Lakeview Campground, with wonderful views of the Twin Lakes Reservoir, offers a large space with options for tent, RV and group camping. Located about 29 miles north of Buena Vista, Colorado, the campground attracts plenty of hikers looking to explore nearby nature and backpacking trails in the Mount Massive Wilderness. Boating and fishing enthusiasts spend their days at the Twin Lakes Reservoir and Mt. Elbert Forebay.
Recreation
The Continental Divide Trail, which runs from Canada to Mexico, is a non-motorized trail that passes Lakeview Campground. Mountain bikes are allowed in the section from Halfmoon Road south to Twin Lakes. Approximately 300 miles of the trail goes through Colorado.
South of the campground lies Twin Lakes, Colorado's largest natural glacier lakes. Sailing and water skiing are among the popular activities here. Fishing includes lake, rainbow and mackinaw trout.
Facilities
Campsites have limited understory, but most are widely separated from other sites. Amenities include vault toilets, drinking water, picnic tables, campfire rings and pedestal grills. Firewood may be purchased onsite.
Natural Features
Lakeview is situated in a ponderosa pine and sage habitat at an elevation of 9,500 feet. The site is between Mt. Elbert Forebay and Twin Lakes. The Twin Lakes Reservoir spans 2,805 acres and Mount Elbert stands tall at 14,433 feet. To the north is the Mount Massive Wilderness area, 30,540 acres encompassing Mount Massive, Colorado’s second highest peak at 14,421 feet. To the south is the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness with 8 peaks over 14,000 ft high. Much of the wilderness is above timberline with many alpine plant communities and permanent snowfields.
Nearby Attractions
The Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway leads to Independence Pass, one of the highest paved passes in Colorado. The historic mining town, Leadville, is a half hour away.
ADA Access: N
This is a basic Forest Service campground, but it's good one with lots of space at the sites and ample room to drive in and out. Access to the South Mt. Elbert Trailhead is a short walk, and it's a short drive to swim in Twin Lakes, drive up Independence Pass, or fish in the Arkansas headwaters. Only 10 minutes to Leadville, as well.
The pit toilets were clean and there's water spigots throughout the campground so you don't have to walk far for dish water or drinking water. Firewood bundles were available at the campground manager's trailer for $5.
It's not luxury camping, but it's pretty darn good.
Drove in on a Saturday afternoon in June without a reservation thinking we had a slim chance of getting a site. Luckily this is a large campground with three (I think) loops of first-come, first-serve sites. Plenty of sites to choose from. Some not great for tents, but we happened to come upon a site with one of the best views of any campsite I’ve ever stayed at. Amazing!
Credit cards are not accepted at the campground, so if you don’t have a reservation, be sure to bring cash.
Sitting above Twin Lakes Reservoir is Lakeview Campground. There are several loops of camping, with no real separation between RV and tent camping. We got here late in the afternoon after checking a few other campgrounds and not finding any sites and were lucky to get one of the last two sites available. The camp host was friendly, but not much help in deciding between a slightly sloped site and a site lower down that might be breezy. We rolled the dice and took the lower site (loop E I think) and lucked out when the wind died down with the setting sun. There are no showers but fairly clean vault toilets and lots of access to water pumps. And of course, the usual picnic table, fire pit, and a nice addition of standing grills. There was plenty of dead sage and some downed limbs to gather for our campfire. There wasn’t much privacy from other sites as there really isn’t any underbrush and no real trees. Which means nowhere to hang the hammock in our site (it looked like some other sites had a couple nice trees for hammocking, but not all sites were so lucky). The Continental Divide Trail goes right through the middle of the campground, so you have access to great hiking. There is also a nice trail that goes partly around the reservoir; or at least I thought it was a trail until it petered out into nothing, not even a game trail. The campground is close to Mount Massive Wilderness, Leadville, and Independence Pass, so lots of hiking and sightseeing nearby.
This is a large campground, however given its proximity to so many great outdoor adventures and beautiful views, it was full by Friday afternoon. Your neighbors are close but there's cover to keep things semi-private. We enjoyed a primitive site, large enough for two tents, for three days. The drinking water was safe and the out house was clean. I would absolutely stay here again.
Finally checked out this campground and will definitely return. The campground’s location on the hillside allows for an excellent view of Twin Lakes and the surrounding mountains. Also close to the South Mt Elbert and Colorado Trail for easy hiking. Basic amenities (toilets, drinking water, trash, etc.) and no showers.
One of my favorite campsites! We pulled in late night and were able to find a site(it was a thursday). The self pay system was easy and convenient. the campsite was small but nice with a great picnic table and fire ring. The current fire ban in that area meant no campfire, but the stars were amazing. You have a great view of Mt elbert and the twin lakes. There are also hiking trails down to the lake and vault toilets dispersed throughout the campground.
very remote! high altitude. no showers, so come prepared. the camp manager is very helpful and gave us great tips for the mountain hike. it is some distance from the trailhead (although there is a trail from the campsite to the trailhead if you want to add another 8+ mi to your hike). very shady campside, which was nice and cool. stunning view of the Twin lakes Reservoir.
I only stayed for a couple of nights, so that me and a couple of buddies could climb Elbert. The camp was absolutly beautiful, and a perfect place to relax after a long day. The South trailhead for Mt. Elbert is less than a minute drive down the road, and is a beautiful path to take up the mountian. Would recommend!!!!
We stayed here for a little summer vacation and used a tent. I looked for a site with great views and found Sites B4 and B1 with prime views of Twin Lakes. The facilities were just what we needed, no showers, but we made due with a water pump nearby and vault toilets very close. The location was great and central to many great hikes. I appreciated the view and not many sites have as great a view as the two we stayed at! A definite return sometime!