Best Tent Camping near Poncha Springs, CO

This campground used to be free when I first found it years ago while visiting the Royal Gorge. Since the city has invested money into fixing up the campsites with fire rings, tent pads, and what seems to be pretty good county road maintenance, it’s definitely understandable why they charge a fee.

No water is available. There are vault toilets.

There are NO bear boxes.

Rules worth nothing (according to the sign upon entering camp):

1. no alcohol (that didn’t seem to stop anyone from enjoying themselves at their site)
2. You can only stay for 72 hours per visit unless otherwise noted.

There’s lots of hiking and mountain bike trails near the campground, which brought lots of mellow mtb riders in during my stay.

Because of the rules/amenities, i felt the price was a little steep as others have mentioned. However it is clean, close enough to Cañon city that you can go to town if needed, but far enough away to “unplug” from the world in a beautiful location. Overall I’d recommend visiting this campsite! I’ll happily return.

I gave this a 4 star because of the crowds.I backpacked to a high alpine lake called Kroenke Lake in the Collegiate Peaks wilderness area near Buena Vista, CO in August to catch some high country Cutthroats. This is a very popular hike during the summer. Camping can be congested but there are enough trees in between spots for some privacy. The designated camp sites we kept very clean by the previous visitors. There was not any trash in or around the fire ring that I often come across in other areas. The people that have previously visited, practiced leave no trace with the exception of the designated fire ring. The scenery was beautiful with a gorgeous lake with peaks of granite in the background. All of the people on the trail were friendly and courteous. It does get congested on the weekend being so close to Buena Vista and Salida. If you go little further, you can escape the congestion. I would highly recommend this hike to anyone looking for a weekend backpack trip.

The reservoir and surrounding areas are beautiful, but we don't plan to return to this campground. The roads in are so rough and created so much vibration that it was actually damaging to our A-Liner camper (with an off-road package). The speed limit is 55 and we weren't able to go much faster than 10 mph without the vibration becoming unbearable. The campsites are totally exposed with no tree cover, but it was too windy to set up our shade tent. The winds were so strong that we slept poorly; a neighbor in a tent said the wind ripped off two of his rain fly straps overnight. We chose Site 612 because the sites in that loop looked more private and spacious, but we failed to note that there was no bathroom on that side of the campground, with the nearest facilities being a short drive away. We left after the first night.

I travelled to Twin Lakes the weekend after Memorial Day weekend to explore more of Colorado. The drive from Denver was beautiful and the Twin Lakes topped it all. Sitting at the base of several 14'ers this campground featured dispersed camping with options for walk-in, drive-in, and drive-in 4x4 camping. We found ourselves on the North side of the upper side of the neighboring lake since we arrived late Friday afternoon. We found 4-5 sites without anyone around, a quiet spot nestled in the trees for shade. 

Bears were reported to be active in the area but we didn't see any. Some camp sites, as we walked around, were littered with people's waste and trash. Sad to see but not everyone follows the leave no trace attitude.

Sites: 17 

Fee: $22.00 per night $7.00 day use 

Reservations: 877-444-6777 or recreation.gov 

Open: Mid May- Mid Sep 

Check out 12 PM Prior to Memorial Day, sites may be FCFS but water and host might not be available. 

Fire ring, picnic table, tent pad, pit toilets, doggie poo bags, bear box, no showers, electric hookups This is a beautiful campground and you just can't go wrong on this mountain. The surrounding mountain views are just amazing. The creek is cascading along the rocky creek bed and is the perfect way to zen out. The ghost town of St Elmos intriguing so make sure you head up to the top of the mountain to check out a Colorado ghost town.

LNT

BTWYFI 

Safe travels

Fee: $22.00 Day use fee $7.00 There is a self service tube available 

Check out 12:00 noon Quiet time 10:00 pm to 6:00 am 

Fire ring/grill, picnic table, tent sites, pit toilets, doggie poo bags, some bear boxes Pads and road have a base of gravel 

Before Memorial Day weekend the sites may be FCFS, but host and water may not be available. 

During peak season you may reserve by calling 800-444-6777 or on line at recreation.gov No showers or electrical hookups are available. There are two handicapped-accessible toilets. Water is by way of a handpump 

Mt. Princeton Campground is located in the Chalk Creek Canyon and not only is it a beautiful drive but you have St Elmo to look forward to. St Elmo is a ghost town from the 1800's. The mountains are just beautiful. 

Directions: From Buena Vista travel south on Highway 285 for 7 miles then turn right on County Road 162 and travel west, passing the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort then 8.5 miles to campground 

LNT

 Better than when you found it

 Stay safe Happy travels

CLICK HERE for FULL video about Clear Creek Reservoir and Wenzel Ridgeline Tent!!

Nothing in this world can beat an amazing campsite in a picturesque location, but how often can you luck into one of those right?? When traveling it is few and far between than you are fortunate enough to find these types of locations but I wanted to find my own oasis while traveling though Colorado and managed to do just that at Clear Creek Reservoir located just north of Buena Vista. 

Campground Review:

When searching in the area just beyond the frozen slopes of Aspen and Leadville, I found a series of listed campsites all located on lands which allow free camping.  I am not one to pass up a good free campsite or at least a good look at one, so I made the trip and found as the snow subsided and the grounds became increasingly more green that the weather was shaping up to be very pleasant for tent camping.    

As I finally turned onto the unpaved road I cringed in fear of the road condition in my small car but also was optimistic based on what I had seen from other campers.     The road a mixture of clay and old gravel turned out to be a little bumpy but nothing major and after passing the lake and wrapping back toward the backside of the water I noticed the small sign for dispersed camping.

I had found the location from a person who is a full time RVer and so I knew the sites would be large enough for a decent sized rig, but I was so surprised how much room really was there!  Wrapping alongside the shoreline of the creek are campsites scattered at various distances.     The campground on a Wednesday had a handful of campers, of which I couldn’t even find them til I really started driving through the far side of the campground and they all seem to have collected along that bank due to large shade trees.   

I opted for a site on the right hand of the entry in a large open space near the base of the Colorado Trail hill which goes through camp.    There were a number of established looking campsites with river rock fire rings and large portions of the area cleared of scattered rocks or limbs.     I had very little work to do to prepare my tent site before just setting up.   

The campsite does have a single vault toilet.  It is located on the side nearer the tree line in the more open area to the right of the camp.    While this was a little far for me compared to my usual wants at a campground which offers any amenities, I was glad to give up a few hundred yards for a much better view alongside the river.    

The sites are very basic, you will have to literally bring everything you want with you, no tables or lantern hooks, no electricity, not even trashcans!  Sometimes with views like these it is all worth it.     If you enjoy a good primitive site or can be sustainable off grid in your camper this is perfect.

The waters here are icy cold from the snow melt and provide a great contrast on a warm day.  They are clear and when the occasional fish does happen to pass you see it easily, though they do say you are more likely to catch fish in the lake itself.   

I was elated to see the wildlife in the area throughout the day which included some very cute prairie dogs, a very curious humming bird who was very impressed with my pink shirt and some beautiful songbirds.   

CLICK HERE for basic fishing Information at the Clear Creek Reservoir

**TIPS:  **

• There is no cell service for AT&T at this campsite, I you are needing to make any important calls you will need to drive about 3 miles away from camp to sustain signal.   I advise dropping a pin if you have a friend of family member you check in with before you come to select your site.
• Remember your firewood if you are wanting to have a fire.    There are several sources for your fire starters but none really for your actual campfire.
• Pack Out Everything!!  There is NO trash collection at this site and since it is such a beautiful free site it is important that we remember to keep it clean and able to be used by the next person.

**Product Review:   **

As a Dyrt Ranger upon occasion I am given the opportunity to try out a new piece of camping gear and provide a little feedback on my experiences.  I was in the market for a smaller tent when I sent a Wenzel Ridgeline 3 Person Tent.    50 inches in height this would be a good solution for many small tent needs and allow comfortable sitting up and crouching while inside.     It also seemed the 7 x 7 size would easily meet the needs I might have, typically I like to use a 3 man tent for 2 people to provide some room for comfort since I travel with friends often.

Something I was most excited about with this tend is the Lite Reflect System.   This is a fancy way to say that the tent has a mesh basket which clips to the top panel inside.   You can place your headlamp of a small light inside this basket and it shines upward to create a reflection which illuminates your entire tent.    This is a ver thoughtful addition to a design to help allow more livable space in a tent at night when you need to be able to see.     This means that now instead of being stuck with your headlamp blinding another person or only being able to see a small portion of your tent without having to ransack through things, this technology would allow you to alleviate both of these issues. 

With any new tent there is a learning curve to assembly.    The poles on this tent were easy to snap together and after spreading the tent out I was able to feed them through to prepare the hoisting process within a matter or 2 minutes or less.    

 The problem for me came when the poles were such a tight fit within one of the corners that I was nervous to snap it in place.   This was not entirely the actual fits fault however, a small breeze had started to come through and pushed on the back of the tent, the only window zipped closed and not venting.   This created shifting of the tent against the pole and it made for a little tricky snap on that last corner.     Had the wind not have come along I would have had the entire tent up in less than 7 minutes.

After fully securing the tent with the tent stakes the winds continued to blow, but the tent remained in tact which allowed me to comfortably stay throughout the evening.   Sometimes I have noticed when a tent feels like it has a bit higher clearance it can get whipped around a bit, but this tent seemed very secure.

TIPS:

• On a windy day it can be a bit more difficult to assemble this tent solo. The tent can easily catch wind and make it a bit harder to set up. While it can be done, it will take a bit of patience and creativity securing the tent base. My suggestion is to place items inside the tent before erecting the poles on a windy day.

• The base of the tent is very durable but on a cold or rainy night it can still gather condensation. To prevent this lay a tarp down before placing the tent.