Best Glamping near Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve

This was a delightful experience for us. There are sites for every type of camper: tent, trailer, RV, glamping and cabins. This is a somewhat small but well maintained private campground with lots of simple amenities. All is the wooded back-in sites have full hook-ups (30A) and there are pull-thru sites (Ithink they are still 30A). The center wooded area is perfect for tents. A small dog park gave our girls the chance to run free for a little. There is a shower house with bathrooms that are well maintained. Trash is kept tidy and didn’t smell even on the 97 degree day. Very easy to access but no road noise (at least not at our site).

We have a 26’ trailer and stayed in site 18. It was near the end of the row and relatively quiet. We only wish we had a longer power cable. (Our next purchase!) Our port is at the back and the outlet was way up front. To reach, we had to set up near the front of the site which limited our parking. Just pointing that out for others who might be ill prepared too.

We were too far away to take advantage of WiFi which is fine, we just wandered up near the office to check our texts once daily. It might be more accessible if you are located closer to the office. No cell service for Verizon. Personally, I was happy to be unplugged for a couple of days!

Although we had a fire ban in effect, we were able to rent a propane fire pit from the office. Be super cautious and check fire restrictions for Custer County. (http://oem.custercountygov.com/firecon.htm)

Aspen Acres has a lot more staff than I expected and they patrolled frequently. Very helpful and friendly.

5 minutes from Bishops Castle and 10 minutes from Lake Isabel ($7 day use fee). Easy drive up from I-25 but fairly steep in spots if that is problematic.

We will stay again!

Just going to start by saying that camping is not why people come here -- it’s for the waters!  The spa offers numerous pools and tubs at varying temperatures so you can find your joyful spot– be sure to check out the cold plunge pool as well. 

The RV spots are on one side of the large parking lot, with the hook up spaces in the middle, with non-electric spots running around two of the outside sides. We were in one of these spots because we run completely on solar to save money. There are zero trees around the lot so sunshine was plentiful. 

The bathrooms were clean, modern and nice, as was the small, shared kitchen where we could do dishes. In addition to camping the resort offers hotel rooms, private yurts, tipis, conference rooms and other hotel services. In addition to the soaking being included in the price, so was a buffet style breakfast and dinner. The food was delicious, and veggie/ organic friendly. The whole experience was very reasonably priced and relaxing!

There’s a lot of hiking nearby, in the mountains to the north, west and east- but definitely a drive away. We didn’t check out the walking path in the spa, but they did offer yoga classes in the yurt as well as private massages services and a host of other spa treatments. 

There aren’t a lot of nearby towns that offer larger grocery stores, Crestone has a small co-op grocery as does Buena Vista, so if you are planning on cooking for yourself, come prepared.

Joyful Journey is a lovely little hot springs in the middle of the San Luis Valley. The Sangre de Christo Mountains tower in the distance and on a moonlit night, they positively glow from the farthest pool. The water in these springs have trace amounts of lithium which makes them even more relaxing than others I've tried.

The springs is popular and can be a bit crowded, so be sure to reserve your spot ahead of time. Bring your own towels, as they can't always keep up with demand and flip flops are also a must for the showers. However, camping lets you stay a bit later than other folks and being able to wonder across the parking lot to the campground after a good soak instead of driving is a huge draw.

Since the campground as its just an extension of the parking lot there is room for large rigs. It features all the all the basics with a clean and close shower house, electrical hookups and grills. The nightly fee includes access to the pools and continental breakfast in the morning. Pets are allowed for an additional fee.

There are also yurts, teepees and motel rooms available to rent.