Best Tent Camping near Chromo, CO

We came for a mid-week getaway to test a new tent. Camp hosts were friendly and we almost had the whole loop to ourself with some great amenities running water in the bathrooms and showers included for only $10. We had views of the lake, but not so close as to hear any of the boats. good tent sites and some shade from juniper trees.

My friend and I stayed at the South Fork Campground for a fly fishing trip.  

The campground seems to be primarily a RV campground with 50 sites, but they do allow tent camping with 6 sites. There is an office at the entrance and the staff were friendly. Next to the office is a community room and laundry room.

The RV sites have water and electric hookup. The tent sites do not - at least ours did not. There are restrooms with sinks, toilets and showers nearby the campsites.

The campground itself sits on the Rio Grande River which is a world class fly fishing river. When we were visiting the river was flowing fast and deep, so it was not a very productive time. We choose to fish in the mountain lakes and streams instead.

Overall the South Fork Campground is a nice place to stay for a few days or longer. The campsites were a little close in proximity for me, but I'm one that is accustomed to backcountry camping where there are few people around. The campground is a short drive to the town of South Fork where there are grocery stores, gas stations and outdoor gear and fly fishing stores.

The quieter side of Navajo Lake State Park, this is a nice, clean campground with pull through and tent sites (elec and non) close to Sims marina. Nothing spectacular and a bit remote, so not a place I would seek out necessarily. Keep in mind that this requires a little more driving to get to, so if you’re just passing through, be mindful that it’s ~17 miles from highway 64.

Pros:

• Quieter, seems less crowded than reg marina side of park
• A good mix of pull through and tent sites with plenty of room to drive in. Tent sites are multi level in a few cases (tables and pits are a short level below parking spot)
• Lake views for some spots (seem to be partial as trees do block some parts of view)
• Reasonably spaced, not super private but that is pretty much any paid campground
• Cleanish bathrooms and pit toilets, a little smelly on our visit and had no soap to wash hands (not in peak season, so think campgrounds are a little understaffed with no camp host until mid may)

Cons:

• A bit of a haul/remote if you’re just stopping through on way west through NM

This was a wonderful spot! We tent camped with our family of 4 for 4 nights. Camp hosts were awesome too! We haven’t ever done a site with no shower so that’s the only reason it didn’t get a 5 star. But! The river made for great bathing :-D

Nearby to tons of hiking spots and great outdoors experiences.

Park Creek Campground Rio Grande National Forest

Elevation: 8500

Directions: In South Fork, Colorado, at intersection of State 149 and US 160, take Road 160 west 7.8 miles to Park Creek campground sign. Turn left at sign into campground.

This small campground, stretches along the banks of the South Fork of the Rio Grande River among mature shade trees. Many sites are adjacent to the river. US Highway 160 is very close by so will have some traffic noise. The campground has the feel of spacious seclusion and is very cool and shady. Accessible, Tent camping, Camping trailer, Picnic tables, Toilets , Drinking water.

Arrived at Last Resort and immediately fell in love with this campsite. Site was well maintained and level. You didn’t feel like you were on top of one another at the tent sites. Staff was friendly and occasionally checked up on you, to make sure your stay was pleasant. Will be returning for a longer visit for sure.

Stunning spot, lots of tent sites, room for maybe 12 campers of modest length, mine is 26' spot #9 is prime for a camper with a driver side slide/kitchen table. unknown if it's seasonal but the biting flies, primarily deer flies are beyond bearable, I survived 4 days, most other campers left after one night. The camp host is very friendly, and knows the best fishing holes.

We enjoy tenting in relatively primitive national forests and usually avoid private campgrounds. But our friends recommended Last Resort on the River, and we were pleasantly surprised. The tent sites are separated from the RV sites in a forested area along the river. We shared a campsite on the river that had lots of trees and plenty of room for two tents and a canopy. Several other tent sites are carved out of the brush along the river. This makes a very nice setting with lots of privacy. The sound of the river is soothing and there was very little sound from the road. 

It was a short walk to the amenities of the campground. There is a picnic shelter where we sat out a rainstorm, a very nice bathhouse for showering and washing dishes, as well as a comfortable indoor sitting area and another outdoor area with chairs and a fire pit. Ice and firewood are available at the office. Rich delivered them to our site. There are also some ice cream treats there and a few snacks. There is a fishing pond and a volleyball court. The rabbit hutch would have entertained the kids, if we had any with us. 

There is no cell service, but the wifi was excellent and reached our campsite on the river. My wife was able to participate in a Zoom meeting from the picnic shelter where there was a convenient electrical outlet for her computer. 

Rich is continually upgrading the property. He was very responsive and always willing to help. We highly recommend this campground.

Rio Chama RV park in Chama, New Mexico, is at the intersection of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the upper Rio Chama. A nice place to stay May 1 thru mid October. The train passing by twice a day is an exciting event and it's a short walk to the train yard.

Pull through sites have great shade and full hookups with 30 or 50 amp electrical service. Spacious tent sites with full service restrooms nearby. Pet friendly with dog park and free wifi. A great place for fishing, train watching and relaxing.

We only stayed one night but would definitely come back. We had a nice large tent site right by the river. No trees on this site but the view and the river made up for that. Scenery was great and we had a number of great conversations with some of the other campers. Camp hosts were very friendly and the facilities were pretty nice. There were porta-potty’s half way to the wash house but they were clean and didn’t smell too bad and they saved us from having to walk another few minutes. We had some noisy neighbors but they quieted down once we asked. We paid $27 for the one night.

It’s a good campground. It’s just a little dated. We stayed at Tiffany Loop, 027. Some of the tent sites at that loop need some attention (the barrier fence was down and the site overgrown ). Our site was just fine for what it was. Nice sized parking spot that we backed into. Gravel pad with (uncovered) picnic table and fire pit. There was a grassy spot where we placed our tent. Lots of sticky prickly grass around so watch your little kids :) the water is down behind the camp sites , down a steep hillside. We were not able to explore the water as we had to leave early due to sick kids but there were lots of boaters, pontoons, and house boats out there and we were planning to rent something! At Tiffany Loop, there are flushing toilets, a sink, and coin showers that are all clean! At Rosa Loop (a short drive ), there are coin showers, flushing toilets, and coin laundry services. It is very hot and sunny during the day so I’d bring a shade tent too! There are cabins at Tiffany loop as well.

The Last Resort is a lovely RV Park and campground on the Blanco River off Highway 84 between Chama, New Mexico and Pagosa Springs, Colorado. There are full RV hook ups in the loop and partial hook up by the river. The Bunk House is a small cabin with a queen bed and electricity. Many great tent camping sites. There is a nice Bathhouse with a full kitchen, bathrooms with showers and a coin operated washer/dryer. They are open year round, free wifi and pets welcome. There is a small store with ice, sodas, snacks, fishing tackle, RV supplies, and toiletries.

This is our 3rd summer at the Last Resort. It's a very laid back place with 2 playgrounds and plenty of activities for kids - horse shoes, volleyball, tether ball, etc. They have a nice 4th of July celebration, potluck dinners and camp fires. There are often horses (and a goat) on the property and plenty of space to take a nice walk. This year, we saw a lot of Canada geese and there are also chickens and ducks. We really love watching the many hummingbirds and hanging out by the river. Lots of campers like to fish or float down the river on inner tubes.

Well maintained, beautiful and friendly hosts make for a wonderful place to stay.

I did a fair amount of research online regarding walk-in tent camping at Heron Lake, during the week. See the great maps and detail at https://newmexicostateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/heron-lake/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NM&parkId=430012 . I called the visitor center to confirm that being a walk-in would not be a problem during the week. Once one arrives as a walk-in, look for the campsites with a green tag on them.

The Heron Lake camp sites shown at the above reserveamerica website all have a fair amount of trees for shade. What the reserveamerica site does not show is a few more Heron Lake campgrounds southwest along Highway 95 (beyond the dam). The southwesterly sites are way more exposed to the sun than the first four campgrounds. Otherwise, the southwesterly campgrounds have fine views of the lake.

I was at Island View campground, in a loop that was convoluted enough that I do not think a trailer (with its inevitable noisy generator) could get in. I guess that this is the point. As a result, all I heard from time to time were muffled voices and no generators. It's the first tent spring-summer-fall camping I have enjoyed in years that was generator-free. I had at least one empty campsite on either side of me as an additional buffer to noise.

I walked along the lakeshore. It did not seem that low. I saw large fish jumping in one cove. I hiked the Salmon Run Trail to the dam. The Salmon Run Trail is a beautiful hike, not all level but not too steep for this older person's knees and walking poles. On the lake side of the dam, walking along the highway to get a good look at the dam, I saw several schools of large fish.

The vault bathrooms and the flush-toilet bathrooms were fine. Not super clean and not super dirty. I did not try the shower but it looked like people were using it.

This time of year, bring some bug repellent or wear jeans and a light long sleeve shirt at night. New Mexico has had a lot of moisture this season, so I think the bug-giness is higher than usual. Still, I sat outside and read for an hour or so pretty comfortably.

The camp host was lovely.

Let me start by saying we are tent campers. We stopped at Big Meadows in hopes of doing some fishing w our 13 and 4 yr old. The campground was a bit off the highway and we saw countless waterfalls along the way to the campground entrance Immediately upon getting to our site my heart sank because I realized our site didn't have a tent pad. I think I was so excited to find a site close to the water that I missed that. We were able to make due, but I DONT recommend this site for a tent. Its a shorter, back in site with a little path down to a bridge. Gorgeous view. Upon walking around, I saw numerous sites, including site #5 that had a tent pad, that would be much more preferable if youre a tent camper. Now, the most impressive part of this campground is its bathroom on the lower level loop. Although a pit toilet, its should win an award because of its cleanliness. Firewood is 10$ a bundle here. Several people fishing. Friendly hosts drove by a couple of times.