Looking for a rustic and comfortable horse camping experience near Aurora? It's easy to find Aurora campgrounds for horse camping with The Dyrt. The Dyrt can help you find the perfect equestrian sites that are scenic and easy to access.
This recreation area is part of Chatfield Lake
This recreation area is part of Cherry Creek Lake
This recreation area is part of Bear Creek Lake
Golden Gate Canyon State Park offers multiple campgrounds, cabins, yurts, RV sites, group sites, and a guest house. From Memorial Day to early October, there are 132 campsites in two campgrounds: Reverend’s Ridge and Aspen Meadow. Reverend’s Ridge offers 38 tent sites and 59 sites with electrical hook-ups. Facilities at Reverend’s Ridge include flush toilets, shower, ice machine, laundry facilities, and a dump station. Aspen Meadow offers 35 tent sites and vault toilets. As of January 1, 2019 both campgrounds will be Reservation Only. Golden Gate also offers 20 backcountry tent sites and four backcountry shelters. Our backcountry sites are available on a first-come, first-serve basis year-round. Please register for backcountry sites at the Visitor Center.
$18 - $90 / night
Camping is allowed at numbered designated campsites. No fee is charged. Practice Leave No Trace Principles.
Camping is limited to 14 days in one location. After 14 days, your camp must be moved at least three miles away.
Maximum stay is 28 days within a 60-day period. After 28 days, all property and people must leave the Roosevelt National Forest.
Colorado Campground is a favorite family destination near Manitou Lake Picnic Area north of the town of Woodland Park. A short trail leads to the lovely lake, where visitors enjoy fishing, bird watching and canoeing.
Manitou Lake offers trout fishing and lakeside picnicking. Canoeing on the small lake is also a popular activity. The Centennial Bike Trail, a paved, accessible recreation trail, connects Colorado Campground to Manitou Lake Picnic Area and South Meadows Campground. The trail is popular among hikers, roller bladers and bicyclists. The nearby Rainbow Falls OHV Trail System and North Divide OHV Trail System are recommended for off-road vehicle enthusiasts.
The campground is situated at 7,800 feet in a ponderosa pine forest near the 5-acre Manitou Lake. The campground lies in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, due north of Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak summit reaches an elevation of 14,115 feet and is America's easternmost peak over 14,000 feet.
Colorado Springs is about 25 miles southeast of the campground and offers many services. Garden of the Gods is a popular attraction just outside of town. This free park offers hiking trails, rock climbing routes, a visitor center and cafe. Pikes Peak lies west of Manitou Springs, which is about 20 miles from the campground. Visitors can hike, or drive to the summit of this beautiful mountain. The town of Woodland Park, located 6 miles south of Colorado Campground, offers gas, groceries, dining and shopping.
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.
$37 / night
Please Note: Must be in possession of a horse in order to camp in the equestrian campground. The Indian Creek Equestrian Campground is an ideal camping site for avid horseback riders looking to explore the Indian Creek Equestrian Trail. The area provides a pleasant atmosphere plus nearby access to the Rampart Range, a well known off-highway vehicle riding area. The area boasts wildlife like mule deer, turkey, elk and black bears. The Roxborough State Park is located to the northeast of the campground as has a reputation for its dramatic red-rock formations.
The Indian Creek Trail, which is also called the Bear Creek Trail, is a loop trail that extends for 14 miles. In addition to horseback riders, mountain bikers and hikers also enjoy taking on the scenic journey.
Campsites sit among a mix of trees that provide both shade and sun throughout the day. These include Ponderosa pine, Gamble oak, Douglas fir, aspen and spruce. Pike-San Isabel National Forests include over a million acres of wilderness and over half of Colorado's mountain peaks that reach above 14,000 feet in altitude.
For facility specific information, please call (303) 647-2366.
$27 / night
$7 - $22 / night
Legend
Very clean, very well maintained. Large spaces near the lake.
ScoutStayed the last night with a rental RV that we needed to return to Denver by 10;30 AM. Campground has an unusual lay out with "loops" being 3 rings of sites. Sites are spread out well. Lots of privacy, Within an hour's drive of the RV rental return location (with a Costco on the way to fill the gas tank). Some sites have elec/water/sewer at the sites. Some have just electrical - this was our site. A communal water/sewer was available with ability to handle two vehicles at the same time.
Scout
Sites weren’t marked like other places I’ve been but I expected it being dispersed. Had a wonderful time the sky was pretty it was secluded and lots of space for dogs to run!
Scout
Came here with my roommates in July after only dispersed camping earlier in the summer. Nice spot with a metal fire pit (good for stage 1 fire ban), picnic table, and tent pad. Tent pad was big enough to squeeze two 3-person tents and a 6-person tent (barely). Walking distance to vault toilets. Some nice foresty hikes between Aspen Meadows and Reverend's Ridge. We could see some other campsites but didn't feel too squished. There's an actual parking lot but we just parked next to our campsite, off the road enough to let other cars pass by easily.
GuideI’m currently here and it’s pretty great. Nice campgrounds. Not close to anyone. Road up is 2wd. Keep heading up the small road to get to all the secluded camp grounds.
TravelerOur spot was in Aspen Meadows. The reservation confirmation gave us directions to Reverend's Ridge campground, which is wrong. It also said our site was on Aspen Loop, and there is no Aspen Loop - only Conifer Loop. It's a very poorly marked campground. It's also directly under a flight path. The toilets smelled like ammonia, horribly...but the campsite itself was clean.
Scout
Very quiet and bathroom and showers were clean
GuideRoad leading to spots is dirt but not bad. Once you turn onto where the spots are the road does get Rocky. We stopped at the first site. Quiet. Off roaders showed up in the morning!
Guide
As usual this was a great place to camp. Site 1 is the most private but furthest from the bathrooms, Site 2/3 are closest together, Site 3 has the very best flat pad with the table, ring and still room for a 10x10 tent or shade tent area. Sites 1-4 have shade, sites 5-8 do not.
Hosts are friendly and helpful, bathrooms cleanish, stalls in good shape.
Trail #800 is pretty sketchy these days due to excessive water erosion. 3' deep and 8" wide troughs to walk along with so much overgrowth it's hard to navigate.
The trail heading North out of the parking lot is great, well maintained and also has hidden 7 dwarfs along the trail to try and find. We did it four times just to make sure we found all 7.
Traveler
We drove up around 8/9pm from Boulder. Most camps spots were already taken (1-8 sites only..) but we made our own site / shared with campsite #2. Roads are rough. Some loud campers nearby but we had fun.
Beautiful views and campfire spots!
Traveler
You definitely need to know where you’re going with this one, as the location on here isn’t really even close. The trail getting in/out is fairly rough and uneven, so you’ll need something with some sort of clearance. The sites themselves were pretty fantastic, clean, and accessible. There are more rewarding and harder to reach spots the farther you go, but plenty are easily available. You’ll find lots of fine folks walking, riding quads/bikes, etc. It’s not often you find a spot like this that isn’t crowded out.
GuideThe state park is enjoyable. The staff is realy nice and you have all the services that you need
Scout
Beautiful state park. Great for a day or two. Bathrooms were exceptionally clean and well maintained.
GuideThe group campsite was spacious. The site was also pretty clean. Bathrooms were coin operated so that wasn’t the best for a shower. Would preferred a way to obtain coins or a heads up on that one. The spot we had was far from the lake so it was a bit of a walk. I’d recommend finding a site closer to the lake so you can get to the water quicker when it’s super hot. We had canopies but the sun beat us down pretty bad during the high part of the day. Very pretty paddle boarding sites.
GuideI drove here December 16th on a sunny day. Take the exit onto Fall River Road from the highway, a short road. You are then soon connected with forest service road of sorts York gultch. This connects a lot of off grid housing to the highway. well maintained crushed dirt.
At the GPS coordinates there are 3-4 drive in campsites and then a road that might lead to more. Idk I hiked around 1 mile and didn’t see other spots, you might have do drive in a couple more mirles
I spent the night here while I partied in Idaho springs for a mini vacation
Ranger
This is a very nice, quiet and quaint camping spot! We loved the wooded areas. The flat parking pads and hook ups! There’s nothing extra special here to make it a 5 star. I’d absolutely visit again!!…. But it’s not a bucket list spot!
The coolest thing is we did see a moose!
Scout
Amazing views, friendly staff & nice set up. Wish we could have stayed a little longer. But definitely helpful when passing through.
RangerWe were going to give this a 3 star review based on our first night here in D loop. No water, sites close together and a long walk to the vault toilets, plus the site was not level. Our second night was in E loop. Sites are over 100 feet apart, level, flush heads, near free showers, and water available plus dish washing area, but no tent pads. Loops are either RV or tent. Tent loops also have sites too close for our taste, about 37 feet apart. Though if you choose carefully, a few sites are more remote. Some of the tent loops let you park adjacent to your site (loops H and I). Others you park in a common area and walk to your site. Volunteer staff very friendly. In season camp programs. Much jet noise from airliners leaving Denver. Some road noise also, but very quiet at night. Your experience will vary with your chosen loop and site. Overall nice, much more so in E loop and B loop looks similar. For tenting, I’d suggest H or I loop. Good T-Mobile.
GuideI came up for a night of camping with one of my dogs. I reserved the area with electric hookup since I brought the van. The area was very organized and tidy. Campsite was large with a picnic table, fire pit, and central spot for trash and recycling. Area was quiet, but close to a road. No cell service for phone if you’re wondering.
LegendChatfield has quickly become one of our favorite state parks. We have stayed here many times over the last few years. This was our first time camping here with our Class C and we had plenty of room to center our rig while leaving room for our tow dolly and SUV.
We stayed at Site 54 on Loop B. This is the first time we’ve ever noticed the noise from the model airplane field while camping here. We were woken up multiple mornings before 7AM to the sound of model airplanes. Not a big deal, but something to be mindful of if you’re looking to sleep in.
The shower facility at the center of Loop B did not have soap or hand dryers in the restroom. Again, not a big deal, but something to know so you can plan ahead. There was also only one working dryer in the laundry, so it was a challenge to get wash done if multiple campers were trying to wash clothes at the same time.
LegendFirst time camping here. The Gold Rush loop is all full hookups. We stayed in Site 95 and had no trouble fitting our 29’ Class C, tow dolly, and towed vehicle.
There are multiple facilities in the campground that have hot showers and flush toilets. The building closest to the campground office also has a laundry that works via coins or pay via app, $2 per load.
Easy access to the sand beach on Cherry Creek reservoir, plenty of hiking and biking trails, and close proximity to Aurora, Centennial, and the greater Denver metro area. We would definitely stay here again.
LegendCherry Creek State Park offers a variety of activities including water sports and a sand beach. The campground has tent and RV sites including full hookups.
We stayed in Site #95 which is a great private spot on the Gold Rush loop. The campground offers multiple bath houses as well as a laundry that is coin operated as well as available via an app at $2 per wash.
LegendThis was our first time staying at Bear Creek Lake. The park is not part of the Colorado Wilds or CPW State Park system, but daily vehicle fees are included with your camping reservation. Our towed vehicle was included when we checked in at the ranger station.
The campground is at the back of the park, roughly 2 miles from the entrance. There is a lot of bike traffic and windy roads. Sites are mostly level, electric only, and relatively close together. We stayed in Site 41 which was walking distance to the pit toilets and water spigot. We had no trouble fitting our 29' Class C, tow dolly, and towed vehicle.
We filled our 7 gallon water jugs at the spigot to top off our fresh water tank. The spigot is the terrible skinny faucet that is not threaded as to dissuade RVers from connecting a fill hose to it. If you want to fill water jugs like we did, bring a short (<6') hose and a water bandit so that you don't waste water.
Pit toilets and flush bathrooms were clean and well maintained. The bath house at the center of the campground features coin operated hot showers, $2 for 10 minutes. The water temperature was very hot, but manageable. A great convenience since there are no sewer hookups at the sites.
This is a great place to camp if you want to explore Morrison, Golden, or catch a show at Red Rocks. The main park entrance closes at 9:30 and a back gate accessible from I-470 opens that allows access to the campground. We had no trouble getting an Uber to pick us up to go to Red Rocks, but had several driver cancellations trying to get back after a concert.
ScoutPark staff are very friendly. Loved the paddle board experience.
ScoutWe lucked out and got the amazing spot. Can’t beat the view!
TravelerPros:
- great location for exploring Denver
- beautiful sunset
Cons:
- SO MANY FOXTAILS which can be deadly to dogs, and my site was covered in them. They're also everywhere throughout the campground. So if you have dogs I would not use this more than a stopover to recharge.
- Highway noise was very loud if outside rig
Cell: you're in the middle of a city, both AT&T and Verizon worked just fine
ScoutThe Hummingbird Place
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Aurora, CO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Aurora, CO is Chatfield State Park Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 75 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Aurora, CO?
TheDyrt.com has all 15 equestrian camping locations near Aurora, CO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
