Best Tent Camping near Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve, CO

We loved this camp site! It was our first time to tent camp in Colorado and it was great. Several sites to choose from. Some have views of the dunes, some are more secluded. Bathrooms were clean. Very spacious tent site with a fire pit. Our tent sleeps 6 and we had no trouble fitting in the spot.

I’m tent camping from my car, but after seeing the tent sites that are on top of each other and zero views i asked to move to the rv overflow lot. It’s more spread out, same amenities as the rustic tent and 180 mountain sunrise views. I’m also working full time while here and the internet has been pretty dependable so far. There is a laundry and shower both for additional fee, as well as a pool for additional charge. Indoor restrooms as well. There is an area to refill on drinking water and an are to wash dishes. A bit of road noise during the day as the overflow lot has an unobstructed view of the mountains, it’s also right off the main road / highway. It was peaceful and quiet at night though so that’s all that mattered to me.

We grabbed a tent site for our small teardrop for a night and decided to stay 2. Staff was very freindly. Store had essentials including a gas pump. Only a handful of folks in the tent area and it was nice and quiet. fantastic views of the dunes and plenty of shaded sites. Bathroom in the tent sites were clean

The scenery was beautiful, but very windy at times. Also the person that stayed before me left a lot of trash in the fire pit, so we cleaned that up before the campfire. It’s also loud with the 18 wheelers driving down the main road. If you’re camping in a van or camper shell, it’s probably not a big deal. If you roof top tent camp or regular tent camping, it gets loud.

There are several spots for tent camping in the Smith Creek Campground. Great area to hike and climb. Great stream that runs most of the year.

In my opinion this place is kind of rundown and dumpy. Maybe it hasn’t been maintained bc of covid closures? Idk either way I wasn’t impressed. We had a tent site. The tent sites were small and along a cliff with the Arkansas below. Our “large” tent site barely fit our big cabin tent, with enough room to park our vehicle. Our tent was literally a foot away from the road you pull in on. We had 2 young kids with us and I would not call it very kid friendly. We were Constantly having to keep an eye on them. Either they fall off a cliff into the river or worry about them getting into the main 2 way camp road that huge rvs and trucks drive by on. It was very hard to “relax” while kids were trying to play. The sound of the river at night was nice that’s about it. The encounters I had with staff weren’t great. A bit rude and unhelpful. I feel the prices are high considering you can’t use any amenities advertised due to covid restrictions. There were a lot of “rules” they had I haven’t encountered in other campgrounds. There are much prettier/nicer campgrounds along the Arkansas River I would stay at.

A little close together and close to the highway. Expect some traffic noise throughout the night. Large park with fishing, hiking and more. Picnic tables (some with shelters), fire rings and vault toilets available thoughout the tent camping site, rv hookups and playground also available.

Main building offers nice amenities including small museum exhibits about the local area and ample information on the area as well. Sites are nice though fairly close together. Cost $25/night for a tent site.

We had site 68 and 70. Site 70 had trees that made it hard for RV . I would recommend this campsite for people who tent camp. RV sites are challenging to get into and some sites have no room for tow vehicle. Campsites are close to each other. Nice to be close to Sand Dunes.

Tent camped in the dispersed area because Hayden creek was full, near Rainbow trailhead, entire area to ourselves 98% of the time besides two groups of hikers over 2 nights almost 3 days. Bring camp toilet for dispersed camp areas or walk to the vault toilet at Hayden creek (long walk). Camped right along the brook an filtered water.

Gavin (owner) really made our weekend! He made sure our request was accommodated and exceeded expectations!

The views are amazing and the rushing water is so peaceful. You can absolutely see stars at night and are surrounded by the mountains.

Only down side is how remote the tent sites are. Need to go across walking bridge. Made for lugging gear a little exhausting after a weekend of camping.

There are a handful of dispersed camping sites along Hayden Creek Rd, South of Cuttys and before you get the the USFS campground. These sites seems to be primarily tent camping, though we were able to get our pop-up in 1 spot. We saw 2 other larger RVs near the upper Rainbow Trail camping area. The creek is nice and the sounds was much louder then we anticipated, which was good. In June 2024 it is really flowing. It looks as though USFS has been adding boulders to restrict vehicles from driving too far off road. Lots of places to park and set up a tent though.

The Hot springs consist of a large outdoor pool and a couple of smaller pools. It’s $15 to soak or half price if you camp there. The Greenhouse pool is 21+ for an additional $3. The Greenhouse is lush with plants and not as crowded as the main pool. We were in overflow camping and were treated to some amazing sunsets on the Sand Dunes. There are berms around the regular tent camping that limit your views. All the water on site comes out hot which was great for our chilly visit yet may not be as nice in the hotter months.