Searching for the best camping near Nathrop, CO? There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. Discover great camping spots near Nathrop, reviewed by campers like you.
"Big wide dispersed camping spaces. Plenty of nice hiking - especially Brown's Creek area. Great location with easy drive to Buena Vista & Salida & Mt. Princeton."
"Stayed near the browns creek trail head. Restrooms there, along with a few temp toilets around."
"After a nice meal in nearby Buena Vista, Co, we headed out on the 7-8 mile drive to the trailhead. Now 7-8 miles on a CR isn’t always the same as a similar distance on a paved road."
"A lot of spots the further up you drive towards trailhead. Found a spot right next to the creek with room for several cars and framed in by trees. Sounds of water is awesome."
"This spot is one of the best kept secrets for dispersed camping in Colorado. The road has plenty of camping spots all the way up to the lake. Most spots are wooded and offer plenty of shade."
"There are a few tent camping spots at the bottom right before you cross the bridge."
"Right off the highway so a little noisy at night but calms down. The river runs right by spots, relaxing sound and plenty of water. Even surface and easy to set up."
"An easy to find camp right off the road with a few different entrances and a creek running alongside."
$10 / night
"Slept perfectly on a sandy tent pad listening to the river flow. This site has an in-tact bear safe, picnic tables and designated campfire ring. Will go back."
"The drive up access roads from the east is easy with a truck or all wheel drive after snow melt and it's not long before you're up in the gorgeous meadows with great views."
$5 - $15 / night
"Did see a Porsche, but they did not drive all the way to the end. People drive up to camp and to park to hike the Quad."
"most reasons to head out to the kite lake area are to try and summit 4 fourteeners in one day. Mt. Democrat, Mt. Lincoln, Mt Cameron, and Mt. Bross."
"We were headed to another location we found in Dirt but the snow was still to much for us. We decided to go to this spot at Fooses."
"If you go up 24 toward the South Elbert trailhead, you’ll find lots of dispersed camping options for everything from RVs to tent camping."
"A few spots allow you to pull off and set up a tent with great views. The site we stayed in was about 50 ft from the trailhead and could accommodate a group!"
RangerQuiet campground, off grid, no cell signal, no wi-fi. Busy campground due to proximity to Aspen. Adequate space between sites. Pit toilets, dumpsters available. May pose access challenges for larger rigs. Each site has picnic table, fire ring, bear box. No amenities, no laundry, no showers, no electricity. Smallest amount of road noise, depending on what site you are in. Day use parking lot available.
GuideThis campground used to be free when I first found it years ago while visiting the Royal Gorge. Since the city has invested money into fixing up the campsites with fire rings, tent pads, and what seems to be pretty good county road maintenance, it’s definitely understandable why they charge a fee.
No water is available. There are vault toilets.
There are NO bear boxes.
Rules worth nothing (according to the sign upon entering camp):
There’s lots of hiking and mountain bike trails near the campground, which brought lots of mellow mtb riders in during my stay.
Because of the rules/amenities, i felt the price was a little steep as others have mentioned. However it is clean, close enough to Cañon city that you can go to town if needed, but far enough away to “unplug” from the world in a beautiful location. Overall I’d recommend visiting this campsite! I’ll happily return.
RangerThis remote campground might pose some access challenges for larger rigs. Clean pit toilets, no showers, no laundry. Fresh drinking water and dumpsters are available. No dump station in campground. Mixture of river and non river sites. Plenty of room and privacy between sites. No mobile phone coverage, no wi-fi, no amenities within 30 miles of the campground. 2 campground hosts on site. Small reservoir lake nearby for fishing and canoeing. Hiking and fishing nearby. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring and bear box.
GuideReally gorgeous camping spot with easy access to tons of different outdoor activities. Tent sites are very well maintained and very beautiful. Walk-in sites are very close to parking, I would barely consider them walk-in sites. My only complaint is that the tent pads are made of gravel and therefore extremely hard to properly stake down tents.
TravelerI gave this a 4 star because of the crowds.I backpacked to a high alpine lake called Kroenke Lake in the Collegiate Peaks wilderness area near Buena Vista, CO in August to catch some high country Cutthroats. This is a very popular hike during the summer. Camping can be congested but there are enough trees in between spots for some privacy. The designated camp sites we kept very clean by the previous visitors. There was not any trash in or around the fire ring that I often come across in other areas. The people that have previously visited, practiced leave no trace with the exception of the designated fire ring. The scenery was beautiful with a gorgeous lake with peaks of granite in the background. All of the people on the trail were friendly and courteous. It does get congested on the weekend being so close to Buena Vista and Salida. If you go little further, you can escape the congestion. I would highly recommend this hike to anyone looking for a weekend backpack trip.
LegendThis is one of the smaller sites alongside the main road you will find just a short distance outside of Aspen. I was passing through late in the season, technically during "closure" but was able to snag a site because it had not yet been closed due to unusually warmer fall. There had been some snowfall higher up but where I was there had not so the camp had not been closed. They had however turned off the potable water source but vault toilets and sites remained open.
I was located in site 5 which had a small back in area, a picnic table and fire ring. There were also bear boxes throughout camp, which you need to use if you are here because there is a population of bears that will raid camp. I made sure to keep any food in the car behind doors and cleaned up away from camp with my own water source so as to not attract anything to come near. Bears do scare me a bit!!
The site for my tent was lush and grassy, it had not yet frozen or died for the season so it felt very fluffy underneath my tent.
Temperatures dropped dramatically at night and I was happy there was no fire ban when I visited because I used my fire for a heat source in the evening and then hand warmers inside extra socks at night. It was pretty peaceful at the camp as a whole.
While there I enjoyed hiking on the Weller Trail which heads directly out from the parking area near the camp and treks a short distance with some amazing views. I was so happy to have found this site for only $21.
TIPS:
Typical season is May to the end of September if it is before or after this time check with the Forest Service to see if they have opened camp for season.
Bring a flashlight there is no external light at the campground so you will not be able to see anything without one.
TravelerSome friends and I camped here in early October. It got a bit chilly at night, two layers, smartwool socks, a Carhart beanie, sleeping pad plus a medium temp sleeping bag kept me semi warm in our tent. The hikes we went on were beautiful and the restrooms were clean and close to our site. Because it was a last minute reservation we ended up in the RV section of the campsite so it was a little nosier than neccessary. We saw the park ranger ride through about every half hour to hour during our weekend stay. I would defintely stay there again!
GuideGreat campground right on Colorado Trail section 6. Family friendly with vault toilets, potable water, and very nice campground hosts. Currently under a fire ban due to the dry conditions but don’t let that discourage you! The campground is right off the highway so there is some traffic noise and a few of the spots are close together but overall a great campground, easy location, and perfect for backpacking!
TravelerI travelled to Twin Lakes the weekend after Memorial Day weekend to explore more of Colorado. The drive from Denver was beautiful and the Twin Lakes topped it all. Sitting at the base of several 14'ers this campground featured dispersed camping with options for walk-in, drive-in, and drive-in 4x4 camping. We found ourselves on the North side of the upper side of the neighboring lake since we arrived late Friday afternoon. We found 4-5 sites without anyone around, a quiet spot nestled in the trees for shade.
Bears were reported to be active in the area but we didn't see any. Some camp sites, as we walked around, were littered with people's waste and trash. Sad to see but not everyone follows the leave no trace attitude.
Nathrop, Colorado, offers a fantastic selection of tent camping options surrounded by stunning natural beauty and outdoor activities.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Nathrop, CO is Browns Creek (South) Dispersed Camping with a 4.7-star rating from 10 reviews.
TheDyrt.com has all 56 tent camping locations near Nathrop, CO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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