Vail, CO is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Vail. Find the best campgrounds near Vail, plus reviews and photos from other campers like you.
$28 / night
"Peak One has all the amenities you need - water, (really) nice bathrooms with running water, and a fire pit with a picnic table."
"If you are looking for a place to stay with your trailer where you can bike, fish, be close to town, hiking etc, this place is great."
"Got there around 5pm on a Friday (9/9) and there was no one else there. A few more campers showed up on Saturday morning, but it wasn’t ever fully booked at any point this weekend."
"Halfmoon Campground is located at the end of Notch Mountain Rd (forest Rd 707) near Minturn, CO in White River National Forest."
$25 / night
"The spot was awesome, close to a creek, fire ring, picnic table, flat areas for a tent, decent size so you could have a few tents on site."
"The campsites were very spacious and overall the entire campsite, (including bathrooms) was very clean and well maintained."
"Gold Park is a great place to stay if you want trails and high alpine lakes at your fingertips."
"It is next a big creek and has some good 4x4 trails near it. I thought some of the sites were a little close to each other. There are trees between the sites, but you can see right through them."
"Nice places with amenities, but you can go off the beaten path and do some hardcore stuff. Water sources all around. Very cold until August."
"I have camped at the campsites located just before the entrance to the Piney Lake Ranch. There’s about 8 Free campsites. Short walk to Ranch. Outside restrooms. Great restaurant at the Ranch."
$21 - $42 / night
"Located right next to the water with a very friendly host. It was all booked up when we drove through but we will definitely stay on our way back through. Clean facilities and virtually zero shade."
"The views are incredible and the bathrooms are clean. The only downside was the lack of shade."
$14 - $190 / night
"Beautiful 42 acre lake with great hiking path around it. Great for fishing, canoeing, paddle boarding, hiking, camping, snowshoeing around the lake, cross country skiing."
"There are conservation areas, trails galore, historical buildings, and a beautiful lake that is surrounded with alpine forests. "
$29 - $33 / night
"Great spot on the East side of the lake, Not far from the town of Leadville where there is a Safeway, places to eat and places to shop."
"The only time we noticed them was when they shut down a party — by talking to them, nicely, past 10pm quiet hours. We were less than 100 yds from their site."
$99 - $429 / night
"I want to extend a warm welcome to your host, Greg. "
GuideIt’s a small campground at the entrance to Mount Evans. Some of the sites are very close proximity, while others are pretty spread out. The camp host Rick was awesome! If your looking to party it up all night, this is not the place for you. Rick follows the quiet hours to a T! I would recommend this place for a night or 2. Also recommend the drive up to Mount Evans, spectacular views! There is a store/restaurant across the street from the campground, but it’s mostly touristy things, no camping supplies.
LegendAshley here with The Dyrt. I want to extend a warm welcome to your host, Greg. Life on their ranch includes horseback riding, guided white water rafting, fly fishing excursions, zipline adventures, mountain biking, and as much down time as you need. This is the perfect experience for everyone from families to couples to solo travelers. This is a working ranch, so no pets please. Book your stay today and leave a review here!
RangerSo 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.
TravelerYes Mountain High!! 8100’ high. 7 miles off I-70 at Idaho Springs. 25 miles into outskirts of Denver. Don’t worry they have oxygen! Not kidding!!
Nice campground, friend staff, laundry, fun little gift shop with some food stuffs, beer and liquor. Pizza cooked there but we didn’t try it.
Our space was a big rig space on concrete pad with ample seating, a table, a fire pit, and a propane grill stove… use you own propane! Full hook ups. It was still reaching freezing at night and so we didn’t hook up our water.
GuideGold Park is a great place to stay if you want trails and high alpine lakes at your fingertips. We stayed here so we could hike Fancy Lake and the Missouri Lakes, both of which are less than 5 miles away. Gorgeous high alpine lakes. The campsite has pit toilets and a great host. We really enjoyed our 3 day stay! Be sure to take advantage of the stunning hikes nearby. An easy drive from Vail or Leadville.
ScoutThere are community fire pits, stocked trout pond, access to the river, acres of woodland, and Colorado’s smallest bar! We love the vibe at AVR and the owners are amazing. Occassionally you can catch live music and there are several historic buildings they are restoring. We have a few friends that don’t camp which is okay because they also offering glamping, tipis, cabins, and a lodge. Trust me... one stay and you’ll be booking another one soon after!
GuideThis place has everything! Bowling, an amazing pool and hot tubs, super clean facilities, full hookups, rent an airstream or chuckwagon for the weekend, stay in a tiny home - really, there’s so much to do especially for families. Our site (308) had an outdoor kitchen area, nice firepit and chairs, and outdoor table and chairs.
ScoutPeak One has all the amenities you need - water, (really) nice bathrooms with running water, and a fire pit with a picnic table. A simple campground that would be great for kids, Peak One is safe, comfortable, and a great family spot.
RangerIf you like to have a nice relaxing time camping… don’t come here! Seriously! If you can… cancel and go literally anywhere else.
Then read on, Baby Doe is NOT the place for you in 2021.
First of all, you need to know are a family that camps with kids, and camps a lot! We are respectful camp neighbors. We have never been treated this way. (Please read my other reviews)
The camp host are Camp rule vigilantes. They don’t need a complaint or a “danger” to harass you. They are actively looking for things that no one is even complaining about, and they are enforcing rules that I’ve never even heard of.
Not only do the camp host have the extremely excessive camp rules posted on the tables (included in pictures), after you’ve arrived they come and ask you if you I’ve read the rules.
DOGS - They said if your dog is off leash, they don’t give you a warning, they consider the posted rules the warning, they only give fines. Also make sure you have an in-ground dog steak because they are enthusiastic about dogs not being tied to trees.
KIDS- Their posted rules include “children should never race bikes / shout throughout the camp site” … are you kidding me. So basically don’t bring your kids. The camp host were so aggressive about the other rules I was scared for my children to wander to far from our campsite. Our friend that had an older child was told to slow down when she was riding her bike.
RV - a friend in our group left their exterior lights on and sure enough the camp host came knocking. She started with “I’m not saying you’re breaking any rules but…” … long story short, he was asked to turn them off.
8 PEOPLE PER CAMP SITE - I’m not joking, they were trying to enforce 8 people per camping site. It was us and a couple families calmly hanging by the camp fire (no music playing) they told is we’re not supposed to have more than 8 people per camp site. The hilarious part about this is that the Ranger rolled by our campsite not even 5 mins before the host did and didn’t stop to say anything about it.
GRILL- Have you ever stayed at a camp ground that wouldn’t allow a charcoal grill because there’s “almost” fire ban?? Instead they recommend using the fire pit to cook. We stayed 6/18 and some counties are under a fire ban, Lake County where Baby does is located is NOT under a fire ban, but they still asked us not to use a charcoal grill.
QUIET-HOURS - at 9:52 they came to tell us that in 8 mins it’s quiet hours. Then proceeded to be ridiculously aggressive about it, despite us having ZERO complaints. We weren’t playing music, we were quietly hanging by the campsite.
I’d like to say the water was nice and the fishing was good but all of these positive things were overshadowed by being harassed by the camp host over non-issues.
Do your self a favor, find a better camp spot.
Please don’t take my word for it… people must be getting the memo because I’ve never seen so many empty camp sites! It was so hostile I’ve considered filing a formal complaint about how bad they were.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Vail, CO is Peak One Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 33 reviews.
TheDyrt.com has all 42 glamping camping locations near Vail, CO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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