Best Glamping near Granite, CO

Whether you're camping or staying in one of the cabins or Yurts this place is absolutely breathtaking located in the Rocky Mountains there were many miles of hiking trails and great places to go fishing for trout they don't allow motorized boats however this place was perfect for canoeing and kayaking this is a nice little getaway with breathtaking views absolutely recommended if you were in the area or looking for a nice place to get a good dose of nature

This park has so much character that it should have it’s own tv show. There are conservation areas, trails galore, historical buildings, and a beautiful lake that is surrounded with alpine forests. 

The staff is really sweet and willing to help in any way they can. We lost our pump for our inflatable and they found us one to borrow. 

The campground is large and can accommodate a lot of campers, the bathrooms are fully equipped and clean. It was quiet at night which was surprising since you are basically in a cul-de-sac of tents and rv's. There are cabins and yurts to rent as well. They are even building (or just finished) a new section of a campground that looks like it will accommodate more rv’s and boats. It is called fisherman’s paradise.

There is also a day use area with grills and picnic tables. 

The road to get out here can be rough in bad weather but low clearance is fine to get out here. WInter excursions are probably a bit tougher and would require an all wheel drive.

Slyvan Lake State Park is located outside of the Town of Eagle, CO. It takes about 20 minutes to drive from town to the park. Upon entering, there is a multitude of activities you can partake in. Besides camping, which i will get to in a second, Sylvan lake offers excellent fishing for trout, Stand up Paddle Boarding and Canoeing; Both which can be rented there. The surrounding area offers hiking and scenic drives.

As for the camping, there are a couple campgrounds in the Sylvan Lake area as well as cabins and yurts that can be rented. Camp grounds are standard forest service spots. The each feature a picnic table and metal fire rings. As always, spots range from small to large, some having ample tree coverage and some are very exposed. There are vault toilets in the are as well.

There is a fee to use these spots which can be paid via self service area. This is a great spot for a family or anyone looking to get away and stay active. The area can get very busy in the summer so try to avoid weekends. This summer (2018) there was a lot of construction in the park and in turn it closed down some area that were normally open for camping and activities.

The Piney Lake area of Vail is by far the most scenic spot anyone can drive to. The ranch at the lake is ever growing and offers a restaurant, canoe rentals, SUP, fly fishing lessons as well as cabin and yurts to rent for the night. If you are looking to spend your night closer to nature the campground is just located about a mile away from the lake.

This may get confusing as there are camp spots along the road that are forest service controlled and have fire rings and right next to that you will find many spots that are in the National Forest but are primitive. The "Camp Spots" that have fire rings are located on the final stretch to the lake. There are maybe 6 or 8 of them. Really the only difference in these spots compared to the primitive ones right next door are the fire rings and the fact that they are fenced in with a small wooden fence.

The upside to grabbing one of these spots is all of summer 2018 in the valley we were in a stage 1 fire ban, meaning you could only have a fire in a permanent fire ring, leaving these few spots the only legal camping in the area. The spots themselves are fairly large, we have put 4 cars and 5+ tents comfortably in one of them. There are no toilets or anywhere to get water unless you drive to the ranch (the ranch is privately owned and closes and opens at a certain time, the lake is public and can be accessed anytime) There is also no fee which is always a plus.

This is one of the best campsites we have visited in Colorado. It’s located a few miles north of Buena Vista Colorado next to the Arkansas River. The site has terrific walk-in tent sites along the river as well as group picnic facilities and drive camping for campers and vans. They have a huge boat launch to access the world class white water rapids on the Arkansas River. The site has about a 30 campsites and was only about half full during g the summer peak. The access road is dirt but flat graded. They have a camp host on site. The sites have fire rings and picnic tables. The facilities are new and well maintained. The river is powerful and campers with kids should take care. Great hiking and rock climbing in the area. This is a must see.

Stayed here while thru hiking the colorado trail, what a wonderful time! Salida is a quick drive away and the trail is only a mile up the road. Staff was incredible and store well stocked. Taking covid seriously too! Thanks Monarch!

S I liked everything about this campsite, it was clean, spaced out so no one was too crowded, and a beautiful area. What I DIDNT like was that I was accused of being here for more than 2 weeks while I have only been here for 8 days. And then was told I wasnt allowed to camp at free sites unless I had proof of a physical address in Colorado. I'm from Michigan and was vacationing here. Can someone explain to me HOW that makes sense? I rented out a place at my boss's house before I came to this campsite and she told me that doesnt count. Sorry for the long rant, just doesn't make sense to me.

Great spot on the East side of the lake, Not far from the town of Leadville where there is a Safeway, places to eat and places to shop. It was a bit windy the day we stayed but great views, lots of hiking trails and things to explore. Campground is located a high elevation.

Accessible Sites, Boating, Campfire Rings, Canoeing, Drinking Water, Firewood Vendor, FishingGrills, Hiking, HostLake AccessSailing, Self Pay Station, Tables, Vault Toilets, Waterfront Sites

Less Than 1 Mile: Boat Ramp, Interpretive Trails, Water Skiing

Fun Fact:

The campground was named after Elizabeth McCourt's nickname, Baby Doe. She made a name for herself in the Colorado mining community in the 19th century when she took on the rugged work of a miner, and was given her nickname.

We stopped at this site on a whim. When we arrived on Friday afternoon there were plenty of sites available at 3pm. By the evening it was 90% full. This site does not take reservations. The campground itself was beautiful! There are lots of tall pines trees, aspens, and wild flowers. There was pretty good space between sites. The campsite host informed us moose frequent the area. The big downside is the highway is very loud here which really took away from the peace. This is on the opposite side of the highway of Kenosha Campground which was equally as nice, but also suffered from proximity to the highway. The Colorado trail runs alongside both campgrounds.

This campground is located on hillside just off of Hwy  50 approximately 6 miles west of Salida, Colorado. A beautiful location. We stayed here two nights in June, knowing this is a relatively new KOA that used to be a private campground. We would have left at the end of the first day except that we met friends there and wanted to continue our visit with them. Water pressure was almost non-existent (we had to use our own water pump in the RV) and Wi-Fi was almost non-existent during peak times.

This campground is definitely not up to the standards of a KOA. We have stayed in at least 16 0thers. I am aware there are other nice campgrounds in this area competitively priced.

Management at the campground have registered our complaint, but no ne on their team was present to do anything. Staff was new and expressed their regrets for our complaint.

We had reservations at Kenosha Campground and were diverted to Kenosha East. The camp hosts were protecting us from a bear that had visited the campground a few too many times. We were thankful that they put our safety first.

Kenosha East is designed primarily for tent camping. A small trailer or camper van can be accommodated. Large fifth wheels or RVs can be accommodated at the disbursed sites located East and South of the campground, just follow the dirt roads back into the forest. Sites are designated for camping and/or parking.

We stayed at camp site #10. It had a lot of space between the other camp sites but the trees are not thick enough to create a lot of privacy. Our site was located in an aspen grove with lush grass and wildflowers. It was beautiful to look out on the grove and watch the bees collect pollen.

This campground is at the start of the Colorado Trail. A hiking trail that is frequented by backpackers. The trail is also surrounded by aspen grove with thick wildflowers and wild grasses. The reward on the short hike we did is the view of the South Park valley. It was amazing, even with the haze that blew in from the California wildfires.

The caveats: this is a highly trafficked day use area. There is a parking lot at the entrance for day use with two well used vault toilets. The campground is visited by non campers on foot, on bikes, and in cars and campers. There are a lot of people around all day on weekends.

This campground is located right off of Hwy 285. This is the main thoroughfare to the central mountains in Colorado. The traffic is heavy day and well into the night. Semis and motorcycles are the loudest culprits. If you are looking for quiet and solitude, you may want to look elsewhere. Kenosha Pass and Kenosha East are built for recreation and lots of people.

For the ladies: Bathrooms, especially vault bathrooms, can be a deterrent for some. The camp hosts take great care of the bathrooms. We stayed 3 nights and there was always toilet paper. The bathroom smelled as good as it could possibly smell with the amount of people that used it all weekend. It was never gross. Which is so nice. If you are a little squeamish when it comes to camping and vault bathrooms, I think this is a safe bet.

Overall, I would stay at this campground again and bring my bike. I’d also spend more time out on the trail. I’d stay somewhere else if I was looking for quiet and solitude.

This became a favorite car camping spot of mine while living in Vail, Colorado. The lake is situated in White River National Forest and is accessible only for a few months during the summer via Red Sandstone Road. I have seen 2wd sedans drive up this road, however I would definitely recommend something with high clearance and 4wd if possible as the roads up there are not well maintained. There are plenty of first come, first serve USFS campsites near the lake, additionally there are quite a few service roads off of Red Sandstone Road that provide access to miles of additional dispersed campsites. It is hard to find a spot to camp without a breathtaking view of the Gore Range from Piney. In addition to camping, there are hiking trails near the lake and the privately owned Piney River Ranch offers horseback riding, boat rentals, fishing, a restaurant, and other lodging options. This area is also known for the moose that frequent the area, be sure to keep your distance if you are lucky enough to spot one! If you are interested in camping at Piney in the early summer or fall, you may first want to call the Minturn Ranger’s Station at 970-827-5715 to check on the closure status of Red Sandstone Road.

To be fair, I didn't choose this camp ground for any other reason than I was backpacking the Colorado Trail and wanted to be able to meet up with my family some place close to the trail. This suited my needs perfectly. I was able to walk into camp for my second night on Segment 8 and that was fabulous. The history of the valley is fascinating and my family would love to come back and explore some more. The campground sites seem best suited for RV's, however we managed just fine in our tent. We had no shade in our spot (#13), so any time at camp was spent mainly under our canopy. This was the case for many of the other sites, but we did note a few sites that were well shaded. The views from our site were spectacular!
I feel the biggest drawback of this campsite is its proximity to Hwy 24. The traffic noise is very noticiable and loud at times. It did quiet down quite a bit at night and I didn't notice it much at all. Usually we like to be a bit more removed from the human population when we go camping, but again, I has other reasons for choosing this campground. There is no water, but we made sure we brought plenty. There is a river nearby if you need non-drinking water. The sites were spacious and clean. The vault toilets were immaculate. The host was nice and had a cat! I really recommend this spot for history buffs. We want to come back and do more exploring and maybe do a ATV tour of the area. So yeah, just an average campground...nothing really wrong with it, just not as remote as we usually like and it is nice to have access to potable water.

**Campground Review **

I initially found this campground while searching on The Dyrt for a place to camp near Buena Vista for a weekend. I camped here in May with a group of friends as we spent the weekend rafting near Buena Vista on the Arkansas River. 

The road leading up to the campground isn’t paved but doesn’t require any technical or 4x4 driving. However, if you pass the campground and continue down the road (as we initially did) the road gets much rougher and requires high clearance and 4x4. We also saw some sweet dispersed camping sites along the road past the Turtle Rock Campground which could be useful if the campground itself is ever filled up. 

Overall, I was quite impressed with this campground. It is simple but well maintained and met all of our needs. Each site has a fire pit and ample space for group camping. Our group consisted of 4 tents and 4 vehicles, our site had plenty of space for parking and for all of tents to be quite well spaced out. Most of the sites also offer trees for shade which will be nice in the warmer months. The views from this campground are incredible, seriously some of the best in the state. We climbed up Turtle Rock itself (a bit of scramble so use caution!) for the sunset one night and the views were top notch. I will definitely stay here again whenever I am in the area. 

**Product Review **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I sometimes have the opportunity to review products that I use while camping. On this trip I got to test out an ICEMULE Cooler, specifically the ICEMULE Pro Large (23L). This trip seemed like a great opportunity to test a cooler because Colorado was finally warming up enough for us to want some cold beer while camping and rafting! By the end of the trip, everyone from our group was jealous of my awesome cooler and wanted to buy their own! 

This backpack cooler is seriously awesome, it has a massive capacity and easily held enough a day’s worth of food and drinks for 6 people on the river. With all of that weight, I was a bit skeptical about the comfort level when using it as a backpack. I was really impressed about how ergonomically the straps and breathable back panel felt. This is such an efficient way to carry your cold goods while out on an adventure. We were also able to just strap it right onto our raft and had no worries about a heavy cooler flying out on the rapids. Furthermore, I had no fear of the cooler getting destroyed while being tossed around the boat or scraping on the rocky ground because the material is really durable. It really seems like a product that is going to last a lifetime.  

So with any cooler, the real question is, will it keep my drinks cold? Heck. Yeah. After two days, I still had ice in the cooler and not a single warm beer was consumed on our trip. For being so lightweight, I was shocked with how well insulated this cooler is. There is also a really cool (no pun intended) valve which allows you to add air into the insulation layer to increase the insulating power! Then when finished using the cooler, you can open the valve to release all of the air and roll up the bag into a super compact size. This is one of my favorite features, because the cooler really takes up no space or weight for efficient storage. I’m excited to pack it along on some backpacking trips this summer as well! 

In the end, I think this is one of my favorite new pieces of gear. Since getting the cooler I have used it at least once a week; I’ve used it for camping, rafting, skiing, tailgating and even carried it while riding horses on a trail ride! I don’t think I will ever go back to a standard hard-shelled cooler after getting my ICEMULE. You really can’t beat the durability, carrying comfort, insulation and compact storage design.

We really enjoyed this spot by the river. It’s alittle out of town and quiet. I’d definitely not follow google if you have a big rig as you will go through some tunnels to get to the Site and if you have a big rig you may not fit The site is dry- no water and no electric and no dumpster for trash but you can’t beat the views and the sounds of the river at night. It’s not a crowded spot as far as camp spots are limited but it is a public river put in & take out

spot for river sports so people are often coming and going. The train doesn’t run on those tracks as far as we could tell due to vegetation growth. The tent spots are right on the river ! Very nice and we did have a fire pit on our spot

This is a gem! Campsites are close to the River with stunning views all around. The stars were amazing with zero ambient light.

We booked a site same-day and so we weren’t expecting the best sites. We lucked out and our site, while close to the picnic area (which was not used during our stay), had spectacular views. The payoff was no shade, so make sure you account for that! Great access to fishing.

Lovely little spot by the Arkansas. Plenty of spots to hammock and access the riverbank. The bridge is a short walk from the parking lot. Spots are reservable, and if you plan on going on a weekend, get there early. Vault toilets. Bring drinking water. No running water.