Best Tent Camping near Grand Junction, CO

Hay Press is about 45 minutes easy driving from Grand Junction. There are three man made lakes, the Fruita Reservoirs, one of which is dried up. They’re not used for town water anymore and I’m not sure if they’re stocked with fish or not, but the camping spots were easy to navigate and plentiful. The temperature is about 15 degrees cooler than Grand Junction and there was plenty of wildlife. Good spot for a quick get away. Some hiking trails, not much 4 wheeling.

We stayed at the tent camping spots by the river for one night on our trip back to Denver. The tents sites were widely available since it was a Sunday night but I could see it being a little crowded during peak times as the tent sites are close together (However, they only allow one tent per a site so big groups would have to rent multiple spots and this will keep things more calm and not over-packed). The tent sites have a table, fire ring, and shade cover by trees. The amenities (bathroom, shop, pool) were unexpected but very nice! I would stay here again as it is clean, not too expensive, good shade, access to the river, and close to downtown Palisades for wine tastings.

Monument RV park is located in Fruita, CO which is only 12 miles or 20 minutes from Grand Junction. Fruita has a lot to offer for a small town. There are biking and hiking trails as well as the national monument itself.

At the campground, we were pleased with our stay. The bathrooms, showers and laundry were up to par. Although, one of the buildings was closed for the winter. The dog park had waste that guests didn’t pick up, but it was nice they had a space dedicated to our pets. There is a pool for the warmer months and it’s in close proximity to a Dairy Queen, liquor store and other restaurants. They also have a RV storage space!

June 2023. Road easy to access right off of rt 50. Came down from Grand Junction and it was an easy ride. The dirt road was easy for our 2wd Toyota. The Potholes area had the cleanest vault toilet and well maintained sites. It seems busier than we wanted so we drove further down the road about 1 mile and many more sites on both sides of the road. We pulled to the right and there was a spot for bigger campers and about 10 sites with 2 more across the street between the canyon walls. Couldn't get down to river as most of the river front area is private property. Even at potholes you would need to scrabble down the walls toget to waters edge. What the spot to ourselves for a Friday-Sunday. Bring tons of water as there is no water access. We didn't explore further down the road, but on the map there is a trail head further down. See pics of the road and our sites and enjoy!!

General: Sites ranging from tents to vans to full hookup RV to cabins. Be aware all of these options are quite pricey, ranging from $54 to$107 (not including cabins– I don’t know the price of these). We had originally reserved a site last year but had to cut our trip short; we had the option of forfeiting our money or rolling over our reservation to any date in the future, which was appreciated. We reserved our site at the end of January via e-mail and it was confirmed (and a site assigned) via phone in early February. However, when we arrived, our reservation confirmation was not waiting for us on the board with the others. There was no one at the office but Billy, a maintenance employee, was very helpful and told us we could just set up at the site that had been assigned to us. 

Site Quality: Varies. In my opinion, the tent sites by the river (Site T7-9) are the best, but these are $67 per night. We were in Van Site 2 which has a short gravel driveway and lawn area, but the driveways between Van Sites 1 and 2 are so close together, that it would not be possible for both vans to have their doors open at the same time (and, of course, there would be zero privacy) Fortunately, no one was in the site next to us. Since van campers sleep (and sometimes cook, depending on the weather) inside their vans, it would have made sense to space the driveways apart with the grass area in between. Van Sites 5 and 6 mirror Sites 1 and 2. Van Sites 3 and 4 have more separation and would be more desirable but sites are assigned, not chosen. The RV sites are spaced a decent amount of distance apart. 

Bathhouse: Was very clean with plenty of stalls and sinks. The door to the handicap stall was broken but I assume that will be fixed. The showers looked very clean as well, although I did not use them. The hooks are outside of the stall, which could compromise privacy. There is a vault toilet for the tent sites, although it would not be an undoable walk to the flush toilets. 

Activities: There is a pool on site. There are nearby hikes listed on the website, but we did not stay long enough to check them out. Close to the small town of Palisade and the larger hubs of Grand Junction and Fruita. There are also nearby wineries. 

Other: There is a laundry room and dishwashing sink, as well as a picnic pavilion.  Note that the dishwashing sink was not located near the tent sites.

Although the facility was clean and well-maintained, the prices are high, and four of the van sites are too close together to make it enjoyable if all sites were occupied. Also, you will hear road noise from nearby I70 and a very loud train sometime in the middle of the night!

Great find... vineyards all around, a local brewery, tent sites on the Colorado river. The winery next door (colterris) is awesome. Small family owned great atmosphere. A truly amazing stop on our way east

Stopped here for the night before skiing at PowderHorn. Campground was easy to find, clean and quite. We stayed in a tent site and were the only ones there! There is a portapotty at the entrance of the tent sites but a shower/bath house in the main are which is just a short walk. The bathroom was very clean and showers hot. There is a fenced in dog run area that my pup enjoyed.

We stayed here in the tent camping spots for two nights. The restrooms were clean and the site had a light over the picnic table which was really nice for setting up in the dark. The highway noise could be a little loud at times, but generally it wasn’t too bad to get a good night sleep.

Dewey Bridge campsite was full and we drove down the road and lucked into the last empty spot. This spot is amazing. The views alone but the history of the site adds heft. Good spacing between sites. RV and tent camping available. Clean composting toilets. No RV hook ups but who cares when you have this view.

Near multiple fishing lakes, hiking trails and just down the road from a national recreation trail.  Quiet and very clean.  Love the walk up tent sites up on the hill.  Gives opportunity to site on the hillside for breakfast while watching the fishing in the lake in front of the campground.  Great place for a weekend getaway

Found this spot and was very happy with the setup. Like other reviews, the highway noise was a bit loud but nothing too crazy, especially really late. There were other campers spread out nicely, you wouldn’t even know they were there. The road is a bit iffy so snagging a spot at the front would be best if you don’t have 4WD (my Nissan car struggled, we had to back up & turn around). Overall great spot for tent camping! Remember to leave no trace 🫶🏼🏕️🌎

Great location for visiting the National Monument. Picnic tables and fire pits everywhere, all are tent sites. Parking is available, but you can’t drive directly up to the site, it’s only a few yards away though. Stayed two nights. There’s a bathroom, it’s an average pit toilet so it’s not the best thing ever. Great place to explore, recommend hiking out to the Miracle Rock & going further up along the ridge line. Did some bouldering too, so bring your climbing shoes if that interests you.

One of the furthest campgrounds from Moab but totally worth the beautiful drive. It is less crowded than the other ones and it has amazing views and clean toilets (no shower). There is also a boat landing area and nice 3-mile hike across the road. This is a first come first serve campground. We arrived on a wed around 5pm in Sep and there were still a couple of tent sites available while all other campgrounds were full. They have fire pits so make sure you bring wood to make a campfire.