Best Glamping near Oak Creek, CO

We absolutely love staying here! Many options to stay including walk in camping and covered wagon cabins. There is a long steepish trail that leads to many camp sites along the river. You are not allowed to drive to camp, you must walk your gear in. Very shaded and flat areas built for tents in each site, picnic table, gas grill with propane, fire pit, showers and bathrooms are a short distance away. Running water and easy access to the Hot Springs too.

The place is always updating and staying on top of upkeep. It has many pools of various sizes and temperatures. Even river access to cool off when it's not moving too quick.

As you can see on this visit, we were snowed on. As it seems to be a crazy season this spring 2019- be prepared for muddy rough conditions on the road to the Hot Springs entrance. It can require 4x4 and sometimes is not passable. Depending on weather and conditions. See there website and/or call!

The Deep Lake area of Flat tops Wilderness offers a variety of scenic hikes and drives as well as 4x4 trails and great lake fishing. The drive up to this area is up a dirt road about 10 miles, the road can be a beat beat up in areas. I blew a tire on my truck on the way up. Other than that the drive up is very scenic, you will pass the deep creek overlook and can see Aspen, Beaver Creek, and Vail Ski Resorts all in the same view.

The campgrounds are very large and spaced out. We went with a large group, 5 cars and many tents and had plenty of room. Some site are able to accommodate an RV or trailers. Sites vary between open and exposed to set against the forest for shaded. Restrooms were located fairly close to our spot and i remember it being one of the cleanest vault toilets i have ever used! Each spot also has a metal fire pit with a grill over top.

Like i mentioned earlier the Deep Lake area is a great base camp to go out and explore. You will find many people driving off road vehicles around. The fishing in the lake is also very good, the Forest Service stocks the lake every year. Lastly the campground sits at 10.500 ft so it does gets chilly up there even in the middle of summer.

This became a favorite car camping spot of mine while living in Vail, Colorado. The lake is situated in White River National Forest and is accessible only for a few months during the summer via Red Sandstone Road. I have seen 2wd sedans drive up this road, however I would definitely recommend something with high clearance and 4wd if possible as the roads up there are not well maintained. There are plenty of first come, first serve USFS campsites near the lake, additionally there are quite a few service roads off of Red Sandstone Road that provide access to miles of additional dispersed campsites. It is hard to find a spot to camp without a breathtaking view of the Gore Range from Piney. In addition to camping, there are hiking trails near the lake and the privately owned Piney River Ranch offers horseback riding, boat rentals, fishing, a restaurant, and other lodging options. This area is also known for the moose that frequent the area, be sure to keep your distance if you are lucky enough to spot one! If you are interested in camping at Piney in the early summer or fall, you may first want to call the Minturn Ranger’s Station at 970-827-5715 to check on the closure status of Red Sandstone Road.

Beautiful views abound, the lake is very clean and access is easy. There is lots more lake for us to explore on our paddle boards, but each day the wind picks up around 1-2pm and makes travel treacherous at best on the lake. Camp hosts are friendly and welcoming. They offer $7 bundles of firewood and $4 bags of ice.

The bathrooms are all vault toilets, with running water sinks. Very clean and up kept but no soap. And we never saw any showers anywhere. There is a fish cleaning station next to the launch ramp, which was very nice to use.

Fishing was rough from shore, conditions are slow due to temperature and late season snows, some locals informed me. Also advise trying to get on the water to fish, much better results trolling, just like you see lots of folks on the lake doing.

The campground has no shade, no trees, no cover, only some picnic tables have roof covers but no wind block. There is no cover or shelter from the wind. And it blows, everyday, according to the camp hosts. Sometimes extremely high winds- 40+ mph. We had to use our hammock rain cover as a shield in the shade shelter to cook dinner, and help keep our sanity in the wind.

Sites are all very small for tents. If you have a large tent you may have trouble finding any ground worthy of trying to sleep on. Most camps we saw had campers, and parked them all as wind blocks, hiding out each afternoon behind the RV or camper.

The camp was fairly clean, although I did pick up handfuls of micro trash and did a loop around the campground picking up a handful of larger trash too. I'd say a B+ on litter.

Overall we had a good time, but for the price- we did expect a little more. Showers. More space and flat area per campsite. Trees, cover, wind blocks are needed when it is known to have such high winds on the daily.

Steamboat Lake State Campground is a very clean and beautiful site right on the lake. We were in site 166, on the end and overlooking the lake. The area has 2 campground areas once you pass the showers and store.

Watch for the sites that are walk-I’m only where you have to use a cart to haul your stuff. Although they are nice we chose a drive up site.

This campground doesn’t have many trees but still seemed private with cool metal dividing walls that give you shade as well.

Vault toilets only at the campground or you can drive back to the showers area for real facilities, laundry and showers. Water at each loop. Would definitely return.

We traveled to this park from Jackson WY. The site is about 30 minute drive up a winding road from the main highway 40. It’s a large state park on a local reservoir. Our site had a very nice elevated western view. The sites had ample room and firewood. The mule deer were nightly visitors during our two night stay. The lake below can fill up on weekends and become very busy. It’s a self checkin system and the sites are patrolled by park police. The visitor center and office is on the road leading to the campsite. The staff were very helpful even with large summer crowds. Our loop only had a few guests but others looked fairly full during August stay. This is a nice option is you are traveling from Wyoming to Steamboat Springs.