Woods Lake Campground is situated next to Woods Lake in a dense aspen forest. It has 3 loops with 41 campsites. The main loop has a group site, 4 double sites, and pull-through sites. The horse loop has 5 sites, 5 paddocks, 2 hay racks, watering troughs, pull-through sites and a large parking lot. This parking area is ideal for horse trailers and serves as a trailhead for the Woods Lake Trail. The campground is an excellent base camp for hikers and equestrians to access the Lizard Head Wilderness via the Lone Cone Trail or Woods Lake Trail. Mountain bikers and motorcyclists can access the Wilson Mesa Trail, only .5 miles from the campground. Fishing opportunities are within walking distance of the campground at nearby Woods Lake. The campground is surrounded by dramatic mountain views of the Lizard Head Wilderness. The "quaking" leaves and majestic fall colors from the aspen trees add to the campground's allure. Telluride, a full-service community, is located about 8 miles east on State Highway 145 from the Fall Creek Road intersection.

Woods Lake Campground

The campground was pretty crowded, but you wouldn’t have known it by the noise. Even though just about every site was occupied, it was still peaceful to camp. We found site 12 open and it was a nice roomy site with a long drive leading down to our picnic table, and beyond that there was a tent pad. The tent pad was very hard, we were unable to stake our tent in to the surface so we had to stake out beyond the pad. That ended up being ok because it rained the whole time and our tent stayed nice and dry inside.  It appeared that a good portion of the campground was being used for hunting base camp but some were there recreationally. The campground is not right on the lake, it’s a short walk over but from some sections you can see the lake. We did venture over to the lake and it was a pretty large lake, very scenic, mountains in view, people in kayaks and I imagine paddle boards as well, none this day though. We were excited to go and find a geocache on site and we weren’t disappointed. We also found a lovely caterpillar right by the geocache.

Another perk to coming out, mountain biking. Well, for us it was a cross between road and mountain, we stuck to the roads but they were dirt and washboard and had some pretty big rocks. But it was a wild 10 miles from Woods lake down to HWY 145 that goes up to Telluride. I took my 9 year old along the first run and he was terrified, although he handled it quite well. I enjoyed it so much, I did it again the next day. Except I continued from there through Placerville and all the way to within one mile of Norwood Hill. About 23 miles or so and it was a blast. Once you get to about the 8th or so mile, it turns to black top and it is paved the whole rest of the way. The 8 or so miles up to Woods lake is gravel/dirt/rock. There were plenty of trails that one could take as well and if you head towards Telluride, even more options. Even with the wet weather, it was a lot of fun!

Overall, the campground was comfortable, quiet, even at near full capacity. The restrooms were very clean, well stocked and had lights that came on at night! Bonus for no peeing in the dark. Time of year was a bit chilly, we stayed in September. But we also have a summer seasoned tent. The campground had an abundance of trash receptacles, all bear proof and they also had fresh water hydrants. It’s somewhat remote so having water available was a treat! Plenty of shade and the picnic table was nice. Would definitely visit Woods Lake again!