Best RV Parks & Resorts near Paonia, CO

This quaint little campground is just below the highway. While there is quite a bit of highway noise when outside, it didn’t bother us when we were inside our trailer.

The double wide sites offer picnic tables and a fire ring, along with full hookups. The facilities are well maintained and clean. The sites are a bit shallow (we could not lower the rear patio on our 25’ toy hauler).

Only minutes away from the cute little town of Carbondale. Here there are plenty of options to stuff your belly with great food and/or wet your whistle with local beers/distillations.

Located just above a beautiful river, the campground is close to a partially-paved 40+ mi bike path (Aspen <> Glenwood Springs). Although we didn’t have time to ride them, Trailforks shows some nice MTB trails nearby as well.

We stayed in the winter off season in Loop A, since it’s the only loop open. They plow Loop A and all pull through sites. There was no fee for the campsite, just the park entrance fee. There’s no power in this loop and there’s no water since it’s shut off in the winter. There are pit toilets which are pretty clean for pit toilets. There were a few campers but they were spread so far apart since everyone needed pull through sites cause it snowed a lot recently. Some places the snow is up to your thighs and some places it’s up to your waist.

Even without amenities, we were happy a campground was open in the Colorado winter.

[Internet. Verizon via iPhone has no signal. However, with our booster Nighthawk MR-1100 - 25 mbps down and 1 mbps up with 200 ping.]

After driving 4-10 hour days from Canada in our 16’ travel trailer, staying at Harvest Hosts, we decided to stop here to prep and regroup for the next leg of our journey. Full hook ups allowed us to flush our water systems, recharge all batteries and devices, and wait out some seriously nasty wind, like lift the trailer right off the ground wind (well felt like it I swear!). The place is super clean, easy to access, has great views and a helpful staff. Pet friendly with a small off-leash dog area even. Looks good for families too with a pool and water park, playground. Wifi was good and cell service at 2 bars. Not cheap but easy access to supplies and touristy spots.

We stayed in a camper van over a busy holiday and loved it! We were hoping for a peaceful getaway for us and our dog and found it at Kebler. Yes, some of the spaces are close together but everyone there made it work well. The angled spots and strategic landscaping help too. Plenty of grassy common areas to stretch your legs and your pup’s (on leash), so much so we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything by not being parked with the big coaches along the river. Even better since the large river spots had little/no natural shade (most seemed to have their own awnings that our van didn’t so no worries there I think for them). The tent spots were in a different area on the other side of the property a little away from the busier parts. They also had less shade but had level pads and but seemed closer to the bridge (and hiking). The community vibe was respectful and friendly and it was lovely to stroll about and enjoy it all. Families were out and about, playing with their children and trying different things to do. There was a little playground and some activities in a covered space like velcro axe throwing and corn hole. There were soccer goals set up at one of the grassy areas too. There was also a frisbee golf course, hammocks and picnic tables scattered around the property. A sign by the bathrooms invited camp guests to go gentle group hike if you meet at the bridge at the posted time in the morning. The general store was open during the day and had more than I expected (came for stickers and snacks, left with a game of Bananagrams and more). There wasn’t cell service but wifi worked well for what we needed. The bathrooms were clean and the water was warm. On a busy weekend you might need to use the portable toilets near the tent sites if the regular ones are occupied at a busy time. In the future, splitting the shower and toilet facilities might help with that long term, but I am not sure how hard (and expensive) that is to do in places that are tucked away into the mountains like this. We did use the coin laundry and that worked well. At the time of our visit it was $2 for the washer and $3.50 for the dryer. There was a variety of cute cabins for rent with a good range in size and cost - and some have own their bathroom and even little patio spaces. The hosts and staff were friendly and helpful, even doing trash pickup in the morning if you left it out at a certain time by your site. Kebler is in a beautiful setting, has thoughtfully-designed spaces and is carefully maintained. We would definitely come back - hopefully in a camper van / travel trailer or even just to stay in one of the cabins.

They have a great staff that is friendly and always accessible! We have a back-in site but they have pull throughs also. There is a playground for the kids, laundry, and bathrooms with showers. They allow fires and provide a “fire pit” that is constructed from an old washer tub with legs welded on. Just ask for one at the front desk. They also sell firewood for the fire. Oh, and they come by and pick up your trash at your site between 9-5 each day just leave your bag out by the road. There are full hookups at most of the sites. The area is in walking distance of the Gunnison River and there is a nice hiking trail on the south side of the river heading west. There is also a bike path that goes back into town and up the road toward Crested Butte. On the main road (intersection of CR11 and highway 135) there is a bus stop for a free bus trip into Gunnison. The men’s bathroom had a couple of issues, the overhead light didn’t work very well and one of the toilets was malfunctioning but they got those fixed pretty quickly. There is a nice combination of shade (from the trees) and sun at all the sites.

So much of Colorado is impressive, let me just start with that. I wanted to swing through Aspen to check out the John Denver Sanctuary before heading to Denver and found the Difficult Campground on a listing for the area.

Like many campgrounds in Colorado, facilities are limited in fall and winter as they prepare for cold weather. The campground itself was no exception. CLOSED! I was so upset, however I stumbled upon a ranger in the area and he said I could stay if I parked and walked in from the entrance and would not have access to toilets.

Seemed fair, backcountry style camping with some amenities like a fire ring and table. I thought Indeed it would be a winning experience!! Boy was a right!!

The river flows alongside the campground and makes for such a relaxing sound throughout the evening. I saw several small animals as I hiked in, mostly squirrels, birds and a small fox.

The tree coverage of the area cut the wind in the evening just enough. I had the campground to myself and it was one of the coolest feelings ever!

There was no cell service at the campground.

I had to bring in my own small firewood because they discourage you from foraging for fallen branches at the campgrounds typically. I have seen that during the regular season there is a small store that has firewood available near the entrance area.

I look forward to getting back to this site during the summer season!!

TIPS:

• Bring your own firewood. While sometimes it is available in the area, you will want to bring your own just in case to make sure you are keeping it in the fire ring.

• Check the website first. I was looking online at this campsite and discovered if they have weather related closings or fire bans they list them very vividly on their site which can be very helpful in helping you determine if you would like to stay here.