The Crags Campground — State Forest State Park

Your neighbors will be moose at this campground. It is remote and the sites are near, but I still found it peaceful. Noobs will fall prey to the moose. Seriously, many meals were stolen. Although I must admit, they are rather quiet and can sneak up on you. Rangers were very friendly.

Be aware the ranger station north of this park will have the state pass needed. Otherwise bring cash

I love camping. I love the opportunity to connect to the wild spaces that surround us. I love finding people who share that same passion. What I don't love, is sharing a campground with someone who obviously has no regard for the safety of their fellow campers or the wild animals that call those wild spaces home. Over Labor Day weekend I got the opportunity to camp at State Forest State Park in Colorado and a 'fellow camper' 2 sites down from us made choices that put us all, and one of the coolest cow moose and her calf in danger. Despite knowledge of moose being present in the area, the campers would go to bed every night and leave all of their trash out, and various food and drink sources scattered around their campsite as well. The moose quickly learned she had easy access to food there and frequented their site. Each time they would honk their horn and blow a whistle and clang pans, but moose are typically not afraid of humans at all, so she did not deter easy. Not only did they lure her into their trap, they then harassed her and disturbed the peace of the other campers. They clearly had no regard for the rules of campground and had their dogs off leash many times, one evening one of their dogs chased the moose out of their site, much to their amusement. I reported them to the rangers, and was assured they would be talked to, but their behavior did not change. If that moose decides to 'fight back' instead of run off, it will be her that pays the price. My sisters and I made sure our site was clean and tidy and even when the moose visited during dinner one evening all that was needed from us to scare her off, were a few claps and shouts. My point is this, we have a responsibility to utilize our wild spaces responsibly, and in my opinion, if you can't do that, then you lose the privilege to use them. Enjoy some of the pictures from that weekend, and remember to recreate responsibly, and if you see something, say something!

Nice and quiet. Remote, but access to some really great hikes (American Lakes/Snow Lake, Lake Agnes). Saw a smallish bull moose and lots of bucks!

We ended up here after the nearby state park was full, and we’re SO glad. Had no trouble pulling our 16ft Scamp up with a minivan, but can see that if the road was wet it wouldn’t have gone as well. Small trailers are fine, 2WD is fine as long as you aren’t battling the weather and aren’t scared of gravel. On a weeknight we had our choice of spots, there is at least one hike in site over the creek (7, I think) if you’re into that. We will definitely return next time we’re in the are.

This place is incredible. It’s primitive but they do have water. $18 per site. You get to camp next to a nice running creek. Surrounded by the forest and mountains. Friendly staff, good shade and privacy. Highly recommend for a true getaway. Nice trails nearby as well.

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The 26 campsites at the Crags Campground in State Forest State Park were very basic and accessed by a road that was steep and narrow. No RVs or trailers allowed or able to make it up the narrow one lane access road, which made it nice and quiet for tent camping. Fire grills and picnic tables provided, but no designated tent pads, no bear boxes, no electricity, and only a tough to use hand pump for water in the center of the campground. As of August 2018, there was an appallingly old and poorly maintained pit toilet for the campground use--with a brand new, nice looking pit toilet complete with handicapped parking--locked and roped off with construction netting. We were visited by a moose at dinner time two nights in a row as she had unfortunately become accustomed to eating from people's unsecured trash and had a special liking for hot dogs and potato chips. Beautiful place, with neat animals, but be aware how basic it really is.

Small campground with potable water and vault toilet. Most camp sites have mountain views. Moose frequent the area.