are scattered throughout the area. 
## contact\_info

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

Jacks Gulch - **CLOSED FOR SEASON**

We camped at Jack's Gulch primarily because we wanted a campfire, and it was one of the few places not currently under a fire ban in the state. It is a forest service campground in the Roosevelt National Forest. Vault toilets only. Well off the beaten path. We were afraid of it being full, so we arrived around 930am on a Saturday, there were plenty of spots to choose from, and several still available by the end of the day. It's a quiet, tucked away campground several miles down a gravel road. It was so quiet and beautiful. There were several trails easily accessible from the campgrounds. We chose a campsite closer to the toilet for easy access, but did not notice a smell at all. Our non-electric site was $22 for one night. Maybe we should keep this hidden gem a secret? 😉

Hidden gem!

After driving for nearly 4hrs to find a spot in any of the first come first serve camp grounds up Poudre Canyon we started to head home only to pull into Pingree Park for one last cry for help... we stumbled upon Jack’s Gulch, a little hidden gem, tucked inside a cute mountain trek to the CSU campus at Pingree Park. It didn’t have any “water features” like a stream or a river but it was a quick car ride to find that. The spots were clean, noise was minimal, and there were bathrooms if you needed them. A lot of options as far as camping goes - electrical sites, walk up sites, equestrian sites, and mixed use (what I like to call a mixture of tent and RV). There were also trails all around the campsite that were accessible for bikes, or hiking. It was definitely a Father’s Day to remember. Oh yea, some coyotes at night definitely woke us up! I don’t believe they made it to the campsite but they were close 😳

Saving grace

These are nice dispersed spots that are off the 63E. Any vehicle can make it on 63E, like others though, if you trace off the main road it gets sketchy. You will need 4x4 and higher clearance. But, that’s where the best spots are. Find these gems along the road, first come first serve, summers are busy!