Best Campgrounds near Howard, CO

There are FF and reservation sites available. If you plan to pay on site be sure to have a tap to pay Credit card, there is no drop box only a CC machine. Plenty of reservation sites for rigs and maybe 4 FF sites that can fit a trailer. No water or trash though, little pricey for 20$

Don’t see any signage about NOT being able to camp here. It’s a parking lot off a highway though so mileage may vary. Arrived late, left early.

We pull a 24’ trailer and had plenty of room. The site are big and plenty of space between sites. Good views but no snow. We will revisit here because it is free for 14 days and this place is clean. They manage it very well.

Beautiful spot. Good if you’re near BV or Salida. Road in is rough to start then fine. Had big horn sheep in the campground when we pulled in. Fire pits and picnic tables. Would give it 5 stars if there was a toilet.

My group took three sites and 3 tents and everyone enjoyed their stay. It was our first time and definitely will not be our last

Not another person in sight for a week. Wonderful access to Shelf climbing. Very peaceful.

Nice easy spot to camp right off of 285. The spots are small-ish. But they’re well kept. Fire ring, and picnic table. This was just a quick over night stay for us. But if you were looking for a free spot with some nice views around BV or salida. I’d recommend. Not sure how busy it gets in the “better weather”. Also there’s more spots further down the trail right off the Arkansas River they have to reserved in the BLM site though.

Did the shelf trail from cripple creek to canon city. Was good place to camp for the night quite a few spots, flat, big. Amazing views! Incline getting up to isn’t bad, TT’s might have some trouble. Everyone else should be fine.

Lots of open spots in mid October. Slow going on rocky and bumpy dirt road but Chevy express 2wd did fine. Low clearance vehicles take extreme caution. Stayed in loop A, also a B&C.

Boondocking. South of Cottonwood lake campgrounds. Must travel one mile past the FS campground. On road 344. I would recommend to stop at the lake and scout the area. You cannot turn around on the road with a long rig. The road will turn into a high clearance FS unmaintained.

The sky is GORGEOUS. The road is very rocky & very rough, so you'll want to have decent clearance and be prepared to take it slow. I've never seen so many stars!

We went on a Saturday and it wasn’t crowded at all. The dispersed sites aren’t far from the road since most of the road goes down a valley with hills on both sides however there’s a nice creek running down the whole way. Definitely check it out if you don’t mind a colder night in a valley. Not much room to explore outside your vehicle unless you’re okay walking down the dirt road to see other sites and views.

The road is a well maintained gravel road. There are quite a few available spots for folks with 4x4 drive or tent camping. I would NOT suggest this for larger rvs. I travel in a camper van and the spots I could use were more limited but still a few available.

Honestly, just the drive is worth it. The scenery is amazing. You’re winding down the road next to a creek (was dry when I was there) in between mountains. It’s absolutely amazing.

Zero signal. Like absolutely none.

There is a rest stop a few miles in with basic toilets. Nothing special but really nice option to have.

The host, Margaret and her husband and few others working very hard to maintains this campsite.

Shower room have heat and hot water, environments are so peacefully and pretty,  shops are close by, hot springs, rafting, nearby, my favorites is cottonwood lake!

Couldn’t get to trail head due to private gate blocking the road.

We were charged $170 for a site in the middle of a gravel parking lot. It included dinner, breakfast and use of the hot springs. The WiFi didn’t reach us, but worked in the buffet style cafeteria-like dining area. Way overpriced for the experience!

Pretty smooth mountain road, lots of site options. We found one that was down back from the main road and near the creek. Needed 4WD to get down there, but other sites 2WD would be fine. Appears to be a local cow wandering around, she approached our campsite but went the other way.

From Texas, got married in Colorado two years ago and came back again this year to celebrate. Absolutely love camping and hiking, staff was friendly and everything has been clean so far. Super worried at first about hiking up to campsite but they have carts donated to help carry gear. This is one of the farther tent campsites on this side of the park and we had no issues getting there. Other than a bloody nose from elevation change. Beautiful view lots of wildlife:)