Mountain Park

This campground is in a beautiful setting right along the Poudre River and steep mountain slopes. It is well maintained by the friendly staff and the hosts Bill and Donna do an excellent job and even came on the evening of our last night to thank us for staying and shared some gems about other opportunities in the area in hopes we'll return.

There are multiple water spigots, trash dumpsters, and restrooms located throughout the campground's various loops.

We stayed at site 34 at the entrance of Crown Loop with restrooms, water, and trash dumpster just across the road from us and the hosts' site is just beyond that where firewood can be purchased. The river is about 20 feet or so from the back of the site. It is $24/night for a single non-electric site.

The restrooms were in all seriousness the cleanest vault restrooms I have ever seen as they were cleaned multiple times each day.

I spoke to the gentleman that tests the water for all the campgrounds in the canyon and reports to the state for the concessionaire, and he said that this campground has the best water quality of any throughout the canyon.

The sites are equipped with fire rings, picnic tables, and tent pads. Our site's pad accommodated our 6-person tent perfectly. None of the sites in that section of the campground have bear bins, but I did notice pallets of bear bins sitting in the parking lot at the campground entrance that I assume are to be installed this season. There is no cell service in the campground, but I drove west on Hwy 14 about 10-15 minutes to the small town of Rustic and I was able to get 2-3 bars on 4G LTE.

Hwy 14 runs just on the opposite of the river from the campground, but at least early in the season with the spring melt, the river drowned out nearly all traffic noise and was nice to fall asleep to.

While in the campground, we saw a variety of birds (including hummingbirds), chipmunks, ground squirrels, and a mule deer. I scanned the steep mountainsides looking for Bighorn sheep several times, but failed to see any.

**Campground Review **

I have parked next to this campsite a few times to hike the Mt. McConnel Trailhead, so this spot came to mind when I was looking for a quick escape up the Poudre Canyon. We arrived on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and did not have reservations, so we were pleased to find that there were still quite a few great sites available. This campground is really gorgeous and bigger than it looks at first glance. There are quite a few loops that offer a variety of sites, you can be right next to the river or surrounded by trees up along the hill. Each site offers nice picnic tables, fire pits with a grill, plenty of parking space and spots for a tent. The campground is located in a forest of Ponderosa Pines, which provide great shade and a natural barrier between sites. The sound of the river is lovely and there are tons of spots that allow you to camp right next to the water. We were sad to have forgotten our fishing poles but enjoyed watching the fly fisherman wading in the river. 

The location of this campground is also fantastic, it is about halfway up the Cache la Poudre canyon, making it an epicenter for outdoor recreation. I live at the bottom of the canyon so I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the great things it has to offer, white water rafting, hiking, rock climbing, fishing, and so much more. As I mentioned before, this campground shares a parking lot with the Mt. McConnel trailhead. This is one of my favorite trails along the Poudre, mostly because it is rarely crowded and offers beautiful views. If you are camping here and have a few hours to spare, I would highly recommend making the trek up to the top of Mt. McConnel, or checking out one of the many nearby trails. 

Product Review 

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I occasionally get the chance to review products that I use while camping! On this particular trip, I was excited to be testing out the Zulu 65 Backpack from Gregory Packs. 

Before I even packed this bag with all of my gear, I had to try it on and was immediately impressed by the ergonomic design. The back panel is super breathable and the straps are well padded, providing serious relief for my shoulders, neck and back. I have always struggled with back pain but love overnight backpacking trips, so I am really excited for the comfort that this bag’s design provides. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that this bag includes a raincover. My last backpack required me to spend a bunch of money to buy one separately, so this was a great deal to be included in my opinion! I can’t wait to take this pack out on some serious multi-day adventures this year, rain or shine! 

We decided to go ahead and pack this bag a few different ways at our campsite and take it on a day hike with a bunch of gear to put it to the test. This pack is quite large and fits everything a backpacker could need for a multi-day trip without a problem. The adjustable torso length and straps made it easy to fit both myself and my taller hiking partner. The large zippered compartment also allowed easy packing and access of my gear, compared to simple top loading packs that I have tried in the past. 

One of my favorite parts of this pack is the separate compartment accessed from the bottom, I suppose you could use this compartment for anything, but I think it is ideal for storing and accessing my sleeping bag. Sleeping bags often annoy me when packing for trips, because they take up so much space and make it difficult to access things in the main compartment of my pack. Having a designated spot for my sleeping bag makes it much more simple to pack and organize my bag. This was especially helpful as I recently lost my compression sack for my sleeping bag, but this compartment essentially replaced my need for the compression sack. 

The hip belt pockets are another one of my favorite features. I love having pockets like these for day and overnight hiking trips to easily access things like chapstick and my camera without needing to stop and take off my backpack. The only downfall I found on this pack is the lack of other small pockets, I’m a bit of an obsessive organizer, so I would prefer if there were additional small pockets on the exterior and interior of the pack to organize my smaller pieces of gear. 

Overall I would highly recommend this pack for any adventurer looking for a high quality backpack.