Oh Be Joyful Recreation Area

We arrived at 2:00 PM and there was one site left for first come first served. It was a quiet place with some wonderful walks. Several hunters camping here, so next time I’ll bring orange.

Beautiful setting, but very popular so you'll not have much solitude. The road coming of the main road is a bit rough and uneven. Low ground clearance vehicles can make it but go slow. I managed fine with my Honda Odyssey but you could see evidence on some of the rocks and boulders where some vehicles had  scraped bottom.  

Cattle roam freely as this is open range, so don't be surprised to find that you might be sharing your site with some livestock. Watch your step!

We stayed at site #1 for 2 nights at the start of off season Oct 1 - Oct 3. The site was right next to the river and you could hear the water running from our camper. The road was very muddy when we came in and a little rough. But we were able to get our 28’ camper down the road pretty easily. We did wake up to cows in our campsite the last morning. Kind of cute.. The fall leaves were beautiful and the campsite was complete with a great view of the snow-capped mountains and groves of aspens changing color. It took us about 10 minutes to get to downtown CB from the site. There was a trailhead pretty near the site (oh be joyful trail) which had beautiful fall scenery. Would definitely stay here again!

Walk in and hike in spots available close to trails. Walk in spots are not far at all from the cars. There’s a stream that runs alongside the campground you can jump in and rinse off if you’re bold enough. Super chill camp host. You can basically tent or cab camp at the parking lot above the grounds for free.

Great spot right on the Slate River. 5 miles from town for a daily excursion. Nice hikes and mtb. Best site close to town!!!

Oh Be Joyful is a nice campground with spectacular access to a meandering shallow creek great for very young kids (and others) and with instant access to the Oh Be Joyful hiking trails that lead up modestly for 0.5 miles to miles of more flat terrain and spectacular glaciated canyon views of beautiful peaks, aspen and conifer groves, mountain flowers, and a rushing creek with great waterfalls.  So, location (also within about 10 min of town center via a 2-wheel drive / bike friendly dirt road) is superb. The campground offers both decent to rather austere drive-in sites (some along creek) with bear boxes (only CG i know of in area with bear boxes) and tables / firepit (the basics). Some of the walk-in tent sites are pretty good but many are close to heavy foot traffic spots (but some appear to be creekside). (we did not explore all the sites.) There are some sites that rank among the lamest sites i have ever seen... i think walk-in site 6 (don't quote me) fits about 2 - 3 modest tents (no car) and is contiguous with a heavy-foot traffic (and even some vehicles) driveway. It's actually shocking that they call it a campsite ... it's gravel is not even river (smoothened) gravel... it's super lame. But, that one (maybe more?) site aside, the CG is good enough (but does not invite first-come first-serve influx... but rather requires reservations.gov in advance) but it's location is excellent.  (The driveway to get from slate river road down to site is a bit rough for 2-wheel drive (doable but rough).)  I think the price (summer 2021) was $10/night.  Honestly, if you are looking for a more mellow (free) site, or don't have reservations, go one mile up the road to the CG called Musician's Camp (not yet listed on dyrt) which has sites 14 - 17... which are really nice tent spots.

We stayed the night of Sunday 5/30. We had a wonderful experience staying here. The view was amazing. There were lots of nature trails to take as well. The cow poop added character to these trails :). We also really enjoyed fishing in the river and examining the amazing smooth rocks that were all over the place. We weren't too near anyone else so it was a nice and quiet stay. There was a bear box to put all of our food in at night which was nice for peace of mind. We also saw a white tailed deer at our site within moments of arriving :). 10/10 experience!

We did not get much, if any, cell phone reception here. So keep that in mind.

I can't on and off at this site. Periodically for over 10 years one of the best places in the United States.

Drove out with some friends from Kansas in early October this year and the views and weather was Amazing! Campsite has “fees” through an honor system so you no host to worry about you come and camp as you go here. Place has fire pits bathrooms! One of my favorite spots to camp in Colorado so far.

Small campground and the spots are close together. But, hey, you are along the river and just minutes to town. Well worth it.

Leave no trace.

This place is one ofcmy, favorite spots I've camped at. There road down to the river is a bit rough, but if you're careful you can make it. There are camp sites on the other side of the river so if you go late in the season you can drive across, otherwise you'll need high clearance to get you to the other side. You'll be in the woods along the river, plenty of cover however there were lots of mosquitoes. Take bug spray. Plenty of hiking and biking all over the place. There is a bathroom near the entrance, but you're better off digging a hole. I'd come here more if it wasn't so far from Denver.

great campground close to hiking, biking, etc. Clean, fairly quiet if no rv with generators

We arrived late in the evening, & chose site 2 near the camp host & pit toilet. This campground is heavily treed, so there's plenty of shade. The Slate River is great for soaking trail-weary feet after a long hike back from Blue Lake & the passes!

(I'd like to add photos below, but that feature doesn't seem to work with my cell phone?)

we loved it! other than the Neighbors being so close by it was amazing. we had really close water access.we stayed at #11 so cool I think it had the best amount of tree shade available and cuz we were so close to the Stream the dogs had a blast we even went fishing and found a honey hole I caught 9 fish in an hour. it was cool to watch all the cars drive-thru the stream Crossing access to the other side where there were more campsites. it really was so much fun it was super easy to walk down and Upstream with the dogs and they had plenty of places to stop and have some safe swimming without being pulled up or Downstream.

great area to camp if your planning to hike into the oh be joyful basin, the hike is awesome! also not too far from town. you wIll need high clearance vehIcle to cross Slate river.

This campground is in the middle of one of the prettiest places in Colorado. Crested Butte is an amazing place to begin with but this campground makes it even better. Most sites are next to the creek or at least close enough to hear the peaceful flow of water. Some sites require fording creek so make sure to bring a 4WD or AWD in case the water is high. Additionally some sites may require you to park 50-100 yards away. First come first served, 5-10$ a site. I will be going back again this summer!

We visited this campground for Labor Day. First come first serve spots, only a restroom before the river crossing. There are two areas of the campground, before and after the river. The river was easily passable during this time of year with a higher clearance vehicle. I personally think crossing the river has the best and most quiet spots. There are a lot more spots than what meet the eye, be sure to explore before you set up camp! This camp can get very crowded, so I have heard they will start a pay system for next summer, either way this campground has great access to bikes trails and hiking trails and listen to the calming sound of the Slate river in any spot in this campground. Can't wait to go back!

This campground is absolutely incredible. With sites right next to the Slate River, the views are amazing. To get to the campground you head out of Crested Butte and down a minimally maintained road, down to the valley.

This is a small campground along the Slate River outside of Crested Butte, CO. There are bathrooms and tent sites. No utilities. Abundant hiking, fishing and mountain biking opportunities.