Best RV Parks & Resorts near Avon, CO

This quaint little campground is just below the highway. While there is quite a bit of highway noise when outside, it didn’t bother us when we were inside our trailer.

The double wide sites offer picnic tables and a fire ring, along with full hookups. The facilities are well maintained and clean. The sites are a bit shallow (we could not lower the rear patio on our 25’ toy hauler).

Only minutes away from the cute little town of Carbondale. Here there are plenty of options to stuff your belly with great food and/or wet your whistle with local beers/distillations.

Located just above a beautiful river, the campground is close to a partially-paved 40+ mi bike path (Aspen <> Glenwood Springs). Although we didn’t have time to ride them, Trailforks shows some nice MTB trails nearby as well.

Gore Creek Campground is a true gem of the National Forest Service. If you are looking for a great boondocking location that is close to great trails and breathtaking views, this just might be the place for you. The entrance to the campground is ~2 miles off of I-70 Exit 180 on Bighorn Road. Only 10 minutes from Vail Village and 25 minutes from Frisco.

We stayed in Site #8, which provided plenty of room for our 22’ travel trailer and pickup. The sites each have a large picnic table and fire ring.

Pit toilets are spread through the campground and were very clean and well maintained. The campground hosts do a great job of keeping everything tidy and looking great. They also have bundles of firewood for sale for $7 at their site just inside the entrance to the campground.

I can’t say enough about this place. It’s probably my favorite spot to camp in Colorado. I almost didn’t post this review for fear of the secret getting out.

So much of Colorado is impressive, let me just start with that. I wanted to swing through Aspen to check out the John Denver Sanctuary before heading to Denver and found the Difficult Campground on a listing for the area.

Like many campgrounds in Colorado, facilities are limited in fall and winter as they prepare for cold weather. The campground itself was no exception. CLOSED! I was so upset, however I stumbled upon a ranger in the area and he said I could stay if I parked and walked in from the entrance and would not have access to toilets.

Seemed fair, backcountry style camping with some amenities like a fire ring and table. I thought Indeed it would be a winning experience!! Boy was a right!!

The river flows alongside the campground and makes for such a relaxing sound throughout the evening. I saw several small animals as I hiked in, mostly squirrels, birds and a small fox.

The tree coverage of the area cut the wind in the evening just enough. I had the campground to myself and it was one of the coolest feelings ever!

There was no cell service at the campground.

I had to bring in my own small firewood because they discourage you from foraging for fallen branches at the campgrounds typically. I have seen that during the regular season there is a small store that has firewood available near the entrance area.

I look forward to getting back to this site during the summer season!!

TIPS:

• Bring your own firewood. While sometimes it is available in the area, you will want to bring your own just in case to make sure you are keeping it in the fire ring.

• Check the website first. I was looking online at this campsite and discovered if they have weather related closings or fire bans they list them very vividly on their site which can be very helpful in helping you determine if you would like to stay here.

We pulled in around 4pm on a Sunday. We went to the 3rd dirt road on the left to find a spot available. Only one other camper was there and the area could easily accommodate 4 without being too close to each others. Very easy to find. To the north Turquoise Lake is 1/2 mile away. There are mountain bike /hiking trails everywhere around the lake. Even though the space we were in was very spacious it felt secluded and we really could not see the other RV. We pulled our 40 feet toy hauler easily. The spot was leveled and clean. A stone fire pit was there and lots of wood had been left by the previous campers.

Very close to home. Lake Dillon Res is cold water. Always, even in July and August. Were at about 9000 feet, weather can change rapidly, and forecasters can be wrong. Be prepared for all 4 seasons. It can snow in July. No lie.

Update on getting in water, it is open seasonally. When allowed, you can try to swim and get into the lake. Very short season that this is available.

The ski resorts listed are NOT open year round. There is "shoulder" or "mud" season as we call it, where the resorts close, the restaurants close, shops, everything on the mountain stops. Towns still are fully open. But not the base of the ski resorts.

Only Reservoir in lower 48 with Arctic Char. Also have Kokanee Salmon. In addition to many species of trout. Lake, Rainbow, and Brown.

Lots of space in campground. Our usual spot has trees still and cover. Helps when it gets windy. Access to lake is great. Clean and up kept. It can be beautiful but chilly for most folks. Can even shore up boats in certain camp sites.

Lake is extremely low this season (2019) and camp will be further away from any water access.

Small campground with two loops located on Difficult Creek. The sites are a mixed bag– some more appropriate for tents while others are pull-through or have very long driveways. Our site (7) would have been better suited for a tent, but we made it work in our campervan. It would not have accommodated a large RV. Some of the sites (32-38) are more private and you can hear the creek. Did not hear road noise from any sites. 

There is a day-use area with picnic tables scattered around, some very near the creek.

Vault toilets only and at least the one we used was clean. Fortunately, the issues with the “mean” host mentioned in previous reviews were not an issue when we were there! In fact, with Covid, we had no contact with the host at all during our stay. 

This campground is about 20 minutes from the town of Aspen and convenient if you want to visit Maroon Bells (and cannot get into the smaller, closer campgrounds). Sadly, although the campground indicated it was full, there were many empty sites. This campground (with vault toilets only) is what I’ve come to expect from a basic forest service campground, and it suited our needs perfectly.