Best Tent Camping near Hotchkiss, CO

We arrived at Soap Creek Campground around noon on a Friday in mid-July and found several wonderful sites to choose from. We selected site 8 as it was fairly close to the restroom, had decent shade, and large enough to accommodate our large tent and two vehicles...with room enough to spare to play washers! Vault toilets only, but they were very clean...host normally sells firewood, but they were out, however they did allow us to gather our own. No water at this time as it is spring fed and was low. Mostly surrounded by tent campers, but a few RV's made it down the narrow, windy and bumpy dirt road to the campground...but for the most part they kept their generators off (no electricity at this campground) during quiet hours. We were able to walk to the creek and what a view! Would definitely recommend and can't wait to go back!

This campground has decent separation between sites but not much shade because the juniper trees are so short. The views at this park are incredible, however you won't see much from your campsite itself. It's tucked into thick juniper forest. This place has lots of bear activity so be sure to bring a bear canister to supplement the provided bear boxes. We saw a blonde haired black bear along one of the roads and were so happy that we were in our car. There's a little self service kiosk for walk up sites. Vault toilets, picnic table, and a fire ring with open flame grill. Just be aware that to do anything on the north rim of the canyon it is a several hour drive. So your activities will likely be limited to the south rim. Would gladly return!

This campground is on NPS land, so there is a fee ($16 in season+ water/$8 off season no water) that can be paid at the nearby ranger's station on the honor system. All 13 sites are in a single loop at the end of the road on the North Rim and are all first come first served. Pinyon and juniper offer shade and some visual privacy, however sites are all close so there is little audible privacy. Pets are OK if leashed. There are nice sized BearSaver boxes at each site, plus a fire ring and large picnic table. Vault toilets and potable water are both in the center of the camping loop, where you can also find other tables and lots of shade. Chasm trail begins near the end of the loop and there are great views of the canyon a short distance from all sites. Beware: drought year, so lots of yellow jackets - they swarm vehicles in search of water! Also, water is a limited resource brought in by truck to this canyon, don't be wasteful :)

There are three sections to this campground: Osgood, Allgeier, and Mechau. Osgood and Allgeier have electric hookups; Mechau does not. Our site, 17 (Osgood), was a very large pull-through equipped with a large metal picnic table, fire ring (although there was a statewide burn ban when we stayed there), lantern hook, and bear box. There is good physical separation between the sites. The vault toilets were very clean and there is one flush toilet, located between Osgood and Allgeier, however, the showers were closed due to Covid. You hear road noise from just about any site, but it is not that bad. 

There are two options that lead to the small town of Redstone, about two miles away: a trail or a secondary road (not the highway). We made reservations for a Tuesday in September and it was a good thing we did as the campground was full. Convenient to the towns of Redstone, Marble, and Carbondale and not that far from Glenwood Springs.

We stayed in a camper van over a busy holiday and loved it! We were hoping for a peaceful getaway for us and our dog and found it at Kebler. Yes, some of the spaces are close together but everyone there made it work well. The angled spots and strategic landscaping help too. Plenty of grassy common areas to stretch your legs and your pup’s (on leash), so much so we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything by not being parked with the big coaches along the river. Even better since the large river spots had little/no natural shade (most seemed to have their own awnings that our van didn’t so no worries there I think for them). The tent spots were in a different area on the other side of the property a little away from the busier parts. They also had less shade but had level pads and but seemed closer to the bridge (and hiking). The community vibe was respectful and friendly and it was lovely to stroll about and enjoy it all. Families were out and about, playing with their children and trying different things to do. There was a little playground and some activities in a covered space like velcro axe throwing and corn hole. There were soccer goals set up at one of the grassy areas too. There was also a frisbee golf course, hammocks and picnic tables scattered around the property. A sign by the bathrooms invited camp guests to go gentle group hike if you meet at the bridge at the posted time in the morning. The general store was open during the day and had more than I expected (came for stickers and snacks, left with a game of Bananagrams and more). There wasn’t cell service but wifi worked well for what we needed. The bathrooms were clean and the water was warm. On a busy weekend you might need to use the portable toilets near the tent sites if the regular ones are occupied at a busy time. In the future, splitting the shower and toilet facilities might help with that long term, but I am not sure how hard (and expensive) that is to do in places that are tucked away into the mountains like this. We did use the coin laundry and that worked well. At the time of our visit it was $2 for the washer and $3.50 for the dryer. There was a variety of cute cabins for rent with a good range in size and cost - and some have own their bathroom and even little patio spaces. The hosts and staff were friendly and helpful, even doing trash pickup in the morning if you left it out at a certain time by your site. Kebler is in a beautiful setting, has thoughtfully-designed spaces and is carefully maintained. We would definitely come back - hopefully in a camper van / travel trailer or even just to stay in one of the cabins.

I wish I could have stayed more than 3 nights! It was so quiet and relaxing. Good sized sites that felt private and more remote than they were, picnic table, fire ring, large bear box. Be sure to use the bear box and don't have food/toiletries in your tent or car - didn't see any bears or evidence of. Other campers were quiet and independent. Pit toilet was clean. Also, there's no water, but the day use area at Maroon Lake has water, I refilled my jugs there, or you could filter/treat the river. The sound of the water at night was so calming and wonderful. 10 minute drive to Maroon Lake, 15 minutes to Aspen.