Best Campgrounds near Ouray, CO

The South Rim Campground at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a fantastic place! I should know, my wife and I are the current volunteer campground hosts. Stop by and say hi while we're up here all summer. You won't believe the variety of songbirds we have up here this year!

I'd like to correct a couple of misconceptions that might be coming from faulty info here or in other listings outside the recreation.gov system. All reservations for all 75 available sites must be made through recreation.gov in advance (6 month rolling). We've had multiple reports from guests saying that they saw something about C-loop being first-come, first-serve. That's just not the case. Things only shift to fcfs for the winter months - October-April (ish).

There is drinking water available with bottle fill stations at each of the three loops. This is a difficult place to get water to, and so this is low pressure bottle fill only; not something you can fill freshwater tanks from.

Toilet facilities are pit toilets. There are no showers or camper kitchen facilities. Campers are encouraged to use a gray water collection systems and dispose of waste down the hill in Montrose or wherever you are headed next. Small amounts of dishwashing gray water can go into the pit toilets in a pinch.

Fire pits are provided and well utilized. Bring your own wood, preferably from a local source. There's a great spot just down the road at the crossroads as you head up the mountain. They even have an honor system to pay if you happen by after hours (please be honorable). In a pinch, ask the camp host - we collect a fair bit of random leavings and would prefer you ask than go scrounge around and burn up our habitat.

Electric sites (22 of them for $34/night) have brand new 20/30/50 amp service. Everything is working great! All other sites are $20. All sites are really pretty cool and workable for most folks. Pay attention to the driveway length figures in rec.gov as they are pretty accurate.

If you are not going to make it or need to leave early, please go ahead and cancel your reservation. We are almost completely booked for the entire summer and have to turn a lot of people away. It is a really raw move to squat on a site digitally and not show up physically. I know the rec.gov situation sucks with all the damn fees the big contractor gets to keep. So, if you don't want to hassle then please call the park or let us know as camp hosts. When we get those cases we can get someone else into a site. They'll pay the going rate, and everyone will come out happy enough.

All that may have sounded negative and preachy. Sorry about that. But with the business out of the way, I'd encourage anyone to come up and visit this gorgeous place. Right now as spring is moving to summer, I'm routinely seeing and hearing 10-12 songbord species at exactly the same time as I sit in the morning sunrise, sipping my coffee, and petting my dog. The Black Canyon is a supreme work of Creator's art you don't want to miss.

We stayed here for 3 nights and loved it! There is so much to do on the ranch such as swim in the pools, play games, horseback ride, etc. The bathrooms and showers were clean and nice. It’s also in a great location with proximity to black canyon of the gunnison national park, crested butte, and so many lakes. The sites all had picnic tables, fire rings, and nice landscaping. It was really enjoyable. We’re living in my camper full time right now so it was a good break from true wilderness. The only thing i would add is water fountains. but that’s it!

We camped here the first week of June and it was spectacular. The views were unreal!! Sadly it was pretty rainy that week but the storms were so cool to watch roll in, the clouds were basically our level. There are multiple spots out in the open and some back in the trees or along the roads. We drove in from ouray side and took the long 40 min dirt road and I will say, the road was rough.. we made it just fine in my hyundai tuscan but I will say, I was sh*ting myself driving it! My boyfriend on the other hand had full confidence lol. I was definitely nervous about the clearance of my car and my tires, it was super rocky, definitely some muddle and big puddles, steep downhills and close to the edge at one part- it was quite the adventure but I would definitely recommend going up through the telluride way bc it’s a much smoother and shorter road! The campspot was worth it though I will say!! Lots of trails and places to hike and a stream close by. Also plenty of fallen and dead trees that made for great firewood. 10/10!