Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG

The selling point of this campground is location. It’s as close to Rocky Mountain National Park as you can get without actually camping on NPS property. You are completely surrounded by the mountains and the views are amazing. There’s a beautiful river flowing nearby. Easy access to Estes Park. I biked into downtown and back easily. Close to a great little market and several restaurants. Sites are very tight with no privacy unless you are along the edges of the park. Nice laundry facilities, mini golf, and a small pond. There’s a small dog park but I’d recommend taking your dog to the city’s dog park about 10 minutes away. It’s worth the drive and your dog can go swimming on a beach.

This is one of my all-time favorite places to hike and camp in Colorado. I have not yet stayed in any of the campgrounds but have backpacked to the top of the American Lakes Trail. Not only is this hike fantasticly beautiful and full of wildlife (tons of moose especially) but there is great dispersed camping along the trails. You simply cannot find more scenic and free camping in Colorado. I would highly recommended camping anywhere in State Forest State Park!

Also, there are quite a few huts, cabins and yurts that can be rented year round in SFSP!

A lovely wooded campground literally on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park - we even saw moose from the back window of our RV!  Options for everyone from cabins, to FHU RV sites (limited and not the ideal locations, but still nice), water/electric sites and tenting areas.  Even Conestoga wagons!  There is horseback riding on site and we loved watching the horses run in and out each morning/evening and you just have to cross the road for a pretty hike along the Colorado River in RMNP (no dogs on the trails).  We camped with our Great Dane - very dog friendly with bag stations around the park.  Friendly and helpful staff, a small shop with supplies and souvenirs, a cute little petting zoo with goats, sheep, and pigs.

So the Gordon Gulch dispersed camping area has around 15 numbered sites that are ok... but if you keep driving further down 233.1 you will find many more unnumbered campsites. I am reviewing one of these unnumbered campsites in particular, because this one had the best view. Before you read too far, I can't guarantee you will be able to reach this campsite without a 4X4 high clearance vehicle. We got to the site with a Jeep Wrangler and Toyota Tacoma TRD so we had no problems... I can't definitely say a Subaru would make it though. In the pictures I have included a map of the Gordon Gulch trail system. Entering through the Gordon Gulch entrance and taking 226.1 to 233.1 is the hardest route - there is one very steep and washed out spot. Entering via 120J/Switzerland Trail from the Peak to Peak Hwy and then turning right onto 233.1 is the easier option. On that map I have marked the general area of the campsite with a pink dot and here are the coordinates.

DMS: 40°01'18.5"N 105°28'37.6"W

DD: 40.021814, -105.477103 - if you type this into Google Maps it will locate it

As for the actual campsite, it is a great option for spring/fall camping in Colorado. The elevation is about 8,800 ft and it is on the south side of a hill so it gets a lot of sunlight and is protected from northern winds. In terms of privacy, there are no other campsites that can be seen from this one. However, Gordon Gulch is a popular off-roading area so dirt bikes and Jeeps pass by frequently. This campsite is set up high above and away from the road though, so it is really not that bad. Another thing to point out is that this is a popular area for shooting as well, so if you absolutely hate guns it may not be the place for you. Also, as stated before, this is a dispersed campsite the only thing it has is a fire ring. Pack it in, pack it out!

I wanted to stop into this area after exploring a few campgrounds designed more so for tent campers in the area. I noticed some of these spaces were not ideal for those wanting to bring their RV and have amenities and that really was something that I know many of the people I know really look for when finding their locations for travel. Loveland is a little further away from the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park but it offers many great things to those wanting to explore the area and still be within comfortable distance of the park itself. The RV Resort is designed for both larger and smaller rigs and offers a variety of comfortable amenities for campers of this style. 

There are 4 basic styles of offerings at this location including full hook up, oversized full hook up, premium and premium back up sites. These prices range from$56 to$65 for base single night stay. They do offer both weekly and monthly rates as well for those really wanting to enjoy the area. 

Something which I have found very common amongst these style of locations is that while they do offer base charges which do not include tax there are many times additional fees depending on certain amenities. This campground was no different with additional charges for parties of over 4 people, extra vehicles or pets. Additionally they do have a sizable$20 dump fee, I found this to be quite high, especially considering there is a free dump station only a few miles up the way at another facility which allows campers or passers by alike to use their dump station. 

Something nice is they do offer a Good Sam discount if you belong to the affiliated program which is a few dollars off the price of nightly stay. 

Additionally amenities include a pool and mini golf which were quite nice and a clubhouse with several really cool things inside. They have a playground for the kiddos and a dog park for the furry family.

 Overall the park itself seemed to have wide roadways for navigating and though for my personal taste the sites are located pretty close together they were pretty typically placed for an RV style park. Unlike several parks I have encountered in the area and others, this place did not have the long term stay option readily flagrant and while they might offer it you do not see people who look like they have moved in and allowed their area to become homely and run down. Quite the opposite, the grounds were very clean and inviting, everyone was very friendly and nothing looked like a“there goes the neighborhood” moment.