Best Glamping near Vail, CO

So I am not sure if this is still a “campground” as of 2019. It is no longer marked on the forest service map for 2019. Regardless, there’s still primitive/dispersed camping in the area. I stayed at one of the primitive sites last fall and spent most of my time in Piney River Ranch. There was a wedding at the ranch when we were there, and we didn’t want to intrude on it so I don’t know much of what the ranch has to offer. I do know that there’s a restaurant and a store, as well as cabins. My guess is that there is a wedding there almost every weekend summer-fall, so that is something to take into account if you come here for the ranch.

You are allowed to hike in the ranch during weddings, so that is what we did. We hiked the trail to the left of Piney Lake. It is a great trail to do in the fall because it goes through numerous aspen groves. We took the trail all the way to a waterfall area, but the trail does continue further to Upper Piney Lake. The trail became hard to follow after the waterfall area though, so we turned back.

As for the drive up to the ranch and camping sites, it’s about 45 minutes on a dirt road from Vail. It is a beautiful drive, but it is slow. The road is also in pretty good condition - I’d say a 2wd car can do this drive if the road is dry.

I’m a mountain girl! Like grab your back pack and hike in! Then we had kids and splurged on a camper... and now this place has me over here laying pool side... drink in hand, head over heels about glamping. Seriously I loved this so much. They have an amazing pool! Bowling alley, arcade, restaurant, bars (yes more than one!) they had live music, they have fishing, and dog parks, bike rentals, daily trash pick up from your campsite, firewood delivery, play grounds, golf carts... it is a little close together with out any trees of coverage BUT the pros far (FAR FAR FAR) out weigh that one con.

The Piney Lake area of Vail is by far the most scenic spot anyone can drive to. The ranch at the lake is ever growing and offers a restaurant, canoe rentals, SUP, fly fishing lessons as well as cabin and yurts to rent for the night. If you are looking to spend your night closer to nature the campground is just located about a mile away from the lake.

This may get confusing as there are camp spots along the road that are forest service controlled and have fire rings and right next to that you will find many spots that are in the National Forest but are primitive. The "Camp Spots" that have fire rings are located on the final stretch to the lake. There are maybe 6 or 8 of them. Really the only difference in these spots compared to the primitive ones right next door are the fire rings and the fact that they are fenced in with a small wooden fence.

The upside to grabbing one of these spots is all of summer 2018 in the valley we were in a stage 1 fire ban, meaning you could only have a fire in a permanent fire ring, leaving these few spots the only legal camping in the area. The spots themselves are fairly large, we have put 4 cars and 5+ tents comfortably in one of them. There are no toilets or anywhere to get water unless you drive to the ranch (the ranch is privately owned and closes and opens at a certain time, the lake is public and can be accessed anytime) There is also no fee which is always a plus.

Whether you're camping or staying in one of the cabins or Yurts this place is absolutely breathtaking located in the Rocky Mountains there were many miles of hiking trails and great places to go fishing for trout they don't allow motorized boats however this place was perfect for canoeing and kayaking this is a nice little getaway with breathtaking views absolutely recommended if you were in the area or looking for a nice place to get a good dose of nature

YMCA of the Rockies, Snow Mountain Ranch near Granby, Colorado was a great place for us to spend a couple of weeks while visiting friends. The Y has cabins, yurts, and primitive and developed campsites. Some of the developed campsites have electricity, some electricity and water, and a few full hookups. The campground is dirt with little privacy between most of the sites, but great views of the surrounding mountains. The bathhouse is old, but very well taken care of by the volunteer caretakers. There is a nice commom area with picnic tables, umbrellas for shade, and very busy bird feeders and hummingbird feeders. The staff is welcoming and friendly and the campground volunteers are some of the best we've come across. The Y offers a variety of activities included in the camp fee and publishes a weekly schedule of activities. We enjoyed the Y's hiking trails, excellent disc golf course, and introduction to pickleball. They have lots of activities for kids. While the campground lacks spacing and privacy, the beautiful setting, great staff, and variety of activities made for a memorable stay.

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.

This park has so much character that it should have it’s own tv show. There are conservation areas, trails galore, historical buildings, and a beautiful lake that is surrounded with alpine forests. 

The staff is really sweet and willing to help in any way they can. We lost our pump for our inflatable and they found us one to borrow. 

The campground is large and can accommodate a lot of campers, the bathrooms are fully equipped and clean. It was quiet at night which was surprising since you are basically in a cul-de-sac of tents and rv's. There are cabins and yurts to rent as well. They are even building (or just finished) a new section of a campground that looks like it will accommodate more rv’s and boats. It is called fisherman’s paradise.

There is also a day use area with grills and picnic tables. 

The road to get out here can be rough in bad weather but low clearance is fine to get out here. WInter excursions are probably a bit tougher and would require an all wheel drive.

Slyvan Lake State Park is located outside of the Town of Eagle, CO. It takes about 20 minutes to drive from town to the park. Upon entering, there is a multitude of activities you can partake in. Besides camping, which i will get to in a second, Sylvan lake offers excellent fishing for trout, Stand up Paddle Boarding and Canoeing; Both which can be rented there. The surrounding area offers hiking and scenic drives.

As for the camping, there are a couple campgrounds in the Sylvan Lake area as well as cabins and yurts that can be rented. Camp grounds are standard forest service spots. The each feature a picnic table and metal fire rings. As always, spots range from small to large, some having ample tree coverage and some are very exposed. There are vault toilets in the are as well.

There is a fee to use these spots which can be paid via self service area. This is a great spot for a family or anyone looking to get away and stay active. The area can get very busy in the summer so try to avoid weekends. This summer (2018) there was a lot of construction in the park and in turn it closed down some area that were normally open for camping and activities.

Halfmoon Campground is located at the end of Notch Mountain Rd (forest Rd 707) near Minturn, CO in White River National Forest. It has the essentials - fire pits, picnic tables, vault toilets, and lots of shade. However, I found the dispersed campsites on the way up to the campground more desirable - they were free, had a view, and had no neighbors. Dispersed camping is allowed along 707 within 300 ft of the road centerline. There are maybe 10- 20 sites - you can see the fire rings from the road. I chose a site about 2/3 the way up the road in a clearing with a view of the mountains across the valley. I could see the back side of Vail Ski Resort from there. The best part about the site were the stars at night - I saw multiple shooting stars. One thing that wasn't so great was the proximity to the road. I wouldn't say the road was busy, but a car does drive by occasionally. Especially early in the morning, because there are trailheads at the end of the road by the campground. You can hike to the summit of Mt of the Holy Cross or to various lakes from there.

We camped in Willow Creek Campground for one night this passed July 2018 on a road trip from California to Granby, CO. We camped in State Forest State Park the previous night, which was about an hour or so North of the town of Granby. We spent that morning roaming around highway 14 near SFSP looking for moose - and found two! After seeing the moose we decided to head down to the Granby area to try to find a campsite for the night - we were meeting up with family the following afternoon to check into a rental house for a wedding. As we were driving down highway 125 towards Granby, we spotted our third moose of the day! He was skittish and ran away upon seeing us approach him.

Willow Creek Campground was the first stop on our list of potential camp spots - it is a first come first served campground, and we lucked out, there were a few open sites. This is one of those areas that you need pay for both a park pass AND a campsite, but our Interagency Pass qualified for the park pass. The campsites are reasonable at $22 per night.

The campground is near a reservoir, alongside a small river. The sites are fairly primitive, with no hookups available - each site has a picnic table, fire pit, and some had a tent-pad area (ours did). Some of the sites were next to the reservoir or the river; most sites were grassy, good sized, and spread out, but there was very little in the way of trees for shade or privacy. This is an area of Colorado that has been hit by the pine beetle epidemic, so a lot of the pine trees had been cleared from the park, especially in the Willow Creek Campground itself. A lot of the trees across the river were dead and brown - it’s sad that that is such a common site in Colorado these days. There were, however, some very healthy aspens in the area around the park and the reservoir. Because there is so little shade and trees available, I would suggest bringing an easy up, if you have one. This area can get hot in the summer, and thunderstorms happen frequently enough. Willow Creek Campground had drinking water available, and had well maintained vault toilets.

At the time of our road trip, the state of Colorado was in various stages of fire restrictions/bans - in the week that we were traveling around Colorado we stayed in parks with fire bans in full effect, and some with only fire restrictions, all within an hour of each other. Willow Creek had a stage 1 fire restriction, so we were able to burn charcoal and firewood in the designated firepit in the site.

WARNING: You ARE in bear country and there were no bear bins in the campground - be bear safe and bear smart, lock all of your food and toiletries inside your car at night. I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows, so we always put a towel and gear over our coolers when keeping them in the car overnight.

The campground was nice and quiet, without much noise pollution from the nearby road. The campers were all considerate with their noise levels, so it was a very peaceful stay. The park is very pretty, with lots of small trails. We found little clusters of aspen trees, and saw deer and foxes on an evening walk. I got up early the next morning to see if I could photograph any wildlife, and found the foxes again!

When talking to our neighbors, they suggested that we visit Grand Lake over Granby Lake - they felt Grand Lake was prettier, and they talked up the little village area near the lake. After we broke down camp, we drove to Grand Lake and hiked some the North Inlet Trail - we probably went a mile passed Cascade Falls, then turned around to go back. The hike is fairly easy, moderate, in parts.

The little village of Grand Lake is charming and quaint, and is reminiscent of a boardwalk. There are a lot of gift shops and restaurants along a main road, and we spent a little time roaming in an out of stores. For the rubber ducky lovers out there, Grand Lake has an ENTIRE STORE dedicated to rubber duckies called the Quacker Gift Shop! I collect rubber duckies, so I was pretty excited - they even had a Grand Lake moose “rubber duck” - I had to get him, since we had seen three moose the previous day. He is one of my favorite trip souvenirs ever!

We decided on ice cream for lunch - SUCH A GOOD CHOICE. The ice cream from Grand Lake Chocolates was some of the best ice cream of my life!

After our morning hike and visit to the Grand Lake boardwalk, we headed over to Granby Ranch, a ski resort near the rental house we would be staying in. The ski lifts were operating for visitors and downhill cyclists, so we took the ski lift up to the top of the little mountain - it was a fun ride with gorgeous views! We roamed around on some of the paths for a while, until it started thundering overhead. We raced back to the ski lifts, but they had already been shut down. The resort personnel took us to a yurt that’s used as a warming hut in the winter, and had us stay in there until some stuttle vans could come and take us down the mountain. By the time we got down to the lodge it was about time to check into our house, so we left.

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $22/night + recreation pass fee

Plumbed Toilets: NO - vault

Drinking Water: Yes

Showers: NO

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grate: Yes

Shade: NO - limited

Cell Service: Limited

Animal Bins/Food Lockers: NO

Trash: Yes

good location for cute old mountain towns! also close to Denver and other must sees in Colorado!

This is true wilderness camping at its best overlooking beautiful Colorado waters with the Mountains peaking down upon you is where you will find yourself camping with great amenities and water available with just short walk away from your camp. You have to purchase parking pass in the park but it is totally worth it!

We stopped at this site on a whim. When we arrived on Friday afternoon there were plenty of sites available at 3pm. By the evening it was 90% full. This site does not take reservations. The campground itself was beautiful! There are lots of tall pines trees, aspens, and wild flowers. There was pretty good space between sites. The campsite host informed us moose frequent the area. The big downside is the highway is very loud here which really took away from the peace. This is on the opposite side of the highway of Kenosha Campground which was equally as nice, but also suffered from proximity to the highway. The Colorado trail runs alongside both campgrounds.