Whether you're a tent camper, an RVer, or just passing through, Grand Lake, CO has a lot to offer. Grand Lake is an adventure-filled destination for those who love the outdoorsy camper lifestyle. But it's also great for those who prefer to spend time near the city, exploring and sightseeing. Find the best campgrounds near Grand Lake, CO. Read reviews from campers like you and find your perfect campsite.
$35 - $70 / night
"Nice flush toilets with running water, sinks, very clean. Water available throughout the campground and solar showers and a dishwashing station. We had spotty cell service which is fine."
"The spaces are large, but quite close to one another with few trees for privacy. Each site here is variable, with some open with no trees and others nestled in some mature trees."
$29 - $88 / night
"Our campsite was great and pretty quiet, kind of tucked away from people. The pit toilets were really clean. Very close to Grand Lake for dining."
"Great central campsite to explore the surrounding areas
Signal: 1-2 Bars LTE Verizon
Water: potable and cold, located in front of bathrooms, looked like you could thread a hose on just not super securely"
$29 - $58 / night
"The sunsets were amazing, we saw a moose in the morning drinking from the lake. Plenty of trails, and being right on the water kept us busy all day."
"Nice sized spaces, many sites close to the water, good wildlife sittings (moose, bald eagles, bear) beautiful large lake with Colorado River headwaters, near town of Grand Lake and entrance to Rocky Mt"
$40 - $60 / night
"Good size camping sites with water and electric hookup. Clean bathrooms with warm showers available. Plenty of onsite activities to do as well."
"We pitched a tent here for 3 nights. Excellent, very large facility next to RMNP. The tent sites are large and spaced out nicely to provide some privacy."
$45 - $70 / night
"Great staff and great people!! Big area and right across the road from the Lake so easy walk. Has super clean bathroom showers and facilities."
"Great place for kids and pets. Playground , pool, and nicely stocked camp store. Not a ton of shade so, it gets hot at 2:00 p.m. It is right off the road so some traffic noise."
$5 / night
"Campground sits by itself on a small peninsula in Lake Granby, CO. Has many drive up spots with gravel tent pads. Sites are not right on top of each other so you will have some space."
"I would imagine that this location is heavily trafficked during the summer months due to its proximity to the water and the surrounding towns. "
"We were lucky enough to snag one of the tent camping sites at Sunset Point, which had direct access to the lake and awesome views!"
"Nice allocated areas to set up tents on flat ground and a good sizes fire pit. Just know there’s no firewood left to scavenge on the grounds."
$51 - $350 / night
"Our site (308) had an outdoor kitchen area, nice firepit and chairs, and outdoor table and chairs."
"Pool, hot tubs, bar/restaurant, general store, arcade, mini bowling alleys, lake for paddle boarding, access to fishing on the Colorado River. Views are beautiful and a very easy drive from Denver."
$17 / night
"We spent that morning roaming around highway 14 near SFSP looking for moose - and found two!"
"Great access to the lake. Private sites varying in size to accommodate larger RVs or tents. Our site was large enough to accommodate a hybrid trailer and large SUV."
$35 / night
"Staff and Rangers are very friendly and helpful, very knowledgeable about the area. Other reviews mention only 3.2 alcohol, but that rule has changed!"
"Not far outside of Estes Park, but far enough up the side of a mountain to enjoy the wilderness. Sites spaced nicely apart, very well maintained, great fire pits with an attached grill grate."
ScoutWas an old KOA. In fact, there are two typical KOA A frame buildings that need to be torn down due to their lack of upkeep. The grounds were overgrown with weeds knee high.
ScoutGood size camping sites with water and electric hookup. Clean bathrooms with warm showers available. Plenty of onsite activities to do as well. Pancake breakfast requires reservations and totally worth it. The pancakes are huge and there are plenty of mix-ins to choose from. This campsite is only minutes from Grand Lake so you can go to town fairly easily. I would come back here again.
RangerBeautiful campground with great amenities. Nice flush toilets with running water, sinks, very clean. Water available throughout the campground and solar showers and a dishwashing station. We had spotty cell service which is fine. A short hike takes you to sprague lake or the park and ride shuttle to bear lake area. The shuttle does come into the camp, but due to construction it was easier to walk over to the park and ride. If possible take the drive up through the park to grand lakes via the alpine visitor center!
GuideWe stayed in the Roaring Fork loop, and it did not disappoint! The sunsets were amazing, we saw a moose in the morning drinking from the lake. Plenty of trails, and being right on the water kept us busy all day. Plus we weren’t to far from Grand Lake so we made a visit there for food, and some hiking. We would definitely recommend!
LegendWe camped in Willow Creek Campground for one night this passed July 2018 on a road trip from California to Granby, CO. We camped in State Forest State Park the previous night, which was about an hour or so North of the town of Granby. We spent that morning roaming around highway 14 near SFSP looking for moose - and found two! After seeing the moose we decided to head down to the Granby area to try to find a campsite for the night - we were meeting up with family the following afternoon to check into a rental house for a wedding. As we were driving down highway 125 towards Granby, we spotted our third moose of the day! He was skittish and ran away upon seeing us approach him.
Willow Creek Campground was the first stop on our list of potential camp spots - it is a first come first served campground, and we lucked out, there were a few open sites. This is one of those areas that you need pay for both a park pass AND a campsite, but our Interagency Pass qualified for the park pass. The campsites are reasonable at $22 per night.
The campground is near a reservoir, alongside a small river. The sites are fairly primitive, with no hookups available - each site has a picnic table, fire pit, and some had a tent-pad area (ours did). Some of the sites were next to the reservoir or the river; most sites were grassy, good sized, and spread out, but there was very little in the way of trees for shade or privacy. This is an area of Colorado that has been hit by the pine beetle epidemic, so a lot of the pine trees had been cleared from the park, especially in the Willow Creek Campground itself. A lot of the trees across the river were dead and brown - it’s sad that that is such a common site in Colorado these days. There were, however, some very healthy aspens in the area around the park and the reservoir. Because there is so little shade and trees available, I would suggest bringing an easy up, if you have one. This area can get hot in the summer, and thunderstorms happen frequently enough. Willow Creek Campground had drinking water available, and had well maintained vault toilets.
At the time of our road trip, the state of Colorado was in various stages of fire restrictions/bans - in the week that we were traveling around Colorado we stayed in parks with fire bans in full effect, and some with only fire restrictions, all within an hour of each other. Willow Creek had a stage 1 fire restriction, so we were able to burn charcoal and firewood in the designated firepit in the site.
WARNING: You ARE in bear country and there were no bear bins in the campground - be bear safe and bear smart, lock all of your food and toiletries inside your car at night. I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows, so we always put a towel and gear over our coolers when keeping them in the car overnight.
The campground was nice and quiet, without much noise pollution from the nearby road. The campers were all considerate with their noise levels, so it was a very peaceful stay. The park is very pretty, with lots of small trails. We found little clusters of aspen trees, and saw deer and foxes on an evening walk. I got up early the next morning to see if I could photograph any wildlife, and found the foxes again!
When talking to our neighbors, they suggested that we visit Grand Lake over Granby Lake - they felt Grand Lake was prettier, and they talked up the little village area near the lake. After we broke down camp, we drove to Grand Lake and hiked some the North Inlet Trail - we probably went a mile passed Cascade Falls, then turned around to go back. The hike is fairly easy, moderate, in parts.
The little village of Grand Lake is charming and quaint, and is reminiscent of a boardwalk. There are a lot of gift shops and restaurants along a main road, and we spent a little time roaming in an out of stores. For the rubber ducky lovers out there, Grand Lake has an ENTIRE STORE dedicated to rubber duckies called the Quacker Gift Shop! I collect rubber duckies, so I was pretty excited - they even had a Grand Lake moose “rubber duck” - I had to get him, since we had seen three moose the previous day. He is one of my favorite trip souvenirs ever!
We decided on ice cream for lunch - SUCH A GOOD CHOICE. The ice cream from Grand Lake Chocolates was some of the best ice cream of my life!
After our morning hike and visit to the Grand Lake boardwalk, we headed over to Granby Ranch, a ski resort near the rental house we would be staying in. The ski lifts were operating for visitors and downhill cyclists, so we took the ski lift up to the top of the little mountain - it was a fun ride with gorgeous views! We roamed around on some of the paths for a while, until it started thundering overhead. We raced back to the ski lifts, but they had already been shut down. The resort personnel took us to a yurt that’s used as a warming hut in the winter, and had us stay in there until some stuttle vans could come and take us down the mountain. By the time we got down to the lodge it was about time to check into our house, so we left.
CAMPSITE SPECS
Fees: $22/night + recreation pass fee
Plumbed Toilets: NO - vault
Drinking Water: Yes
Showers: NO
Picnic Table: Yes
Firepit: Yes
Cooking Grate: Yes
Shade: NO - limited
Cell Service: Limited
Animal Bins/Food Lockers: NO
Trash: Yes
GuideBase 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!
GuideIt’s a small campground at the entrance to Mount Evans. Some of the sites are very close proximity, while others are pretty spread out. The camp host Rick was awesome! If your looking to party it up all night, this is not the place for you. Rick follows the quiet hours to a T! I would recommend this place for a night or 2. Also recommend the drive up to Mount Evans, spectacular views! There is a store/restaurant across the street from the campground, but it’s mostly touristy things, no camping supplies.
TravelerNice people, but right against the road. My tent was 50 feet from the main road and I tried to sleep with my head under the pillow. Also, showers are TINY, but bathhouse is air conditioned.
ScoutBeautiful campsites next to water with onsite water access. Wonderful campfire pits/grills and picnic tables. Quiet hours were no inforced which can be good or bad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Grand Lake, CO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Grand Lake, CO is Glacier Basin Campground — Rocky Mountain National Park with a 4.5-star rating from 60 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Grand Lake, CO?
TheDyrt.com has all 52 glamping camping locations near Grand Lake, CO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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