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Camping

Established Camping

Elk Ridge Campground — Ridgway State Park

27 Reviews

About

State Park

This is the most popular campground at Ridgway, located on the top of a mesa covered in Pinyon pine and juniper trees. Offering campsites 80-187, it is also part of the Dutch Charlie area of the park. RV campsites have electric hookups and shared water and there are 10 walk-in tent sites. The dump station is located down the hill at the entrance to the Dakota Terraces Campground.

All campgrounds offer: Restrooms; also, during the high season, showers, laundromat (coin operated), snack machines and a change machine in a Camper Services Building A playground Additional restrooms Hiking and biking trails

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Location

Elk Ridge Campground — Ridgway State Park is located in Colorado

Directions

Take U.S. 550 south of Montrose for 22 miles to the park entrance, on the right (west) side of the road. North of Ridgway on 550 4 miles to the park entrance, on the left (west) side of the road.

Address

28555 Highway 550
Ridgway, CO 81432

Coordinates

38.21971808 N
107.738415 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Good
Verizon
Good
AT&T
Available
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group
Yurts

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Reservable
Showers
Drinking Water
Electric Hookups
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump
Water Hookups
Pull-Through Sites
Big Rig Friendly

For information regarding reservations, contact this campground directly.

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Contact

General Info

Kelly H.

Legend

Reviewed Nov. 26, 2022

Great location and beautiful!

We tent camped here on an amazing tent deck. Our first experience with this! We love this part of Colorado. So many beautiful sites to see and things to do. We have family to visit here, as well.

Stayed here in the month of August when you have to watch for those pesky but awesome thunderstorms.

Well maintained campground with clean facilities. We'll definitely be back!

SiteTent site

Month of VisitSeptember

Lauren M.

Guide

Reviewed Nov. 3, 2022

Great stay with the best views!

I stayed in one of the walk in tent sites on the edge overlooking the lake. It was absolutely beautiful. The staff were very friendly and facilities were clean. I use Verizon and had full service available.

Site151 HA

Month of VisitOctober

(5) View All

Madison R.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 13, 2022

It was a good expierence!

My boyfriend and I Drove up from AZ and camped in our rooftop tent and it was more than enough room with our tent! They have a beautiful lookout to see the water but no campsites have a great view of the water from what we saw. The bathrooms were super clean and the showers are very warm! I'd stay again!

SiteSite 90

Month of VisitOctober

Tim C.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 23, 2022

Great Park

Very clean, paved sites, clean bathrooms and showers, hiking trails, tent pads. I can't think of anything more you could ask for.

Site97

Month of VisitSeptember

Jennifer D.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 5, 2022

Beautiful park w/cell tower

This park was beautiful. The elk ridge campground was beautiful with huge sites. Many of them pull through. Bathrooms are clean and free showers. A great park for kids. I loved the activities, Hikes, swimming and absolutely stunning views! There was just one thing, there is a giant cell tower right In the middle of the campground. For being a such a peaceful area, it was hard to not think about how our brains were being radiated with being right by you.

Site171

Month of VisitJuly

(5) View All

Chad S.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 2, 2022

Nice and close to everything

Stayed here with my son. He really liked the campground and park, and I enjoyed how close to everything it was?.

Site100

Month of VisitJuly

Donna H.

Ranger

Reviewed May. 19, 2022

Ridgway State Park Camping

We only stayed in the Elk Ridge loop for one night after a long drive from Mesa Verde. The park is nice and shady with deer walking around... not tame, but not completely freaked out by humans! Dusk walk was nice, and able to see through the trees from the higher sites to the reservoir and mountains! Cell tower right there and the bath-shower-laundry facility was very nice and clean! Price of $36 a night for just electric is a bit steep, but apparently everything is nowadays! Campsites are paved, with tent sites. Quiet this time of the year before the roar of summer travelers!!!

Site116

Month of VisitJune

(4) View All

Dennis C.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 27, 2021

Loved Ridgway State Parks

The staff was great . They had a water main break on a Sunday and repaired it overnight. The place is pretty.

Siteon the Ridge E 137

Month of VisitSeptember

Ronda C.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 27, 2021

Stop over camp

The campground landscape was sparse , the trees don’t provide much shade, however most sites are pull- through so it makes it easy in and out. The reservoir was looking parched and I did not recreate on the water as I had planned. We did not stay as long as we originally planned. It turned out to be a stop over for further adventures. The nice thing about the location is it’s proximity to Ouray, Telluride and gateway to the San Juan mountains.

Site61

Month of VisitSeptember

(4) View All

Kendall

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 17, 2021

Great views, hot sun

The campground was quite nice, with a lot of great amenities. Many camp hosts work there who sold firewood and ice. There was a visitor center, shower, and even laundry services. We only got there in the late evening and left early in the morning, as the temperature climbed quickly and there was little shade. There are plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy nature, so we didn't mind much.

SiteLoop D site 111

Month of VisitAugust

(6) View All

Luke L.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 9, 2021

Right on a huge reservoir. Beautiful views and clean showers!!

We stayed for 6 nights in thie State Park and were surprised by how close it was to Ridgway, Ouray, and Telluride. The campground is very clean and the sites are spacious. Folks were very quite and everyone was friendly. Definitely will go back!

Month of VisitJuly

(8) View All

Chris K.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 24, 2021

Exceeded expectations

We love state parks and have been to so many over the years. This campground really exceeded our expectations of a state park. First off the campground itself has all the amenities you can ask for, good Verizon service, nice bath showers, laundry facility, hiking trails, a swimming beach, boat ramp, fishing ponds, the hike and bike trail into downtown Ridgeway, playgrounds, picnics areas, and so much more! We stayed here for two weekend and we had so many activities to keep us busy. Elk ridge campground in my opinion is the best because it has the most tree cover. The other campgrounds offer electric, water, and even full sewer hookups but they are bare of trees and we like the privacy. There is a dump station very convenient as well for rvers. Will definitely be back again!

Site145

Month of VisitJuly

(5) View All

T and B C.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 9, 2021

It was ok

Staff at the little gift shop place were nice and informative. Camping was decent. The lake is SUPER low (one of the many that holds water for the farmers/ranchers but never fills up much from the lack of snow pack, and loses a lot of water). Disappointing as far as depth for boating. LONG walk down a STEEP hill to get to the beach and the water to fish.

Month of VisitNovember

Hunter N.

Scout

Reviewed May. 1, 2021

Beautiful Area, Very Compact

The park is gorgeous, the camp facilities are great. The main issue is proximity to other campers. the sites are stacked very close together, so expect crowds and noise.

Site149

Month of VisitJune

Kevin G.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 27, 2020

Great location up on the hill

We stayed here for a few nights on the weekend when we visited Ouray and Teluride. The campsite was nice and spread out, plenty of room between you and your neighbors. We were in site 123 which didn't have a great view, but plenty of space around and behind us to stretch out.

The sites don't have water hookups at each site, but some sites have the water hookup right next to them. I highly recommend googling the map of the campsite to see which sites have the water supply next to them (noted by a * in the version we had)... makes for easy filling if you can just hookup your hose to fill your tanks without moving. I didn't realize this before booking, but conveniently 123 had one right near by.

Most of the pull through sites weren't long, were only about a "lane" wide, and curved pretty sharply. Normally not a problem, but trees on both sides created a problem to pull through our 40ft 5th wheel. We ended up backing it in instead. Just something to keep in mind.

Definitely recommend Elk Ridge over the Dakota Terrace Campground. Didn't look like much tree cover and you would be much closer to the highway.

Site123

Month of VisitOctober

(5) View All

Lacey O.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 9, 2020

The best place to spend 4th of July

This campground is great. My family and I stayed in the main part of the campground. Nice sites. Very friendly hosts. Clean bathrooms. Plenty of shade.

Matt B.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 25, 2020

Pa-Co-Chu-Puk - Small sites but very peaceful

We originally had a tent site in Elk Ridge, but our friends with an RV couldn't get a site on that side of the park for the same dates. Rather than have the 8 kids between us so far apart, we decided to get a tent site in Pa-Co. We got #294, primarily because the tent sites are about 50 yards from the parking lot, and with 6 of us we haul a lot of stuff. 294 was one of the closest to the parking lot, with the downside it was also closest to the pit toilet. If it was just two people with a couple backpacks this is a great location as you don't have any car noise and you're not hauling much, but for us it was a pain.

It was a beautiful view of the river from the site. Sites are small and fairly close together but it was a quiet campground. The bathroom wasn't a problem except for a couple of hours when it seemed like someone left a door open and the wind was blowing our direction.

Our tent is massive, and too big for the 10x10 space for tents at the site so we had to do some moving around but made it work. I'd bring our smaller one next time. The tent campground is well maintained and quiet, and the weather is great in the summer as the river keeps it cool. The RV site our friend has didn't have a lot of trees and was close to the highway, so for just hanging out ours was preferable.

Unfortunately the showers at the shower house about 100 yards away were closed due to COVID, but the weather is cool and dry mostly so not a big deal. The shower house and laundry were very well kept, and the campground hosts were very friendly. Firewood was $5 and I believe ice was only $1.

The park overall was great. We drove to the other parts to rent paddleboards and had a great time - very reasonably priced. It worked well as a base for side trips, as Ouray and Ridgway were easy to get to, as was Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP.

Site294

Month of VisitJuly

(4) View All

Glenna L.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 16, 2020

What a View

We stayed here for one night, wish we'd stayed longer...we will be back as long as we can get the same site or at least another one of the tent only walk-in sites. We were in site 153 and as you can see, it had an amazing view. Bathrooms were clean and well stocked. There was a host nearby selling ice and firewood. There were wheelbarrows available to help transport your gear to your campsite. The stargazing was very impressive. Only downside, some road noise from 550 in the morning.

Denise K.

Traveler

Reviewed Oct. 12, 2019

Perfect Colorado Camping

See my other Review for Dakota Ridge. Another 5 stars with all amenities and screaming Verizon Wifi

(5) View All

Denise K.

Traveler

Reviewed Oct. 12, 2019

Stunning CO mtns surround you

We tested out maiden working on the road trip at this spectacular state park. It was end of the season so some loops were closed. Each site gave privacy with nature in between. The WiFi tower was right in the campground so WiFi was screaming. Mild temperatures in October. 5 stars!!!

(5) View All

Stella C.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 28, 2019

Not much shade, but has showers, books, lol both RVs mostly

Went during a fireban last year which made it tough. I had taken my trusty tripod grill and left Coleman burners at home… Fish were very good at not staying on hook. Nice reservoir nearby within a few miles drive. Overall good place but lacking trees in campground. There was 'lil walk down a hill to fishing in a creek and small pond from our campsite which is optimal for the fishing enthusiast. Nearby reservoir has space to have company over or host a party with amenities such as enough space and picnic tables, bathrooms and playing space for young kids. There were kids riding bikes on paved walkways and some trails throughout the well maintained park. Nice waters @ the nearby reservoir. Enjoy!

SiteNot sure but closest to creekside

Month of VisitAugust

(9) View All

Todd R.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 6, 2019

Quite, easy drive

Stayed in the Elk Ridge "E" loop across from the site "host" who were great people. This is high desert so it does get hot during the day and cold at night. the sites are all set up well, easy access, water and electric if you want. There are showers (.25) and washers and dryers if you need. Nice paths down to the lake and around but the lake level is still low. The towns of Ridgway is about 10 minuets South and Montrose is about 40 minuets North both will have needed items but Montrose is much larger.

Jolin A.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 14, 2018

Nice and very pretty.

Ccampground is large with big spaces. Swimming is close by. Quiet and peaceful. Was fall so not a lot of people.

Karen B.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 13, 2017

Glamping

Favorite spot to go glamping. Pay showers (4 mins for 4 quarters) and there is power at the campsite. The hosts are always nice and other campers have been polite about quiet time etc...it's only a 22 min drive to the newly renovated hot springs pool. It's very hot during the day, but cools off at night. The beach is great if you can get a grassy area to put towels down. Love going here for a clean camping experience.

Site163

Month of VisitAugust

Laura J.

Guide

Reviewed Jan. 24, 2017

Loved this place!!

Absolutely loved staying at this State Park! The site was big and a real short walk from the car. It was nice that the road didn't go next to the campsite like usual so it cut down on noise. The views of the lake were amazing and is so close to beautiful Ouray!

Jamie W.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 15, 2016

Walk in tent site

Arrived in the evening so it was a little dark and hard to figure out where the tent sites were. But we found our site, perfect spot, awesome morning views. You have to wheel your stuff in, but I like that they provided carts to bring in your things. Also loved the convenience of fly fishing in the morning. Nice walking path to follow along the river

Russ M.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 9, 2016

Yurt Camping, yes dogs are allowed

In addition to plenty of tent and RV sites, Ridgeway SP also has three heated and furnished yurts for those seeking an enhanced comfort level. Each unit includes a fridge, futon type beds, dinner table and chairs. Bring your fishing poles, hiking shoes, water craft and dogs, cause they're all allowed.