Best Campgrounds near Franktown, CO

Road coming in has some gnarly washboard for the first 2ish miles, at one point we were just crawling cause it was so rough. After that it's smooth sailing until you get to the part of the road where it narrows, just pray other cars aren't coming down the road, there's some blind hills & turns, locals were just flying through it, almost had a head on collision, so go slow. Sites 1-3 were empty on a Thursday around 5pm. There's absolutely no shade for 1-3, we grabbed 3, it being the closest to the woods. Now if you go past 3 there's a sign for a trailhead & then a sign that says the road is closed in 3/4 of a mile, sites 4-7 are down there, I would recommend having some sort of suv/truck, the dirt road is a little off cambered. I think 7 is the most epic, but all those sites were taken. 

Site 3: All the sites have a bbq pit & fire ring. I give this site 3 stars cause of all the broken glass & shot guns shells. There was very minimal trash, but man, my dog couldn't walk anywhere cause of all the glass. The weather said absolutely no rain, but just a word of caution, it might rain, we got stormed on multiple times. If you have a roof top tent, you might be able to get 3-4 bars of 5G. I have verizon, my wife has mint mobile, both were able to doom scroll while it was raining. 

Try to get there as early as possible, maybe you can secure the sites in the woods!

We are a Class C++ Leisure Travel Van Unity Model at 25'. I rate your facility a W!-The A3 site chosen is gravel with a hole or two and significantly tilted low to the front left....requiring a 4 high stack.-The highway is busy and noisy.-The bars across the road are noisy with loud music now and promises to get louder as time goes by. Staying with you is not a privilege. You promise a resort and we get a big city tenement. I suspect that you don't care to live up to your advertising and will not be phased by a customer who will never return. 

I SHOULD HAVE READ YOUR REVIEWS!

The entrance road is hard to find - Drive to the Indian Hot Springs facility in Idaho Springs, take Montane Road. It turns into Hidden Wilderness Road when the pavement ends.

As already stated by others, this is a Jeep trail. Do not attempt without 4WD at any time of year. It’s dangerous to turn around, and the trails kinda busy. You could get in a bind here if you’re not careful.

There are multiple campsites along the road, one at each switchback, and at least a dozen on top of the mountain. Campsites on top are large, wooded, and spread out. The switchback spots aren’t as good. I was able to find a flat spot up top big enough for a 10x10 tent, but I had to look around a bit.

If you keep following the main “road”, it eventually ends at a private gate, and you’ll need to turn around and backtrack about a quarter mile to get a camping spot.

I spent 2 weeks here in a full size 4x4 pickup with stock suspension, drove up and down the mountain about 5 times, slowly, without issue. I probably wouldn’t drive up there in a Subaru, but I did in fact see several Subarus up there on weekends.

This is a popular place for locals to shoot guns and ride dirt bikes. There are brass shell casings on the ground literally everywhere, and a LOT of shooting most days. More traffic than you would think on such a treacherous road, almost all locals coming up for the day.

Saw a couple of NFS maintenance trucks, no rangers or other staff. Peaceful spot at night. I’m a remote worker, and Starlink and Verizon both have good signal. Firewood everywhere. No water, rivers or lakes, but otherwise no complaints.

We camped at tent site #41 for 3 nights in June and had a great experience. The site was clean, grassy, and very private—even though we could see neighbors, it was quiet and peaceful. No tent pad meant we could set up wherever we wanted, and there was plenty of space.

Bathrooms (vault toilets) were clean, firewood was available onsite, and there were bear-proof containers. The campground has both sun and shade, with lots of trees and a beautiful setting. Manitou Lake is just a 3-minute drive away, and town is about 6 minutes out—close but still feels like a getaway.

What made this campground amazing was how family-friendly it is. My daughter made friends, rode her scooter on the paved roads, and had a blast. We saw lots of families biking, walking, and enjoying the outdoors together.

Heads up: I have Verizon and had no cell service at the campground.

Can’t wait to come back—highly recommend for families!

Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon is everything you expect it to be and more from the overview! Nestled right in beautiful Colorado, even!& I love camping! Okay, I admit, I love‘camping’ in parks where there are cabins with beds and air! So of course, we stayed in a climate controlled cabin! Reminded me of KOA Campgrounds and similar price except this park is in COLORADO with amazing views and KOA’s are just barely outside of boring iowa/SD cities(the ones we stayed in) the scenic walks were worth it themselves!

But they have all sites, not just cabins, of course.(: I have 3 children and not one of them wanted to leave!!!(Made my sanity go a bit crazy, but says a lot when children stay somewhere for vacation and aren’t complaining and becoming bored before the end!) When we didn’t understand something they jumped to explain without being annoyed or irritated. They really hooked us up there! A little note: in my experience, and I’m sure everyone there is great, but Dillon, especially, took so much time to answer our questions show us around and ensure we had a quality time! He was so kind and has that approachable personality of someone who loves to help others and ensure you have the best possible time!! 10/10 would stop again!