Best Equestrian Camping near Estes Park, CO

Equestrian Camping Reviews near Estes Park, CO

324 Reviews of 34 Estes Park Campgrounds

• 

  David L.

  Traveler

  May. 22, 2022

  Granite Gulch Campground — Hermit Park Open Space

  You feel like your camping.

  You must first stop at the base to check in this is where very friedly people checked us in explained the bear behavior and bear safty. The site have bear boxes. We then paid the 9 dollar a day use fee . When we reserved we had already paid 43 dollars a day for dry camp. This is my only reason for 4 stars instead of 5. There is a short drive over a tall hill to a valkey with 3 camp grounds. Hermits hollow, Bob cat and kruger equestrian . Hermits hollow is better for small rigs and tents. Some sites are not level but all are nice. Bob cat is better for your midsize rigs and seems a bit more managable. Kruger equestrian is for hourse trailers. There is a great hike up to the top of kruger rock thats not to hard. Your not far from Estes Park a tourist town that has shops food and fishing.

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• 

  Mike T.

  Guide

  Nov. 29, 2022

  Hermits Hollow Campground — Hermit Park

  Great Site Easy Access

  This is a great park. I camped in late July. With the exception of a few rain showers, the weather was great. This campground has all the privacy you would expect yet provides easy access to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountian National Forest. The Laramie County Staff that were on site were kind and helpful. I even had the chance to see some elk walk through while picking up firewood at the office. There are miles of trails within the park if you choose not to venture out to the National Forest. I will 100% be staying at this park again!  Group sites and equestrian sites are available too.

• 

  Amanda M.

  Legend

  Aug. 5, 2018

  East Portal Campground at Estes Park

  GREAT campground right outside Rocky Mountain National Park

  We stayed at Estes Park Campground at East Portal when we visited Rocky Mountain National Park this past July 2018. At first I was disappointed that we could not Moraine Valley or Aspen Grove campgrounds within RMNP, but I am SO GLAD we ended up staying at Estes Park Campground at East Portal! While it is a private campground and is more expensive than a State Park, National Park, Forest Service or BLM campground ($35 for a standard tent site without hookups…it increases with equipment hookups), I think it was well worth the extra money.

  Estes Park Campground at East Portal is a short drive away from both RMNP and the city of Estes Park, so you are nearby everything. The camp hosts were extremely friendly, and shockingly, while there was a fire ban in place inside RMNP and outside the park near the Grand Lake area, campfires WERE allowed at Estes Park Campground at East Portal, so long as they were small and contained within the fire ring (which did have a grate for cooking!). The hosts at Estes Park Campground at East Portal had firewood for sale, and even dropped it off for us at our campsite! They also had ice for sale.

  The sites are not extremely private, but are all surrounded by tall, thin trees. The trees are perfect for hammocks, so if you have a hammock, bring one! Also, the trees would be useful for handing extra tarps if a thunderstorm was to pass through the area; we had tarps and bungee cords and ropes at the ready in case a storm came. We were lucky, a HUGE storm had rolled through the night before we arrived, and another started just as we had finished packing up the car to leave Estes Park.

  Each campsite has a newly build, raised tent pad to set your tent up on - the management is extremely strict that campers MUST place their tents only on the designated tent pad. I did not have a problem with that, as the tent pad is nice and flat, and has some compacted sandy soil which helps keep the dirt out of your tent. The sites are separated by thin logs placed on the ground.

  WARNING: You ARE in bear country, so be bear safe and use the shared bear bins available in the campground! Our party had two adjacent campsites, so we were able to share the shared bear bin amongst just our own party. The neighbor on the other side of us had a bear bin, and it didn’t appear that he had to share his with if his neighbors. Try to lock all of your food and toiletries inside the food locker - they are large, and we have always been able to fit our big cooler into locker. If you do have to leave a cooler in the car, I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows - he suggested putting put a towel and gear over your coolers when keeping them in the car overnight in bear territory.

  The best part about this campground is that it had hot FREE and clean showers!!!! As a California girl who’s used to the extreme drought conditions, having a hot free shower available was absolute heaven while camping. There was also a big farm sink outside the bathrooms for dish washing and water bladder filling - it was extremely convenient.

  There is only one trash receptacle area in the campground, up towards the entrance near the playground. Even though the campground is fairly small, we were lazy and kept our trash in the cars at night, and dropped it off in the morning when we were headed out to RMNP. There is also a water spigot near the garbage bins - it was a good reminder that we hadn’t filled up our water bladders for a day of hiking.

  Estes Park Campground at East Portal is located at the very end of a road, so it is nice and quiet, without noise pollution from traffic. The campground is only about 20 minutes away from Moraine Park inside RMNP. It was easy to get to and from the NP, where we went each day to hike and search for moose.

  We found moose at Sprague Lake, around dusk! A momma moose and her yearling twins came down from the wooded hills to graze on the water plants growing in the shallow lake. They were pretty unconcerned by the crowd of people watching them, but it’s important to still give them their space, as they are very large, wild animals (ESPECIALLY during mating season, and when a momma is with her young babies). The moose were truly an amazing site to see, nobody in my party from California had ever seen a moose before this trip to Colorado.

  The camp hosts said moose and elk will occasionally make an appearance at the Estes Park Campground at East Portal. We did not see either while at camp, but we frequently deer and fawns running through the woods directly behind the campground.

  WARNING: in the woods behind the campground there is a NO TRESPASSING zone where there are piles of chopped, dead trees - those tree piles contain the remains of the trees that were infected by the pine beetle epidemic that has killed so many trees in the area. The piles will be burned in the winter and should not be touched or disturbed.

  CAMPSITE SPECS

  Fees: $35/night

  Plumbed Toilets: Yes

  Drinking Water: Yes

  Showers: Yes (no coins needed!!)

  Picnic Table: Yes

  Firepit: Yes

  Cooking Grates: Yes

  Shade: Yes

  Cell Service: Yes

  Animal Bins/Food Lockers: Yes (shared)

  Trash: Yes

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• 

  Jessica H.

  Scout

  Jun. 15, 2016

  East Portal Campground at Estes Park

  Small, clean, convenient

  Just south of Estes Park, this small organized campground was perfect for our first trip of the season. The bathrooms were clean, and close to almost every site. They had a very nice playground for the kids with a climbing wall. The camp store was tiny, but had a few things we needed and super friendly. And the best was that the campground was just steps away from a trailhead into the National Forest. We hiked about 4.5 miles roundtrip to Sprague Lake.

• 

  Brian B.

  Guide

  Jul. 18, 2016

  East Portal Campground at Estes Park

  East Portal RV camping

  Stayed a Saturday night at the Estes Park East Portal campground. We brought out 22ft RV and it fit the site perfectly. Anything larger will be difficult to navigate. The park is very conveniently located near Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. They have nice sites although some are small and very close to one another. They have clean bathrooms with showers and even have a playground. We had no cell service nor is there any wifi. We took the east portal trail which is a beautiful hike and goes near the reservoir. Nice place to camp!

• 

  Hannah F.

  Guide

  Aug. 19, 2020

  Hermits Hollow Campground — Hermit Park

  Best camping near RMNP

  Stayed here during our visit to RMNP and it was perfect! Very conveniently located, only a short drive into Estes Park. Lots of trails for hiking and biking in the park. Each campsite had a bear box, picnic table, and fire ring. There are plenty of trees for shade and some privacy, but you are still near other campers. You must pay for the day pass each day you camp, but there is a water fill up station which is nice. The park roads are not paved but AWD isn’t really necessary. Would definitely stay here again when in Estes Park.

• P

  Pat

  Scout

  Jan. 14, 2021

  Bobcat Campground — Hermit Park

  Expensive camping.

  Sites are very hard to get your unit level. Very high price for no hookups. Close to Estes Park.

• 

  Julia B.

  Guide

  Jul. 18, 2016

  East Portal Campground at Estes Park

  Great location!

  The campground was decent. Some of the spots were quite "cozy". We lucked out with a nice roomy spot with a few trees. The best spots are A42 and 1-3. The bathrooms were well kept with nice showers. The camp hosts were very friendly. The best part of this campground is that you can hike into Rocky Mountain Park from the campground and there is a nice reservoir within easy walking distance. Close to Estes Park, but far enough away to actually feel like you are camping!

• 

  Ken B.

  Traveler

  Oct. 10, 2025

  Hermits Hollow Campground — Hermit Park

  Nice campground

  The sites are spacious and far enough apart. Not much for views but the place was clean and the staff very welcoming. Close to the park and t-shirt shopping in Estes Park.