## Overview

 Picturesque White Star Campground lies at the foot of Mt. Elbert, Colorado\'s highest peak, among fragrant ponderosa pines. The campground provides convenient access to Twin Lakes Reservoir for plenty of water recreation opportunities. It also works as a base camp for hikers and mountain bikers who love to explore nearby trails such the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail and the Mount Elbert Trail. 
## Recreation

 The Continental Divide Trail, which runs from Canada to Mexico, passes by the White Star Campground. The hiking trail is open to mountain bikes in the section from Halfmoon Road South to Twin Lakes. About 300 miles of the trail is within Colorado\'s borders. Twin Lakes are Colorado\'s largest natural glacial lakes, and sailing and water skiing are among the popular activities there. Fishing includes lake, rainbow and Mackinaw trout. 
## Facilities

 White Star Campground is comprised of three loops. Sage Loop has limited shade, and Ridge and Valley Loops have a greater density of ponderosa pine and spruce trees. Vault toilets and trash collection are provided. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Firewood is for sale at the Host site. A boat ramp, parking, and angler fishing areas are located just down the road from the campground.\_\_ 
## Natural Features

 The campground, at an elevation of 9,200 feet, sits on the north side of the Twin Lakes Reservoir near the base of Mount Elbert. The Twin Lakes Reservoir spans 2,805 acres and Mount Elbert stands tall at 14,433 feet. Nearby is the Mount Massive Wilderness area, a stretch of 30,540 acres that encompass Mount Massive, Colorado\'s second highest peak at 14,421 feet. Much of the wilderness is above timberline with many alpine plant communities and permanent snowfields. 
## Nearby Attractions

 Drive on the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway to Independence Pass, one of the highest paved passes in Colorado. Or continue over the pass for a day trip to the town of Aspen, a well-known ski resort town. 
## Charges &amp; Cancellations

 Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee.\_\_ A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night\'s use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night\'s rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.\_\_\_\_ Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive.\_\_ In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.

White Star

This campground is located on the north side of the Twin Lakes just south of Hwy 82.  It is centrally located for a myriad of recreational opportunities: hiking, mountain biking, and of course activities on the water.

  

Our site was in the valley loop which is the farthest from the lakes.  Our campsite was located on the backside of the campground which is farthest from the lake but had an excellent view of Mt. Elbert (Colorado's highest peak) and direct access to the Colorado Trail which was about 25 yd. from our site.  The only negative was that our location was also closest to the highway; which didn't have constant traffic but steady enough that it detracted somewhat from our experience during our three nights and why I didn't rate it five stars.

  

Sites have a fire ring and grate along with a picnic table.  Our site had mature Ponderosa pines that provided shade and hammocking.  

  

Not all the water pumps were in service at the time.  Firewood was available for purchase at the campground host's site.  The vault toilets were fine and appeared to be cleaned regularly.

  

Just down Hwy 82 is the town of Twin Lakes that has a general store/gift shop, food carts, and a visitor center that has great suggestions for hikes if you're new to the area.

Great location for lots of activities!

There's vault restrooms, bear safe dumpsters and potable water sources. There's not a single bad site, although we prefer the ridge line: great view from the lakes, the mountains and far enough from any mosquitos (we never know near watersources...).

The whitestar is fairly close to MT Elbert and MT Massive: 2 famous 14ners to be climbed: making it a great spot to start or end your adventure.

The twin lakes also provide several diffent recreational activities.

We spent our anniversary there and will be hard to beat next year.

Scenic and perfect for baseground to 14ners

My kids and I have camped here many times. The hosts are always nice. The grounds are clean and uncrowded. Views of the lakes surrounded by mountains are gorgeous!!

One of my fav places to camp in CO!

Walking distance to lakes. Picnic tables and fire pits. Scenic views. Great place to camp if planning on hiking Mt Elbert.

Great site!

We camp here all the time, it is our absolute favorite campground. The hosts are always great, really helpful &amp; they keep things clean. The bathrooms are always clean &amp; always have TP. Great views of the lakes &amp; the mountains. Can't wait to get back there this summer!!!

The best campground ever

This has by far been our favorite campground! The campground is spaced out nicely. It does not have electric or water hook ups. It does have Water spigots and a dumping station for a fee, I believe. It has awesome views of Mt. Elbert and Twin Lakes. The water is super cold, but it didn’t stop us from paddle boarding and having fun. The town of Leadville is small, but cute. If you take your bikes, I recommend doing the mineral belt trail. It’s a tough especially going in the one direction, lots of steep hills. Do some research first, some will tell you what direction to chose.

Favorite campground 

The weather was awful this past weekend with snow, rain, and cold temps, but we had a great time. Sites were clean with a table and pit. The hosts sold firewood which was a huge plus, as the cold temps had us burning more wood than normal. Good fishing very close. We’re going to try this site again on a weekend with better weather, we absolutely loved this place. 

Great family site

They have drinking water &amp; firewood available. 

Great views from my tent site.

Superb!

White Star is a particularly clean campground. The hosts were very friendly, and dropped off a map and a free day pass to park at the lakes.

None of the camp sites are on the water, but you can walk over in just a few minutes, or drive over with your gear. There is a trail that goes all the way around both lakes—it's very picturesque. I recommend staying on the outer loop—those sites have more space between them, and a bit more privacy.

We had limited cell service in the campground—enough for texting using both Verizon and AT&amp;T.

Stay up to see the stars!

This maybe my new fav close by spot! To to far from the metro area. It’s got gorgeous views, amazing (but cold) lake. Great for fishing, kayaking or paddle boarding. The starts at night are so beautiful. And the campsite is spaced out so you don’t feel like you’re on top of each other (which to me is super important!)

Views are great! Not over packed

We tent camped here for two nights (16-18 Aug) and picked a spot via recreation.gov.  We were on the sage loop, spot 16.  Sage loop is the loop closest to the lake.  The views from our site were out of this world.  Any of the even numbered sites looked to be in a great location.  The latrines were well maintained and RV'ers were considerate of the generator quiet hours.  The lake is obviously cold, but bring your SUP or kayak and enjoy the beauty.  The shoreline is mixed sand and rock, so be prepared.  The only downside was it's proximity to the main road which led to a little vehicle traffic at night (bring ear plugs).

The views, the views, the views

This place never fails. Always beautiful, great sunrises and sunsets. There's bathrooms and RV hook ups. Always a nice place. However it's pretty exposed so not alot of cover from wind. Always great to walk aroethe lake. Paddle boarding is a must if you own one. I'm not sure about any showers, i doubt it. Yes to designated camp fire rings. Like always pack in snd pack out. 

Lake-side camping 

This campground is stunning. The individual camping areas are nice large spots, so you don’t feel close to you neighbors. Gorgeous views of Mt Elbert and surrounding 14ers. Lake is close for some nice easy fishing. They usually have water available as well as a dump station but they were closed for repairs during our visit. Easy to get in and out of even with our 30’ travel trailer. We will definitely be back to this one.

White Star campground is incredible

We love Twin Lakes! White Star campground is in a great location. Paddle boarding and fishing are great daytime activities here. 

Several sites have access to walk straight to the water. The sites are a decent size but you do have visibility of what your neighbors are doing. 

Reserving a good spot on the lake side is difficult as this is a very popular campground and sites go quick once released! 

I had to deduct a star because the campground has been without water for the last few seasons. It’s costly to drive from Denver with a loaded water tank and stopping to find water along the way is inconvenient. When the water is restored, I’ll update this review to 5 stars. 

Always a good time!

Nothing but positive things to say about this place! I picked this campground based on other positive reviews and they were spot on. 

On a last minute decision I wanted my 12 year old son to see the mountains before school started so we headed out from Nebraska without a plan and rolled in right at dark. We were greeted by Bob who one of the nicest camp hosts I've met. He pointed us to sites he thought would be great for our hammocks and it was perfect. Everything was so well maintained in the campgrounds and we saw Bob making regular rounds to check sites after people had left and keeping an eye on the area. 

If you are looking for a great place to camp around twin lakes you will not be disappointed if you stay a white star campgrounds.  

Great place to camp!

Campground was all we needed for a quick 1 night stopover at Twin Lakes.  There was no running water or dump station while we were there unfortunately.  Walkable from campsites down to lake (valley loop is a bit further).  Close to Mt Elbert trailhead.  Not much in town of twin lakes other than general store.  Good day use area at twin lake to rent paddeboards/kayaks, but water was very cold even in august.

Standard FS Campground at Twin Lakes (No Water)

We loved this campground!  Nice facilities, clean bathrooms, and wonderful camp hosts.

Great Camping!

What a great campground! Lots of space between sites, level, spacious, tree or no tree sites, clean, picnic table, quiet, easy to back into, and the lake is within walking distance of any campsite! 

There are no hookups of any kind at any site, but I did have LTE cell service. 

The views are fantastic! Large mountains across from Twin Lakes and if heading up Independence Pass. 

There is a small little town with basic necessities just up the road and Aspen is about 1 hour away over the Pass. 

Great area to ride bicycles, but no ATV or motorbikes. Nice if you aren’t into that sort of hobby because it helps keep the noise down. Paddle board and other non-motorized toys are allowed in the lake, but it’s chilly!

Wonderful Site!

I am in the best site in campground imo. Ridge loop is first come first serve while the other two loops are reserved only! My site was HUGE! Camp host and his wife are the nicest people I’ve met in a very long time! I am camped here till end of September and the views NEVER get old! From the crazy weather to the wildlife to the mountains , I love ever square inch of this place !


