Best RV Parks & Resorts near Carbondale, 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.

After driving 4-10 hour days from Canada in our 16’ travel trailer, staying at Harvest Hosts, we decided to stop here to prep and regroup for the next leg of our journey. Full hook ups allowed us to flush our water systems, recharge all batteries and devices, and wait out some seriously nasty wind, like lift the trailer right off the ground wind (well felt like it I swear!). The place is super clean, easy to access, has great views and a helpful staff. Pet friendly with a small off-leash dog area even. Looks good for families too with a pool and water park, playground. Wifi was good and cell service at 2 bars. Not cheap but easy access to supplies and touristy spots.

We stayed in a camper van over a busy holiday and loved it! We were hoping for a peaceful getaway for us and our dog and found it at Kebler. Yes, some of the spaces are close together but everyone there made it work well. The angled spots and strategic landscaping help too. Plenty of grassy common areas to stretch your legs and your pup’s (on leash), so much so we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything by not being parked with the big coaches along the river. Even better since the large river spots had little/no natural shade (most seemed to have their own awnings that our van didn’t so no worries there I think for them). The tent spots were in a different area on the other side of the property a little away from the busier parts. They also had less shade but had level pads and but seemed closer to the bridge (and hiking). The community vibe was respectful and friendly and it was lovely to stroll about and enjoy it all. Families were out and about, playing with their children and trying different things to do. There was a little playground and some activities in a covered space like velcro axe throwing and corn hole. There were soccer goals set up at one of the grassy areas too. There was also a frisbee golf course, hammocks and picnic tables scattered around the property. A sign by the bathrooms invited camp guests to go gentle group hike if you meet at the bridge at the posted time in the morning. The general store was open during the day and had more than I expected (came for stickers and snacks, left with a game of Bananagrams and more). There wasn’t cell service but wifi worked well for what we needed. The bathrooms were clean and the water was warm. On a busy weekend you might need to use the portable toilets near the tent sites if the regular ones are occupied at a busy time. In the future, splitting the shower and toilet facilities might help with that long term, but I am not sure how hard (and expensive) that is to do in places that are tucked away into the mountains like this. We did use the coin laundry and that worked well. At the time of our visit it was $2 for the washer and $3.50 for the dryer. There was a variety of cute cabins for rent with a good range in size and cost - and some have own their bathroom and even little patio spaces. The hosts and staff were friendly and helpful, even doing trash pickup in the morning if you left it out at a certain time by your site. Kebler is in a beautiful setting, has thoughtfully-designed spaces and is carefully maintained. We would definitely come back - hopefully in a camper van / travel trailer or even just to stay in one of the cabins.

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.

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.

The heart of Colorado beats quietly and steadily at this campground. Situated within walking distance of a boat ramp and often crowded parking area, this quiet and serene campground set-back away from the crowds, overlooks Ruedi Reservoir. Everything one needs to spend a delightful long weekend or extended stay is there - firewood for purchase, helpful hosts, spacious campsites, bear proof disposal and storage blocks, clean bathroom facilities, and a lake front beach. The 15 mile paved drive back to the grocery stores is doable and follows the spectacular flyfishing Fryingpan River. Watch for the energy conserving home built into the hill, bighorn sheep (yes!) along the road, and cyclists attempting the slow but steady grade. On our way back out toward home we stopped at the Main Street Cafe (on CO 82) - definitely worth the wait with huge breakfast and lunch plates (open until 2pm daily). If you decide to try Molly B, track me down about mid-August next summer - I'll be there!

I arrived at this campground on top the Mesa. First I always thought the Mesa would be flat and by god it’s more than flat, it’s beautiful. The mosquitos were like mini vampires. Beside that, the Forrest and lakes were wonderful. The fishing was great. Lots of folks catching there limits.

The campsites are hit or miss if you are tent camping. Some of them are on slopes and are only good for an RV however we did sent you tents in the pull through sites. We reserved sites 1, 9, 10, 11.

Site 1 is fabulous, on the lake and great for tents or a pop up.

Site 9 is a pull through site. Has one flat spot for a tent but besides that it is next to the hiking trail and the wildlife is all around. Morning deer to chipmunks :)

Site 10 is very large for a group site per say.

Site 11 was nice and held 3 tents.

Each site has modern camp fire rings. The campground offers large wood bundles for $10.