Rainbow Lakes Campground

Great campground, but here in early August you will be lucky to get a site.  Camp host Omira was so helpful - she let me boondock in a parking area for a night, and helped me get in the next morning.  Once you get a site though you will be very happy with this campground.  Nice level sites, no trash, beautiful surroundings and great hiking trails.

This place is amazing! Small campground, and you cannot make a reservation, but if you can get in, it’s incredible. Some sites are right on the creek. Play, a short hike to the lake makes this place really stand out.

I stay 7/3-7/4. Yes I know it’s the forth of July and campsites are always busy.

7/3 started off amazing! I had to wait for a camp spot, but was lucky enough that someone was leaving. Hiked up to Rainbow lake with my pup!

The night of 7/3 a person in a tent was snoring like a bear and people were pretty loud.

7/4 was a complete disaster. People were knocking on my camper asking when I was going to leave, the park volunteer was watching me pack up my stuff which was uncomfortable, people were waiting IN my camp ground as I was leaving.

Do yourself a favor and never go when it’s busy… bring $5 for a night of camping and “check in” with the volunteer that runs the camp ground. Check out is 1 pm the next day.

Doesn’t really feel like camping at all when you’re constantly being monitored/bothered.

This is one of the nicest campgrounds I have stayed at in a long time. The campsites are spread out with tons of tree coverage. There are so many beautiful sites to choose from, sites that backup into the forest and sites that backup to a river. I arrived on a Wednesday late afternoon and I was fortunate enough to have found a great spot. The camp host, who was fantastic, says they tend to fill up quickly though. The host had firewood for sale and some water in gallon jugs but I was glad I brought brought water with me. Nice bathrooms on site. Mostly tent camping, the only camper I saw was a pop out, no electricity at this campground. You can jump onto the trail to Rainbow Lakes from the campground which is about about a 30 to 45 minute walk. The dirt road leading to the campground was no problem for my Kia Sportage. I went slow when I needed to and had no issues at all. This is definitely going to be a campground I visit every summer moving forward.

The road in is very bumpy, but my Chrysler Pacifica with low clearance did fine. Just take it slow at times. Great sites each has a fire pit, picnic table and Bear locker. Pit toilets were very clean. The host at the time was very welcoming and nice. Great stay for only $19 a night. T mobile service is extremely spotty and basically non existant. Enjoy!

After getting coffee downtown Netherland, it only took us about 30 min to get to the campground where we were met with a very friendly campground host that answered all our questions and more. We had the last campsite at the end near the hiking trail, and although the campground was full of campers we felt that we had a lot of privacy with the dense forest surrounding us. We hiked up to the Rainbow Lakes hoping to catch some trout and although we headed back to camp empty handed, it was well worth the beautiful scenery.

Rainbow Lakes is a very well kept campground nestled in the hills just a short drive outside of Nederland, CO. The pictures posted on here absolutely do not do it justice, the dense forest and babbling brook offer the perfect camping ambiance. The consensus of our group was that the campground had the best kept vaulted toilets we’ve ever experienced in our lives! The campground host was friendly, helpful, accommodating, and you can tell he really cares about your stay being as you expect it to be. It rained essentially the whole time we were there (which we were prepared for), but we’ll absolutely be returning in better weather. Also, I echo the other reviews regarding needing a high clearance vehicle to arrive safely to your site. There was a car (low sitting sedan) that was being towed out upon our arrival, they had apparently busted their oil pan on a jagged rock. Don’t be like that poor sedan.

I’m mainly writing this to tell others there is NO LONGER dispersed camping along the service road in 2021. The campground is so lovely and the camp host is very friendly and helpful. We arrived Fri at 4pm, all spots were filled as of 10am and the host told us ideally to arrive in Thurs morning if you want to guarantee a spot! We knew there was dispersed camping along the road and that was our back-up plan. But it’s no longer. If you can get there early enough Rainbow Lakes CG looks incredible. Just a bummer spontaneous CO camp weekends seem no longer possible with all the people!

The long gravel road in is very rough with potholes to say the least but worth the drive in . At the end of the road is the campground which is very nice but we didn’t stay there due to being full . Along the road leading up to the campground are some spots off to the side in the woods that are great as well with more privacy than the campground and are FREE .

Well worth the 5 mile service road bumpy drive.  HIGHLY encourage you to have a high clearance SUV on this road.  The camp sites are all really clean and orderly.  The host does a good job with up keep.

Heads up that the trail to the lakes is currently closed as of this review.  Take the Arapahoe Glacier Trail though, you will not be disappointed!

It's a great campground and there is plenty of beautiful dispersed camping a short drive (or walk) down the road, so you're guaranteed to get a spot!

Definitely worth checking out for the stunning views. It can be a bit tough to find a spot to pull over and park as it's a narrow dirt road into Rainbow Lakes. It's also definitely a super bumpy ride in so brace yourselves. If you want more luxurious camping you can rent out a campground at the very end and have access to water and restrooms. Definitely very family friendly when you pay for camping. Otherwise the free camping is great so long as you can find a spot to park and don't mind hauling your gear.

We really enjoyed this free camp site. There is paid camping at the end of the road but we chose to camp on the free sites before hand. No facilities just how we like it. Absolutely beautiful hiking in the area and also hot springs near by. Love this area of colorado. very cold at the end of september.

This is a pretty short drive from Boulder (or Denver) but since you can’t make reservations at this small site (15-20 sites), so plan to get there as soon as you can after it opens. The site is lovely and right along lakes with snow-capped peaks in the distance. A friend said she saw moose and beavers in this lake but I’ve only ever seen deer. There are vault toilets but no water so bring some and/or treatment methods.

We happened to come across Rainbow lakes campground in a google search of nearby campgrounds. Upon arriving during the middle of the week in the first week of July we found it to be completely empty and super clean. We met the camp host, Rick, and he introduced us to the area by explaining the trails and where to go for what purpose. He was incredibly helpful and the site was stunning. He even gave us free firewood in return for helping him with keeping the dumpster area clean. The lakes next to the campground are beautiful and the train is easy to follow. Lots of wildlife and beautiful flowers. He even came around to the Free sites and helped us put out the fires when there was a fire ban.