Searching for the perfect place to pitch your tent near New Castle? Find the best tent camping sites near New Castle. Each tent site offers quick access to one or more of New Castle, Colorado's most popular destinations.
The SE Flat Tops Area is north of Dotsero and I-70, and is primarily accessed by Forest Service Roads heading northwest off of the Colorado River Road between Dotsero and Burns. This area is part of the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District.
The McClure Campground is located on Highway 133 on the south side of McClure Pass. The historic town of Marble is nearby and the campground sits at the head of Lee Creek. Each campsites has a picnic table and fire rings/grills. This quiet campground is surrounded by aspen that provide excellent shade during the summer and there are beaver ponds near by for trout fishing.
The Thompson Creek Recreation Management Area is located just a few miles southwest of Carbondale and provides beautiful, remote recreational opportunities. On the North end of the RMA is the Lorax trail, which is a popular non motorized route. In the southwest corner of the area is the Thompson Creek campground and trail, which winds along Thompson Creek to views of the rare geologic ___fin___ formations. There are 4 shaded campsites along the creek with metal fire rings. There are not picnic tables or restrooms. Must pack out all human waste to eliminate contamination of creek. There are not waste collections. Access is not recommended during wet or snowy conditions. For more information, please contact the Colorado River Valley Field Office.
Southwest and central Flat Tops area. Access often from New Castle.
Legend
A hidden gem in Colorado! Awesome hike in camp sites along the river, but also drive up spots with camper hook ups. Amazing little hiking trails and a super impressive waterfall!
Traveler
Easy to find with Google maps. Plenty of open space. 15min off 70.
Dirt road, a bit bumpy, but we easily pulled our 21ft Micro Minnie
and it was doable for almost any vehicle. We didn't go to far up into the sites so I can't speak to further in. Rolled in at midnight and was still simple to find in the dark.
Ranger
Stayed in spot 18 which was close to vault toilets, but they were stinky and full of bugs. Very buggy in general, not all are mosquitos but there are some of those too. Sites 1, 2, 4, 18, 21, 23 were all decent looking with some shade in the afternoon and relatively level pads. Lakes in area, one adjacent to campground and one that is down a trail to a day use area that is covered by the camp fee. Good spacing between sites. Some have electric. A little warm for July, probably 80 degrees in afternoon. Lots of aspen trees in the area might be good for a fall visit. Bear cans available for trash.
Ranger
Stayed in RV site along creek, which was quite nice with the sound of the water. Unfortunately, sites were not roomy, were close to each other and close to the campground road. Dogs next spot over were not restrained and roamed freely, in front of campground staff. Children wandered around. Smokers walked right by van and smoke smell came right in.
Showers and restrooms were decent and clean and had hot water but centrally located so a bit of a walk.
Food aside: Ate take out from pizza place in town, which was good. Breakfast was sausage and instant egg burritos. Yum.
Traveler
Multiple sites up here for camping. Trailer/RV friendly.
Scout
Definitely would advise 4x4, and not for travel trailers at all. Bringing one up could lead to a serious situation , since there are no places to turn around whatsoever. That said, views were absolutely breathtaking. We also lucked out and saw the northern lights while at site.
GuideGreat little campground, I was there the first week in October and it wasn’t so busy. During the day there is some day use, but it’s in the back by the falls, so the campground stays pretty quiet. It has electric and water, but absolutely no Internet, which can be nice a good place to get away from it all.
Traveler
I came down to Marble, CO from Carbondale with the intention of staying at the Marble campground on a Wednesday but it was full so I went up the road about 10 miles to the McClure campground and was very pleasantly surprised at how much nicer it was than the Marble campground. While Marble did have showers and some sites with water and electricity it was much more crowded and uneven than McClure. McClures sites were all nice and level and several were pull through that could handle fair sized rigs. McClure was a dispersed site at one time but now costs $14/night compared to Marbles $40+ fee. Of course Marble has showers which are worth the extra price to some but McClure had the most important item which was a clean vault toilet. When I got to the campground there were only a couple of other sites occupied so I picked a beautiful level spot only about 150' from the toilet, which is very important to an old man with artificial knees and a weak bladder. By Friday night all the sites were taken and as most other campgrounds were also full there were lots of campers coming through the campground looking for a spot to camp. I had only planned to stay a couple of days but I liked the site so much I stayed for 5 nights. I used it as my base to drive the Crystal River trail which is about 10 miles down the road at Marble. Let me warn you right now, don't do the Crystal River trail unless you have a strong heart and a very sturdy mid sized or smaller vehicle or off-road vehicle because it is very narrow and extremely rough. I've driven some rough country and have a big 4x4 pickup but that trail was all my rig could handle and I left lots of paint on the rocks and trees at the narrower spots. I'm sure half my tires on the drop-off side were in mid air at times and since it is a single track trail if you met someone coming from the other direction one of you would have to back up to a spot that you could pass each other. Very scary. Anyway, back to McClure. The nearest place to get cell service and supplies is Carbondale which is about 20 miles away but if you are self contained and don't need to be on the internet every few minutes this place is great. There was lots of wildlife sharing my site which was fun to watch. I had a doe deer and her boyfriend show up before I even got my tent set up and squirrels and chipmunks were everywhere as were the hummingbirds. I had hummingbirds buzzing up to a foot away from my face to check out my red cap thinking it might be some kind of giant exotic new flower lol. The only reason I didn't give the camp 5 stars is that it is right next to route 133 which it turns out is a main road through this area and traffic noise is sometimes pretty loud, especially early in the mornings on week days. If I am back near that area I will definitely stay in this campground. Almost forgot one other thing. The elevation is high enough that it gets pretty cool most nights, even in July and rain showers came through almost every early morning but the rain never amounted to anything and by mid morning it was beautiful. Camp fees are on the honor system and you need to have cash or checks.
Scout
We recently stayed here for two nights. The camp hosts and maintenance employees were incredibly friendly. There is some highway noise, but it didn't bother us with some ear plugs in and rain sounds playing on my phone. The night sky is amazing at this dark sky park. I can't say enough good things about this campground, we will define back.
ScoutWalk in camping with wheelbarrows in the parking lot, connects to beautiful hiking trail! Very tidy campground. Table and fire pit, but you need to bring in firewood.
TravelerApple map directions are spot on. Lots of room - I chose to go up a rutted road a ways, for privacy. There was one camper at the flat bottom. Check weather for rain chance if you don’t have 4x4.
Scout
Went here on a Saturday in Sept after reading all the great reviews. Drove for miles and every site taken. There aren't many sites like people would make you think. Have these people been to the San Jaun Mountains - so much better. Had to drive home because just nothing available.
GuideThis was a beautiful place to camp. There were a few places along the road you could stop and camp. We stayed at the farthest site out because there were other campers at the other sites. All sites could fit more that one camper if needed.
Beautiful sunsets and sunrises at this location. The road leaving up was doable for our low clearance Winnebago solis.
Traveler
We’re Van camping in the lower campground, 50’ from the banks of the Colorado River. Electric & Water. Cabins avl. On the River and upper grounds. Our site, 44 is also located off set and below the deck of the resort event center. (Weekend celebrations may offend some, not us) quite time is 10pm. We’ve enjoyed watching Rafters, Kayakers & Geese float & fly the turns of the River. Wonderful staff. Available if needed. Kevin, manager; generous & helpful. Twilla, the work & stay host att. Is super attentive. Clean, accessible Bathhouse facilities. Discounts on rafting while booked at GCR. 1.7m to downtown Glenwood, (foodies, cute shops) bike path, or… just hang by the river near the boat launch & tent sites. (Our fav. spots!) Great place to R&R, Hot springs, Hike…
Guide
Pretty good spot with ok views. Used starlink with no issues. Driver further up the road and found a good spot on the side of the road with a fire pit.
Guide
Tried to camp at Deep Creek but had no luck with the very limited spots. If you keep driving up the road there’s about a dozen spots off the road; none very nice but are a free place to stay with great views.
Scout
We stayed here Thursday through Monday over Labor Day Weekend. It is in an absolutely beautiful spot and the campground is kept immaculately. It is right on the river so my husband was happy to be able to fish right behind our RV. We stayed in#33 which is on the end so we had more privacy and room. It was a concrete pad so easy to level and fire pits were great. They have everything you could think of-ninja lines, playset, zip line, hammocks, jenga, frisbee golf, etc. There were tons of kids that had a huge time. Mine loved it! There is a trail to hike up to a beautiful meadow. They have a general store/liquor store on site with a really good selection of items. We were able to make a short drive to Black Canyon National Park as well as some really nice local produce stops. The town of Hotchkiss is 15 mins away and has propane/restaurants/etc. Highly recommend staying here.
Traveler
This is a BLM site with five primitive camping sites available. However there is a bathroom. I didn't locate any potable water spigots. As of the time of this posting, it appears to be a newer campground. I would guess about 5 years old. It is right across a gravel road from the Prince Creek (class 3 trout stream) and surrounded by some great hiking and biking trails. I would say except for the large picnic area and site one, the campground is best set up for tents and camper vans. There is fairly decent privacy due to the thick scrub oak between each of the sites. sites 3, 4 & 5 are close to the gravel road.
Guide
This was a great stay I stayed at spot #2, pitched a tent and really enjoyed it. They had a fire ring. Also you can hear the creek down below the entire night which was quite peaceful. It was only 10 minutes off of I70 which made it nice for traveling. I have Google FI wireless and had no connectivity..
Guide
Beautiful views, easy access with 30 ft TT. Water stream with lots of beaver dams. Great for riding our ebikes. Saw squirrels, deer, one moose, skunk (no spray), a couple prong horn sheep, eagle, endless beauty. Make sure you have full water supply Camp host Stanley is a great guy!
Guide
Not an actual site. Pin took me to a feild with horse/cows (pics attached for cuteness). The actual site is in the campground on Google Maps, but IT ISNT ALLOWED!!!
VERY CLEARLY SIGNED CAMPING IN CAMPGROUND SITES ONLY!!!
There is a small fire ring by the trailhead, as description says, but the signs on the road are VERY clear. Also lots of rangers patrolling, so don't risk it!!
So, unless you wanna pay a RIDICULOUS fee for a night, not worth it at all. Would've given it one mark, but figured someone later might find a touch of value.
Guide
Grand mesa is the largest mesa in the world. For over 150 years cattle have roamed here. They need to go. It is time. The diversity and wildlife will slowly be destroyed and it is exponential. The climate is changing and places like this need to to be protected they are our arks. No atvs no generators no cattle. Would improve.the place.ten fold. And absolutely no logging. Ban all fires! We are about to lose it all including Grand mesa. Wake up.
Traveler
Well groomed dirt/gravel road just West of Rte 65. Go in 1/4 mile and turn Right down dirt path to large camping site. There is nobody for 1/2 mile or more around you. If this site is not good, up FSR 100 maybe 1/2 mile on the Right is a site up in the trees. Very secluded. This site is at 10,700 feet elevation. The lake is stream fed and looks like good trout fishing. There are free range cows in the area.
Traveler
I stayed at this campground for four nights after the July holiday weekend. It was easy to find a FCFS site midday Thursday. One thing to look out for when getting to the campground is that Google Maps will have you turn in north of the Lake due to the shorter distance. This upper road is much more rough and narrow. I highly recommend you go past the lake and enter on the south end. The road is better and a little wider. You will also get an awesome view of the lake from the main road before you turn off.
This campground is not on the lake, but a short trail across the road leads you to the tail around the lake. The day use parking area is also very close and your hanger for the campground gives you free parking. With how close the day use area is, we were able to just strap two paddle boards and a kayak to the roof of the truck and go back and forth. The vault toilets were very clean and water is potable. The host mentioned it comes from a mountain spring in the area. Most sites had a pull in long enough for a vehicle and small camper, along with a pad for the fire pit/picnic table and a pad for the tent.
Cell signal is very spotty. I could get one, maybe two bars of Verizon, but data did not always work well. Sometimes there was a faint T-Mobile signal. The visitor center is also close by, and while not staffed for the 2024 season, it has wifi, flush toilets, and filtered water for bottles. The lakes were amazing due to all the rain and snow this year. We were there just before peak wildflower time, but it was still beautiful.
Guide
Site #3 was a good spot right on the water. Water was stagnant and not worth getting in. Would be good for fishing. Spot was hot during the day but cool at night. Lots of mosquitos.
Legend
Only dispersed camping I found from here to Trappers Lake. 4 sites, only the one in open area is suitable for TTs. Rest are more overland spots. No tables, no toilet, no wayer, no trash. No Cell signal.
TravelerCamp sites here are not well defined (look for fire rings). The trail is heavily rutted, and if it just rained gets incredibly muddy. Would definitely recommend a vehicle with decent 8”+ clearance, and decent all terrain tires if using the trail post rain. Otherwise my dogs loved playing in the sage brush.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near New Castle, CO is Harvey Gap BLM Dispersed with a 4-star rating from 1 review.
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TheDyrt.com has all 29 tent camping locations near New Castle, CO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
