Juniper Breaks Campground — Lake Pueblo State Park

Pueblo State Park is so underrated. We booked with on a few weeks notice so worried about how good the park and our spot would be. We weren’t really close to the water and Pueblo isn't known for having much tree coverage. But to our surprise, our spot was wonderful and we really enjoyed the park. 

**camping hack: pull up google maps and check out your spot from an overhead view to make sure the site orientation works with your set-up. Pictures don’t always do it justice.  The majority of sites at Juniper Breaks have the picnic table and fire ring on the drivers side of your vehicle (if you back in). We have young kids so wanted to be able to see the door of our camper if the kids came out after bedtime while the parents were still up. 

Our site was in great shape and was really level which made setting up our old pop-up camper a breeze. The bathrooms were as great as vault toilets can be and there were water pumps by all of the bathrooms. The rangers were really helpful even though we got threatened with a ticket for parking on the gravel at our site. There’s lots of extra parking by the bathrooms for day visitors too. 

We took our kids (2, 5, & 7) to the junior ranger class they host at the visitor center almost every Saturday. They learned about boat safety and got free sunglasses and emergency whistles. My 7 year old niece finished her ranger booklet and got a junior ranger badge, which she loved. 

We spent some time fishing but didn’t catch anything but our site we hiked to was secluded and nice. The lake is so big, there are plenty of spots to hide out and fish at. There is also a swim beach nearby...it was too cold when we were there to justify swimming.

This is a great smaller campground in the Lake Pueblo State Park. Lots of juniper trees and a natural like setting around the sites. Didnt seem to have as many camp sites either, which is nice for some of us folks. Dont think there was water in any sites, and there was no water in the bathrooms and no shower. There is a drinking water spigot near the bathrooms. For the price, $22 a night, and having to use the other campgrounds shower facilities, plus no running water in bathrooms, it seemed a bit steep per night. The lake shore was a short distance from our camp, but for some camps you would need to go through other sites to get to the lake. Or use the day use and fishing access areas. Cliffs and drop offs are surrounding the lake, so caution and look for paths to be able to get to the shoreline. The firepit has the grill attached, so if planning to use charcoal plan accordingly, it is far away from the bottom of the pit to the grill. Fairly hard to cook on. Had to pile charcoal on wood coals, and still were too far from grill. Very popular on weekends and holidays. Every site was taken but then almost completely cleared out on Tuesday. Again weather was not all sunshine and rainbows, but the cover, trees, and topography of camp helped keep the wind at a more tolerable levels for us. Great spot, views, really liked our site!

This was the first place my husband and I (and our dog!) went camping in our adult lives. We decided to try a site that we could reserve first before diving into dispersed camping, and since we'd been hiking here the week prior, we thought we'd give it a shot. Reserving our spot online was super easy, and I REALLY liked the little map that allowed you to see which campsites were already taken - we were able to choose one that was relatively secluded. You do need to reserve ahead of time, but there was a number you could call on our campsite post in the event that you drove up to one at the last minute in order to make your reservation. We did see a park ranger drive by at one point just to check on things.

Getting there was incredibly easy (note that if you don't have an annual CO state parks pass, you'll need to pay a fee for that at the gate in addition to reserving your spot). Lake Pueblo State Park in general is not well-shaded, and the campsites were no exception, but we knew that going in. Each site at Juniper Breaks has a fire ring, tent spot, and a picnic table-with shade over the table. The sites aren't super close together, you can see each other but I felt like we had privacy and everyone was polite and doing their own thing. It was a quick walk to the bathrooms, which were clean and stocked with toilet paper. There was also a water pump outside. The campsite is sort of close to a road so we could hear the cars going by at night occasionally (but as this was our first time camping, we didn't mind!!)

Juniper Breaks isn't right next to any trails, so you'll have to drive to access them if you hike or bike. Definitely worth it, there are some FANTASTIC and really cool trails here! There was a little parking lot in the campground that people with kayaks kept pulling up to, so I think there's a spot to launch your boat (but don't know any details about this).

All in all, we had a really nice, quiet time. A great first camping experience in a great park!