Best Glamping near Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, CO

Favorite spot to go glamping. Pay showers (4 mins for 4 quarters) and there is power at the campsite. The hosts are always nice and other campers have been polite about quiet time etc...it's only a 22 min drive to the newly renovated hot springs pool. It's very hot during the day, but cools off at night. The beach is great if you can get a grassy area to put towels down. Love going here for a clean camping experience.

In addition to plenty of tent and RV sites, Ridgeway SP also has three heated and furnished yurts for those seeking an enhanced comfort level. Each unit includes a fridge, futon type beds, dinner table and chairs. Bring your fishing poles, hiking shoes, water craft and dogs, cause they're all allowed.

Beautiful views of the mountains and a 5-mile long reservoir make this campground pretty spectacular. You can even rent one of the 3 yurts if you like. You are also only about 10 minutes from the Orvis Hot Springs and a great BBQ place called Welded Elephant BBQ Shack.

Ridgway State Park was a convenient location for my trip through Colorado to Utah. After a stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison Ridgway was a great spot to stop for an overnight out of any city. At the Dakota Terraces there are only a handful of spots for tents so if you know you are going to camp here make a reservation. This was a last minute stop on our trip and I snagged the last tent spot in the campground. They have full facilities and even a few Yurts you can rent for larger parties that looked like fun. Didn't stay long because we were only looking for a spot for the night. The only downfall is that the site were very close together and this is more of an RV Campground.

One of the most beautiful camping experiences we've had. Camped one night on our road trip throughout southwestern Colorado. Campsites over look the canyon.

Nice campground with spacious sites. Concrete pads under the picnic table and fire pits. Water access nearby. Bathrooms were super clean and the showers were nice and hot. Laundry facilities available. We stayed on D-183 and had a nice view of the mountains and the lake. Definitely one of the best state park campgrounds in Colorado.

We tent camped here on an amazing tent deck.  Our first experience with this!  We love this part of Colorado.  So many beautiful sites to see and things to do.  We have family to visit here, as well.

Stayed here in the month of August when you have to watch for those pesky but awesome thunderstorms.  

Well maintained campground with clean facilities.  We'll definitely be back!

This RV park had a great shower/ bathroom and laundry facility. Our spot overlooked the Colorado River and had great scenic views. We had no issues with the hookups even though the temperatures were below freezing. It's mandatory to have a heated hose during the colder months. The Wi-Fi had a strong signal and we had very few issues with lagging.

I've. been visiting this area of Colorado since childhood so it has special meaning for me. We remember the area BEFORE there was a reservoir!  This campground doesn't disappoint!  Our site had a view of Courthouse Peak.  The area feels natural and sites are spaced out. We had water and electric.  There's a dump station on site.

We only had one night here, it was the last night of the season for our area and the next nights were full.

Popular campground likely requires advance reservations for peak season.

My wife and I stayed here in March of 2022. The campground was awesome and there didn’t seem to be a bad spot in the entire loop. Good views of the San Juan Mountains to the south! Power hook-ups were nice, but no water hook-ups during “winter” months. With that said, there was community spigots located near the campsites that were still on if you need to top off your fresh water tanks. The dump station was also nice, but no running water there during the winter either.

The location of this place was perfect for us as we were there for skiing; One hour from Telluride, one hour from Silverton, and only 30 minutes from the Red Mountain backcountry skiing area.

Ridgway Colorado is only a few miles down the road if you need gas or supplies, and Ouray is just past that if you’re looking for great restaurants and breweries.

Driving through Colorado in the fall there is nothing which can compare. Mild days and cool nights equate to perfect camping for those who are a bit adventurous and that is a term which suits me to a T!

I found myself in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison area in early October.  As I happened to be driving I noticed signs for the National Park, which otherwise I didn’t know was even there.  I took a turn and drove up the winding paved path, used my park pass and loved what I found.  It was like a dark canyon of steep embankments.  I could see for what seemed like forever downward to the waters which cut through the canyon.

I went on the short distance to the visitor center before deciding I wanted to check out the camping at this facility and when I did so I was so excited.  The campgrounds just were a continuation of the amazing views and because it was fall, the site was not full.

Sites were average size and offered great views.  It looked like mostly a tent zone which was nice, although it did look like perhaps it could accommodate an RV, though there were not any present when I was there.  

The campground had several bear boxes around, which kind of made it all seem so real about the wildlife presence in the area.  There were also a few water spouts available and vault toilets nearby.  Picnic tables were scattered and in good condition.

Something that makes this site unlike many in Colorado area was that I didn’t see any scheduled closures posted. Many sites in the state close with weather and do not offer services, this one might do the same but I saw no obvious postings to indicate such.

My site was $16, which was not bad considering the views and access to trails.  You could easily follow the roads and find something of interest is you were not wanting to hike and had a lot of information available just a short distance ahead at the visitor center.

TIPS:

• This is not a fill up station for your water reserves as water is limited at these points.
• Check out a trip down to the river if you have an opportunity, it is amazing from above but the access below displays an entire different ecosystem of vegetation and animals.
• Drive slowly on roads leading up to your turn, this area is heavily patrolled and it is easy to miss speed limit signs in the area.

Campground Review

I only stayed for an overnight but I did make a reservation, although they were not full. They do close at 6pm (the office does) so late entry doesn't work unless you have made a reservation. I found my map and site info in a mailbox at the office entry. I chose to stay in the section along the river. All the way in the very last site, I think it was site 9. When I got to my site, there weren't very many other campers but I was quickly greeted by a man in a golf cart. Turns out he was the camp host. He was really coming down to view the sunset, which was very nice, but he also chatted with me for a bit.

The site itself was quite small. It was a good thing I had a very small tent. I spent a bit of time just trying to decide where I'd put it due to signs stating no camping beyond a certain point. The camp host kind of sorted it out with me. But I have a tiny two man tent and it was the perfect size for it. There was a picnic table, what appeared to be a brand new firing (this campground is new) and an electric outlet. Of course, there was also the fabulous view of the Colorado River just about 200 feet away. The bathrooms were up the ridge, although there was a porta potty just at the end of the riverfront sites. The bathrooms were pretty extravagant. Heated, flush toilets, free showers, running water sinks, mirrors galore. There were also family restrooms, I did not explore those. Laundry facilities were also onsite. Along with greenhouses, gardens, a swimming pool and a hot tub. What looked like an area to have a gathering with a grill. There was a trail that went around the park too. Up until recently the Colorado River has been too low to fish but I imagine fishing is about to get better now that it's really flowing.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Morsel Sporks. I went with the XL Morsel Sporks because we do a lot of eating out of a bag when we are in fire bans, which is often. This trip was no exception, except we are not in a fire ban. At first glance, these sporks seem really durable. Which is good, camping can be rough on utensils. I noted the spoon on one end and the rubber edge for getting every last bit, also the fork with the knife like edge on it. I did use the knife like edge to cut ham and it worked fairly well, not as well as an actual knife but that can be expected. The meals I had this trip made more use of the spoon then the fork. I had a chowder for dinner, which I transferred to a bowl due to the bag it came in being too narrow to really use the morsel spork. The other meal was granola and that package was perfect for the morsel spork. I didn't have any trouble with the spoon for mixing or eating. It held a good amount of food. The spork fit in my mouth well, I have a small mouth and sometimes if a utensil is too big it can be difficult to get in my mouth, but this fit well. They were so simple to clean too. I was using just a jetboil and was able to get my morsel sporks completely clean. Food didn't get stuck anywhere. Another feature that may become useful is the hole on the end of the fork that I could use to attach my spork to my bike while I travel. They are dishwasher safe and BPA free so I am confidant that I can add these sporks to my camping routine.

Campground Review: We stayed at Ward Lake on Colorado's Grand Mesa. Ward Lake sits at about 10,000 feet. So, depending on time of year, it can get a little chilly. We arrived mid morning and the camp hosts were not available. There are two campgrounds, the upper and the lower. We stayed in the lower campground. The upper seemed to house more families and had more wooded sites, the lower seemed more suited to rvs and such but we still put our tent up in the lower section. Our site said that it was a shore line site, but the lake was down something like 40 feet and was supposed to drop another 20 feet. The shoreline was a bit muddy and the rocks made navigating the area difficult for us. Other people went down and fished though and did appear to be catching fish.

Our site was a bit less shaded, which we chose because we were expecting it to be chilly. There were some great shaded spots also but we were looking for sun. It had plenty of room for our two tents (they are small but still), it had a long driveway and a picnic table along with a fire ring. The restrooms were very near by, just across the road. The restrooms were immaculate! Some of the cleanest pit toilets we've seen. No oder and very clean. The whole campground was really clean in fact. The hosts were doing an amazing job.

The chilly weather had us wanting to get moving so we found Ward Lake Trail and hiked all the way to the other side of the lake, which was beautiful! The trail was amazing, the trees were great and it made for a very scenic trail. The hike back was a little less scenic, along the shore line, the rocks were hard to navigate at times, especially with a 3 year old along. When we returned to our site, the rest of the campground had begun to fill up and the host made the rounds to collect our registrations. The fee was $18 for the night. The hosts were very friendly and sociable.

There was a wedding on the other side of the lake and by nightfall the band was in full swing. The music was pleasurable and not over powering. I don't know if weddings are common but we enjoyed listening under the stars.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Green Goo Pain Relief. Our green goo arrived just in time, we hit up the post office, tossed it in our bag and then headed to the mountain. I have chronic knee pain from many years of playing hockey and I was coming off a nasty fall that left my knees swollen, bruised and sore. So while hiking, they definitely started to act up. The green goo pain relief is a bit softer then many of the ointments I've used, making it really easy to rub in. While hiking, I was able to simply pull up my pants leg, rub it on, drop the pants leg and keep right on hiking. To my surprise, it took care of the pain immediately! But, and I hate to have a but, it only lasted 15-20 minutes before my knees got achy again. It didn't really have a cooling/heating effect but it did provide immediate relief. I'll definitely use it again.