Best Tent Camping near Loma, CO

Plenty of areas for tent camping. But as for fifth wheels it’s not good.

Headed East and used this campground as a stop over. Tent sites at $22 were booked wound up with electric at $36. A bit pricey but hopefully the showers will make up for it.

Nice campground, except some noise from highway. The tent sites are not free unless it is off season you may be able to get away with it. I stealth camped here in a parking spot and paid for a day pass.

Absolutely gorgeous spot. Grabbed a FCFS spot with an amazing view, particularly of the sunrise. No fires, which was sad for my 7 year old, but the stars were out and the weather was perfect. Only drawback was the rocky ground which made tent camping uncomfortable no matter how much air I got in my sleeping pad.

We got site 51. Apparently sometimes I can't read and it was a walk in tent site, we have a lot of stuff, luckily they had wheelbarrows you could use. The site has a clear view over a pond and to the left you can see Colorado National Monument. The sites are so well maintained, the camp hosts were at the sites next to us within 10 minutes to rake the areas. No trash anywhere. Heated bathrooms. Trash cans available. Will gladly reserve here again!

Large designated area for dispersed camping.  Ground is lumpy, I wouldn't want to tent camp.  Several existing fire rings.  Solid Verizon service.  Lots of pit toilets in the area.  Nearby roads can become extremely difficult to travel after a light rain due to slick peanut butter mud.  I wouldn't come here just to camp, this is more a spot for people looking to do activities in the vicinity.

This spot is for OHV parking. There’s a fire ring and we parked to the left of it so we didn’t interfere with parking. There’s 5 sites up the OHV trail that we saw. It was muddy so we weren’t comfortable towing our 19’ rig up the trail. We took our 4 runner up the trail and didn’t need 4wd. If dry, you could tow your small camper in if high clearance. There’s a bit of a rise to get from the road to the grass. Sites are perfect for tent camping.

Driving for a few miles along a fairly compact but slightly washed out dirt road will drop you off right at a vista above the CO river. 2WD is probably fine but low clearance vehicles will likely struggle on the occasional deep rut. There are many, many sites, both along the river and further inland. Each site has a groomed, level tent site, picnic table, and fire pit. Dry toilets nearby are well maintained. Surprised we had the entire campground to ourselves.

We liked the setting and the campground was nice and clean. However sites were very close together and the tent sites were on top of each other. We were asked to move our site for a new camper at like 9 am even though check out was around 12. Other than that we liked the campground there is a nice playground a wonderful fishing pond and a swimming hole. There are showers however they are $1 for 4 minutes so bring your change.

This place had great reviews but I’m not quite sure why? Just an big open RV lot with hook ups and a picnic table. No trees or shade in the RV lot. Maybe the tent camping by the river is nicer? Yes there is a winery and an orchard boardering the property and test the rocky outcrops nearby are beautiful- but overall I felt that $72 for a night of hookups in a parking lot was a bit of a rip off.

I will say they had a very well organized self registration board for late night arrivals without reservations and there is Cornhole!

We visited this campground because it was close to home. We had a birthday party there and camped the night. The tent sites we were in were walk in and it seemed good. The site was nice and had a fire pit and what not. Plenty of space for our tent. But as the night went on, we realized that there was a sewer treatment plant near by, the highway was too close and the light from the town was abundant. I woke up several times thinking morning had come only to find it was light pollution. I remember thinking it was eternal dawn with all the light. The smell was too much and the noise just made it that much more unenjoyable. We won't be returning.

We stayed in this area for several nights on our way to/from Moab. It’s beautiful and open BUT there isn’t camping where this GPS pin is FYI. See the Jouflas campground for specifics of where we camped. As you enter the Rabbit Valley area there is a self registration station and board with rules etc. on the right. Road to the left leads to RV/Tent camping. Road straight ahead leads to Jouflas campground and then on to Knowles Overlook Campground. Roads were a bit rough but very drivable with most any car. Kokopelli road needs 4WD/High clearance and does not have camping. There are lots of signs indicating camping in designated sites only. Area is very clean and quiet. Lovely area to stay in.

My bf and I recently stayed at a tent site here, we arrived right at sunset and the view driving in was amazing. The bathrooms were close by and seemed well maintained. There are plenty of trails close by, so waking up early for a cool morning hike was simple and a great way to start the day. There were plenty of outlook points that allow you to overlook Grand Junction. After our hike in the morning we were able to take a short drive North East to Little Book Cliffs where we enjoyed a nice long hike to see some wild mustangs.

Overall, this site is well maintained, with plenty of activities in the area for everyone to have some fun.

Campground Review: I've stayed at Island Acres a few times, three times in the last months. All three times have been different. I wanted to do a secondary review for this particular trip. We arrived mid day on a Friday and there were plenty tent sites remaining. There are only six in the whole campground that are tent only sites. We originally were assigned to number 38, which is a more desirable site, we were excited. It is shaded and back in a corner along the river. But when we arrived to our site, there was a park ranger that asked us to change to site 36 because he had a sprinkler project he wanted to finish. While we had the right to say no, we disappointedly took site 36, which has little to no shade. It has two small trees that provide minimal shade during the heat of the day. This particular weekend hit high 90's. He also informed us at the move that they forgot to give us our card back when we registered.

So we went about our trip and set up camp late in the day and there were still no other tents there. This weekend, however, was a much busier weekend then most of the others we have stayed. Therefor, more people and more chaos. One site came in and set up around 1:30 am, with air mattresses and lights shining. The site on the other side of us left around 1:30 am. So again, a lot of light shining in our tents. Beyond that, there were also people that set up outside of standard sites, which I've never seen before. They were parked in the grass and in no parking zones, which a ranger came and corrected, early in the morning on Saturday. The swimming pond was refreshing for 5-10 minutes this time of year but then you wanted to come out for a half hour or so to warm up again. We purchased a shade tent, which came in handy at the beach and our site. That evening, the crowd returned and there was a lot of really bright lights again. People coming and going super late and camping in non-designated sites. People camping in their cars with huge tarps over them in the parking lot.

We also could hear a lot of highway traffic, which we hadn't noticed in previous visits. It is a very busy highway so traffic was heard all night long. The tent sites are on the farthest side of the campground from the highway so if the noise is loud for us, it is likely loud throughout the campground.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing The Campfire Cutting Set from Primus. The campfire cutting set is so lightweight and compact. It's easily packed along for any trip. It's made out of a nice oak that is appealing to look at and extremely functional. The knife cuts like butter. The video is cutting a raw potato and it does it with ease. Cleanup was a breeze as well. So, out of the box, it contains a chef knife (extremely sharp!) and an oak cutting board, all wrapped up in a nice prep mat that is great for packing your campfire cutting set. We loved the convenience and practicality of this set!

We stayed at the Grand Junction KOA when driving cross country from CA to NY a few years back. We drove to Grand Junction CO after a long day of hiking and tubing in Zion National Park - we arrived very late, and without a reservation. Even though it was after hours, we were able to choose a tent site then pay for the night at an iron ranger at the front office.

Our site had a patch of green grass to set our tent up on, as well as a picnic table and fire pit (that we never utilized, we just set up our tent and fell into our sleeping bags). The sites had little log fences separating the spaces.

The GJ KOA had very nice, clean facilities - having a hot shower in a clean locker room was a great way to start the morning. Wifi was available, which is always a plus.

The campground (kampground, haha) is pretty far outside of Grand Junction, and is in an industrial area, so we were initially a little sketched out and hesitant about stopping, since we were two women in their early 20s traveling alone. But once we got inside the campground and saw the layout of the grounds, we felt very safe and secure.

We were glad we decided to stop at the Grand Junction KOA, as it was a nice, clean, and safe place to stop for the night. KOAs are not my go-to type of campground for camping, but they are an easy, safe, and cheap spot to stop for the night if you don’t want to spend money on a hotel.

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $26/night

Plumbed Toilets: Yes

Drinking Water: Yes

Showers: Yes (no coins needed)

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grates: ?

Shade: Yes

Cell Service: Yes + Wifi

Animal Bins/Food Lockers: NO

Trash: Yes

Pulled in after Crested Butte - mountain bikes in Loma area which was great. Headed to MOAB. Green, nice lake with a breeze.