Best Campgrounds near Orchard, CO

Nice views, but a lot of cactus.

Very windy area but nice enough for a quick stop driving though.

I stayed out here for a dove hunt, and it was nice enough. Typical state park setup. Nice big fire ring in the group sites. Bathrooms are functional though definitely a little dated. Kind of odd so close to a trailer park, but it was quiet during my stay.

Busy and right off highway

Calm during week. Busy on weekend. Sites are level. Few tents. Some sites better than others for tent on grass. Electricity to help keep camper cool. T-Mobile 5G. Very good coverage. Free showers and clean restrooms make this a good place to hang out near Loveland. Bike path runs past camp. Lake launch ramp and swim beach in season. Playgrounds. Could use more shade.

Our spot was close to the lake. The beaches had good sand and the water was cold. Our pad had a nice fire ring and table, and electrical hookup. The park has a free to use waste dump on the way out.

Have to take off 1 star for the freeway noise and the lack of trees. However, the sites are nicely spaced, with many of them facing a few different ponds. The full hook-up sites are much more open than the electric only ones. Also, no showers on the full side, but what looks like a nice building on the electric side. It’s an hour to Estes Park, and it’s nice not to have to drag your rig up the mountain. Plus it’s close to Longmont where we found a couple cute breweries/cideries.

The road in essentially circles the reservoir, and you just pull off where can/want to. The gravel road is well maintained. And there is plenty of room between you and your neighbor. We pulled up around 6 on a Saturday evening and found a great spot.

Easy in and out from I-25. Large sites. Some trees for shade. Site are fairly level. Appears loop A is being renovated with updated roads and concrete pads; will be very nice in the future.

Please don’t go here. We love it tons! There is always a place to pull in and set up.

You have to drive for several miles on some bumpy roads, but my Ford transit handled it fine. There are a couple spots with fire rings before the main trailhead, and then many options if you keep driving. Really beautiful but verrrry windy. My van rocked me to sleep every night. Overall peaceful and pretty. Also there was an adorably stubborn cow blocking the road on my way out. Really added to the ambiance :-)

It's a decent camp spot. We went on memorial weekend and we were able to find a spot. His Subaru outback made it and we saw sedans get up there just fine.

Cows do use the area and may wander into your site. Cactus are a thing and it can get really windy. Our tent was staked down and we angled it so the side wasn't collapsing on us. Cooking during the wind was nearly impossible but doable with some engineering.

Neighbors were quiet and the terrain made it so that we didn't see who camped in the next spots nearest us.

It's decent if you want to get away for a day or two, wander around at your leisure, and read.

Pit toilet available at the Buttes trailhead.

Verizon service is spotty but I was still able to use maps.

I have had some good experiences here and some not so good. I’ll start with the bad first. There are insufficient trashcan and dumpsters here so often that the beaches are trashed. Also, there have been times I’ve camped here and the water smelled like cattle manure. My only assumption is the local agriculture dumps into the water that feeds the lake. After driving 40 miles from the nearest city - a smelly lake was not what we had in mind. The good: this is basically what you want it to be. Inexpensive campsites where people are friendly and the amenities are fine. When the water is clean and you can swim on a sunny day it’s a great time.

There are a lot of spots for RVs so you are a little bit packed. Showers are a little bit cold. The view from campsites are neither beautiful neither ugly.

Lots of nice sites with fire pits. There are pit toilets at the trailhead as well. Pretty good Verizon service at most spots. My only complaint is that when I was there it was super windy!

Easy drive to the campground area even towing a trailer. A bit dusty but at the end you can find nice grassy area (after all, it is a National Grasslands). Very windy place (hence the windmills in far distance) but we were lucky to get some breaks in between and set up the trailer to shield us against the wind. Stayed couple of nights and did the hikes to both of the “buttes”. From the second one you can get nice areal views if you climb a bit. It took us 3h in a very easy pace, lots of photo and views stops. It can probably be done in and 1h to 1.30h.

Getting there: Located out in the plains South of Pawnee National Grassland near and a bit NE of Ft. Morgan off I-76 

Check in and staff: We made an online reservation, entered and camped. We were on the far Southern side of the campground, which is much larger than it looks. Later we discovered the Visitor Center as we were leaving. The ranger there was very nice and helpful. 

Amenities: Water is available, as are dumpsters. Roads are dirt/gravel and can be uneven in places, but not bad at all. Power available as well. 

Bathrooms: clean, well kept. On the southern side near our site there is a single toilet, no shower. Those are located in the area near the visitor center, a long walk from where we were. They were reasonably clean, but we did not use them. 

Site: Lakeside, on the Southern end of the campground. Cannot recall the number!

Comments: It was quite windy when we were there. On the other hand, no bugs!

The camp site we had was close to the lake. We left a day early because of tornado warnings. Other than that we had a great time

Neat Boyd lake. Sites are about 100 yards from lake. Nice trail along lake. Sites are level. No tent pads, but likely could set up on gravel or lawn in the site. Only modest site separation with little screening between sites. Some shade trees. Noise level from the city hum is about 45 db, peaking at 50-60 when trains or airplanes go by. Swim beach, playgrounds, close to stores for supplies. Only about half full on a Sunday night in September.

Like to come here to The beaches off of the campground. Public Beach is nice with shaded outdoor tables and small food vender small store and SUP rentals. They close EARLY in the day so be prepared. I think 4:30 or 5:00pm. Easy access Dump Station with fresh water fill located along all the campground loops and marked on map. All asphalt driveway pull through sites with larger gravel set up areas. Picnic tables and fire pit. Multiple Clean flushing toilets bathrooms and nice coin showers. Shade trees mixed around and large common areas in between the loops for your games. Playground and horse shoes. Beach Area access off of the campground loops walking path. Sand is soft and finer consistency. Bring a wagon to haul shade items, inflatables and chairs. Can be a walk depending on water level. Call ranger station to verify the water levels. Patrolled well by CPW Rangers.