Best Equestrian Camping near Jamestown, CO

This is one of my all-time favorite places to hike and camp in Colorado. I have not yet stayed in any of the campgrounds but have backpacked to the top of the American Lakes Trail. Not only is this hike fantasticly beautiful and full of wildlife (tons of moose especially) but there is great dispersed camping along the trails. You simply cannot find more scenic and free camping in Colorado. I would highly recommended camping anywhere in State Forest State Park!

Also, there are quite a few huts, cabins and yurts that can be rented year round in SFSP!

This is a bare bones remote campground with assigned sites and vault toilets. There is no potable water on site, so bring plenty of water for your stay. The 18 sites are on a first come basis and can't be reserved.

I don't own horses, but have seen some in the area so it is equestrian friendly. The campground is located in a canyon with high cliffs and there are several hiking and backpacking trails that branch off from the campground. The south fork of the white river runs through the campground affording good fly fishing.

While you can get to the campground in a standard automobile the gravel road is rutted in places as you get close to the campground and can become dicey in heavy rain or snow for the last mile or two. 

I have been there numerous times as early as July and as late as September when snow can be expected.

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.

Although it was a quick overnight trip for us, don’t let that be you! It’s we’ll thought out with lots of activity areas like, mountain bike trail, shooting area, off leash dog area, model airfield, equestrian trails, lake and hiking trails! It’s a 4200 acre park with 850 acre reservoir. It’s a destination, really!

So much to do in this little area-lakes, trails, horses. Very close to red rocks. This is still in town so great for beginners

A lovely wooded campground literally on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park - we even saw moose from the back window of our RV!  Options for everyone from cabins, to FHU RV sites (limited and not the ideal locations, but still nice), water/electric sites and tenting areas.  Even Conestoga wagons!  There is horseback riding on site and we loved watching the horses run in and out each morning/evening and you just have to cross the road for a pretty hike along the Colorado River in RMNP (no dogs on the trails).  We camped with our Great Dane - very dog friendly with bag stations around the park.  Friendly and helpful staff, a small shop with supplies and souvenirs, a cute little petting zoo with goats, sheep, and pigs.

Close proximity to the highway. Clean level spots. Geared more towards RV camping. Pros: great views of the foothills. Lots of park amenities like horse stables, archery range, swim beach, boat rentals, hiking trails, picnic areas. Con: Orange glow of Home Depot sign at night and no shade during the day. Your camping reservation (strongly recommended) includes park admission.

This is a beautiful campground with lots of family-friendly activities to do.  They have direct access to the headwaters of the Colorado River.  We visited a little late in the season (August) to catch many fish, but we still had fun.  We found some tailwaters below the big lakes and caught some trout on the fly rods.  

This site is minutes away from an entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We got up early and hiked a trail in RMNP and had a few moose walk right past us.  It is also close by to the major lakes of the area.  

They rent ATVs and lots of people bring their own horses to this campground to enjoy the many back-country trails that begin at the back of the property and go high up into the mountains.  

Facilities were well kept and clean.

was just beautiful all the staff was wonderful and made our first in Co wonderful I would deffiantly recommend this place for sure beautiful views the yurt was awsome and we tent camped last night please come visit and see for yourself they have archery, a beach, horse stables and ring, large lake to fish, clean bathrooms and courthouses will stay again if we are ever in co again😁😍❤

Stay here a couple times a year, great amenities and lots to do with a swim beach, shore line, horses, boat ramp and model planes. Model plane field is close to the campground, can hear it early in the morning. D loop is quietest, C loop is electric only so you have to wait in the dump line, and I've found A & B loops to generally be the rowdiest. Recent construction has started of a big housing development right up against the park so get there before you're surrounded by houses!

This is a KOA journey, meaning it’s great for a stopover, and it is located next to a horse farm. If you are used to smelling farm life, then the smell won’t be a problem. This KOA is also one with long term/monthly residents but I will say the office, laundry and bathrooms were absolutely spotless! We spent 2 nights in our RV and a full day driving Poudre Canyon and it was perfect just for that. The staff was very accommodating! Office is open 8a - 8p.

After driving for nearly 4hrs to find a spot in any of the first come first serve camp grounds up Poudre Canyon we started to head home only to pull into Pingree Park for one last cry for help... we stumbled upon Jack’s Gulch, a little hidden gem, tucked inside a cute mountain trek to the CSU campus at Pingree Park. It didn’t have any “water features” like a stream or a river but it was a quick car ride to find that. The spots were clean, noise was minimal, and there were bathrooms if you needed them. A lot of options as far as camping goes - electrical sites, walk up sites, equestrian sites, and mixed use (what I like to call a mixture of tent and RV). There were also trails all around the campsite that were accessible for bikes, or hiking. It was definitely a Father’s Day to remember. Oh yea, some coyotes at night definitely woke us up! I don’t believe they made it to the campsite but they were close 😳

Winding River Resort is a hidden gem. There are plenty of campsites and a few cabins. All spaces are well laid out with plenty of space between each spot. The facilities are clean and provide everything you need for a great stay.

Be sure to book a horseback ride and get to the cowboy pancake breakfast on the weekends. (Pro tip: Bring a couple eggs for the cooks to throw on the griddle while cooking your pancakes!). If you enjoy trout fishing, be sure to explore the North Fork of the Colorado River that flows through the southend of the property. If you have a disc golfer in the group, bring the discs to play a round or three on the 9-hole course throughout the campground.

Moose have a tendency to wander through the campground toward the evening and the local elk herds like to eat with the horses. There are bear in the area, so take the proper precautions with your food and cooler storage.

Winding River is close enough to Grand Lake to get out and explore for the day and you have easy access to nearly all amenities between Grand Lake and Fraser, in case you forgot something. The cabins look great, but we have not stayed in them during our visits.

Located in the city, but once you’re in the park you don’t feel like you’re in the city at all!!! The RV spots have full hookups and are nice and spacious, as are the neighbors. We were able to set up a tent too! Great place to stroll and relax. Beautiful sunsets. Clean bathrooms and laundry facilities with a little vending machine.

A great place for camping (RV and tent spots), fishing, wildlife/nature viewing, hiking, boating (all water activities), has a swim beach, marina, off leash dog park, shooting range, horse stables that you can do a beautiful hour horseback ride.

FEES: Campsites $41 full hookup, basic campsite $28, daily park pass is $11, annual park pass $83, daily dog park pass $3, annual dog park pass $25, and group camping is available too.

Located in the city, but once you’re in the park you don’t feel like you’re in the city at all!!! The RV spots have full hookups and are nice and spacious, as are the neighbors. We were able to set up a tent too! Great place to stroll and relax. Beautiful sunsets. Clean bathrooms and laundry facilities with a little vending machine.

A great place for camping (RV and tent spots), fishing, wildlife/nature viewing, hiking, boating (all water activities), has a swim beach, marina, off leash dog park, shooting range, horse stables that you can do a beautiful hour horseback ride.

FEES: Campsites $41 full hookup, basic campsite $28, daily park pass is $11, annual park pass $83, daily dog park pass $3, annual dog park pass $25, and group camping is available too.

Located in the Arapaho National Forest, Sugarloaf is a small campground found on the Williams Fork of the Colorado River. The valley was once heavily forested but is much more open these days.

Cleared of timber a few years back due to Pine Beetle infestation, the campground is spartan with little shade or site separation. It's at the end of a dead end road making road noise minimal. The good news is that it's uncrowded and easy to secure a first come, first served site, and the trees are growing back.

There are 11 spaces many of which will accommodate RVs (we were able to fit our 30' class C), most will fit small travel trailers/pop-up campers, and all have space for tents. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring with a horse shoe pit located in the middle of the campground. There is a pit toilet and water well though the well has not been functional for some time. Trash dumpsters are on site, and water is available at South Fork campground a short distance away. While amenities are limited, activities are plentiful.

Fishing on the Williams fork is fair to good for Brook Trout with the occasional Brown Trout being caught. Pressure is generally light upstream from Sugarloaf and a bit more congested downstream where the stream is slightly larger. Once you're tired of fishing, there are numerous hiking trails to be explored.

Leaving from the the immediate area are the Darling Creek trail, the South Fork trail, the Kinney Creek trail and 4x4 road, the Ute Peak trail, and further north, the Williams Peak trail. There are also multiple Geocaches located nearby. Best bet here is to purchase a trail guide for more specifics on the area. Be sure to check with the Hot Sulphur Springs Ranger district as fires have damaged or closed many locations.

If you're looking for a laid back peaceful camping experience, Sugarloaf may just be the place for you!

Hermits Park is a great spot to know about. Anyone coming from afar is going to search for federal and state parks, but won't know to check for county parks. This used to be a private retreat for Hewlett Packard employees (HP=Hewlett Packard=Hermits Park). It's very spread out so once you enter and stop and check in, you'll continue on a slow curvy road on to either Hermits Hollow or Bobcat Gulch for your campsite. There is also a loop of cabins which can be rented fairly inexpensively. We stayed in H-11, and it's a very large site and nicely secluded from its neighboring sites. All the sites were pretty large, and there are nice rock outcroppings and large trees throughout the park. A few sites are right up on the road, but most offer nice large lot.

In spite of the many large trees, hammocks are not allowed. It is also not allowed to have any glass containers or any alcohol above 3.2%. This is a bear area, and all food or scented items need to be stored properly. Each campsite has a very large bear box large enough to accommodate anything you'd have, including coolers.

It would be nice if the county could put water in, there are two places to fill containers/rvs-one right by the entrance and another at the entrance to Bobcat Gulch. The toilets are very clean pit toilets, and of course there are no shower facilities. Even the cabins have outhouses. If this was a joint county/state park it would be amazing-lottery money could allow for modern facilities, but what is there is very clean and well maintained. It appears they are doing construction to build another camp area between the two existing areas (June 2018).

There is a large group pavilion which would make a beautiful spot for a wedding. Another area is an equestrian camping area, and there are many trails in the park.

**Campground Review: **

We really enjoyed our stay at Estes Park at East Portal! I can’t say enough good things. We passed so many parking lot campgrounds and were so happy we chose here. We had trees! Our space was large enough to accommodate our 20 ft travel trailer with our truck next to it, still leaving plenty of room for the picnic table and a chair circle around the fire. We chose to park next to the camper so as to not obstruct the view. Water and electric and a large bear box were provided. Our spot A66 overlooked a little field that every morning a little fawn would come up out of and sniff around. My kids enjoyed playing with sticks and rocks in this little field-something every kid should get to do! We had beautiful views in 3 directions(bathroom behind us). Speaking of bathrooms, they were large and clean! Auto flushing toilets, toilet paper and hand soap! A cleaning crew came in often and quickly. Individual shower rooms make for a comfortable and private hot shower very welcomed at the end of a day of nearby hiking. Mule deer came through every evening right by our camper to eat grass. One morning 3 large Bull Elk and a young bull came through the valley and up through the campground. It was so surreal! The stars were stunning too. We saw shooting stars and even the northern lights (flashing kind not curtains). Then on our last day, a rainbow could be seen right next to the campground. We could not have asked for anything more! The camp hosts were all awesome and very helpful. The location was central to most things that we wanted to do. No cell service and it was glorious! But if we did need it, about a mile down the road we picked it back up. There is a geocache very near to the campground right by a hiking trail-my boys enjoyed marking it off their list . I could watch them walk to it from the site. On our first hike we saw horse back riders from the YMCA and stunning views including a small waterfall. Wildflowers were scattered across the mountainside and there is a small reservoir for fishing-though we didn’t. The air was so clean and you could smell the pines. The site next to us was a walk-in I believe as it cycled through a few times in a week. The playground was small but my kids were satisfied. There was a rock climbing wall and swings. My husband said the dump site was not positioned perfectly for our camper but we were so happy they had one. The office has a small little store with maps brochures and some essentials or souvenirs. If we go back to Estes Park, this is definitely where we will camp again.

----------------- 

Product Review: 

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time and this time we chose to review  Fiber Light.

https://fiberlightfs.com/collections/fire-starters-tinder/products/original-fiber-light-fire-starter

My husband has been showing our 12 year old some camping how to’s and this was a fun thing for them to mess around with. They used a spark wheel to get it going (survival mode they said lol) and it lit quickly and burned for a long time! We timed a large pinch and it burned for over 5 minutes. Lights immediately with a flame lighter. Comes in a large fully packed round tin with a thick rubber band around it to seal out moisture. My son was the first to try and was not able to get lit with his Firebiner (first time using that too), but my husband got it lit right away lighting the kindling and a log. I was impressed with how much time we had to get the rest of the fire set up! This will definitely be useful in a survival or long hike situation. Thumbs up from us!

This is a great place right off the interstate and through a cute little town! Close hikes near by including one of Colorado’s 14ers.