Desert Reservoir Camping
The campground is located San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area. The facility which is located just a few miles west of the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We stayed here on the way to Salida, CO after visiting the National Park. The wildlife area is basically reservoirs in a desert valley. Despite the Central Valley location the site was empty during our summertime visit. The facilities are well planned and more than sufficient. However, the location is barren and not very picturesque. The visitor entrance is not manned and you are required to have a Colorado Parks Pass. The site has no cover and experiences summer temps well above 100 degrees despite the high altitude of 8000 feet. The parking lots and campsites are all gravel stone but can be dusty in the dry season. You can see migratory birds here in the fall and fishing is popular as well. After seeing the site in person, I can not recommend this as a place to stay unless you cannot get a site at the National Park and need somewhere to park. It would be a difficult site for tent campers due to the lack of cover and the summer temps. You don’t need a reservation given the availability.