Best Tent Camping near Watkins, CO

Recent Tent Reviews near Watkins, Colorado

635 Reviews of 20 Watkins Campgrounds

• 

  CC C.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 15, 2021

  Osprey

  Great fishing.

  We were in the area to fish as much of the river as possible and this was a great site.

  Cell service- none (t-mobile) Firewood- none Camp host- none Water - non Toilets- port a potty Fire ring- yes No leveled tent sites- generally flat land.

  Can car/van/roof top tent camp in the parking lot, for the same nightly fee as listed on the notice board. However, no trailers.

• 

  Natalie B.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 15, 2017

  Indian Creek Equestrian Campground

  Beautiful!

  This campground has a equestrian area and a tent camping area. The tent camping is to the right after you enter, there are two tent loops with bathrooms. Water spigots next to the bathroom. There are a few trails here, some are horse trails. Overall a beautiful spot with some shade!

• M

  Mike S.

  Scout

  

  May. 3, 2022

  Clear Creek RV Park

  Very clean and quiet

  I didn’t get to my tent site until almost 9pm so I really haven’t seen the place during the daytime. However, when driving around looking for the 3 tent sites I noticed how no one was out and with the truck headlights it seemed to look very nice.

• C

  C.B.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 3, 2022

  Clear Creek RV Park

  FYI - 3 day limit on tent camping

  Note there's a 3 day limit on tent camping.

• p

  paul R.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 1, 2018

  Deer Creek Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  campsite view was ridiculous!!!

  if you pick a tent site it’s your best bet the electric sites are too close to RV’s

• 

  Jason K.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 10, 2019

  Cold Springs - Arapaho Roosevelt Nf (CO)

  First time camping with the family

  We had a blast and thanks to this site we plan on doing much more camping. Good tent sites, clean bathrooms, fire pits, and fun trails.

• 

  Kelsey L.

  Ranger

  

  Jun. 1, 2018

  Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon

  Small campground close to city

  Small campground with tent sites, RV sites, and cabins. Main building has camp store with a variety of items available for purchase. Nice bathrooms including showers available.

• 

  Anna R.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 1, 2018

  Reverend's Ridge Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  Tent camping with beautiful views if you get the right spot!

  There are RV, Tent and Yurt camping sites. Bathrooms, showers, dishwashing area and laundry facilities but still in nature and beautiful views and trails, especially in the non-electric tent sites. Great staff at the check in area.

• K

  Kyle T.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 28, 2020

  Frazer Meadow Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  Well kept

  Site #7 was clean, maintained. One official tent site and a good spot for another two person tent. Partial sun depending on time of day. Between two other campsites so possibly noisy in the evening depending on your neighbors.

• D

  Dennis G.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 21, 2020

  Kelsey Campground

  Decent getaway

  $22 for a very unlevel parking spot, a picnic table and a fire pit. The campground is very quiet midweek and is best suited for tent camping. A lot of one night camping traffic while we were there. Zero service on AT&T and Verizon. 17mi to nearest services.

• 

  Megan E.

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 14, 2020

  Reverend's Ridge Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  Not enough time

  Stayed at a tent site one night and wish we had planned for two. Beautiful facilities and well-kept sites. Would love to explore all the trails next time. A place to go back to.

• M

  Mandi K.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 30, 2021

  Chatfield State Park Campground

  We love Chatfield!

  Large campsites, clean bathrooms with mountain/water views just outside the city. Great no matter if you tent camp or pull a trailer. Just a short hike to the water for paddle boarding or a picnic with a view. Some people need to be in the mountains to enjoy nature but Chatfield is the perfect getaway for us.

• 

  Gordon B.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 13, 2023

  Rifleman Phillips Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  Nice group site

  I’d give it a 5 but the vault toilets need a little care. Also wasn’t stocked with TP so we ran out.

  Everything else was very good for a large group. Plenty of tent sites. Good water supply. Bear proof storage containers.

• J

  Jane U.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 27, 2021

  Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon

  Tent Trailer Site-no electric/water

  We used a tent site, but the site they assigned to us was not the best for a Tent Trailer, but we made it work by moving the picnic table and pushing the trailer into the site. It was a small space, really close to the other tent spaces, small parking space.

  We really needed showers, but realized you have to pay separately.

• 

  Andria R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 12, 2024

  Dream Canyon Campsites - Dispersed Camping

  4x4 and tents only

  Beautiful, but really need a compact 4x4 to get into and out of parking lot and there are tent sites only. We almost didn’t make it out with our 24 ft van (checked it out but didn’t stay overnight). Very crowded on a Saturday at 4:30pm.

• 

  CC C.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 15, 2021

  Ouzel

  Great for fishing

  This site is on an awesome stretch of river.

  Park and walk to site. No camp host. No firewood availability. No water. Port-a-potties in lot (10/13/21) Cell service: zero (T-Mobile)

  According to the camp host at Lone Rock you are allowed to car/van/ roof top tent camp in the parking lot for the same nightly fee as posted on the board. However, no trailers allowed.

• H

  H

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 22, 2022

  St. Vrain State Park Campground

  First Class facilities with Noise Pollution from nearby Interstate Hwy.

  First class camper services with hot showers and clean campsites.  We were tent camping in space 7.  This campsite loops is located in a mature portion of the campground with NICE shaded trees.  The Camper Services bldg was located about 50 yards away with v clean facilities and hot showers.  A vault toilet was about 20 yards away.  

  The only Con to report was the heavy roadway noise pollution from nearby I-25.  In a tent, earplugs are definitely needed.

• s

  sarah S.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 16, 2018

  Chatfield State Park Campground

  Popular state park camping

  Nice campground, well kept. Without a reservation you put your name on a list that they start going through at 1pm to assign sites. As someone tent-camping this is no problem, just takes some time (site assigned ~1.5hours after arrival at 13:20). But be wary if you need certain hookups. that being said, there are no ‘tent only’ sites. The minimum has electric ($26). There are 3 different areas - each has multiple bathhouses, which have coin-laundry available. Showers are coin-operated as well.

• 

  Rebecca J.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 5, 2021

  Indian Paintbrush Campground—Bear Creek Lake Park

  Bear creek lake Lakewood co

  was just beautiful all the staff was wonderful and made our first in Co wonderful I would deffiantly recommend this place for sure beautiful views the yurt was awsome and we tent camped last night please come visit and see for yourself they have archery, a beach, horse stables and ring, large lake to fish, clean bathrooms and courthouses will stay again if we are ever in co again😁😍❤

• A

  Aaron C.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 5, 2019

  Deer Creek Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  Heart of the Rockies

  Great! Great! Great! Big campground but still peaceful. Not far from Denver but a world away.

  Generously sized tent sites accommodate a variety of tent sizes. Be aware you cannot hang hammocks.

  Bathrooms were clean. Showers cost $1. There are facilities for washing clothes and dishes and even vending machines.

  There is some great hiking in the park and a couple of trailheads right out of the campground.

• K

  Kim L.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 25, 2018

  Chief Hosa Campground

  Unsafe for dogs and cats.

  I secured tent site T-9 as I've always secured this particular site for 14 days. I have used this campground on repeat occasions yearly. This last visit I checked in for my site at T-9, and the whole grounds on which this site sits, was completely covered in Foxtails. For those who do not know what Foxtails are they are extremely dangerous to Dogs and Cats. The seed heads burrow into the pets skin and migrate further into their bodies causing damage to internal organs. Just look up Foxtail dangers to dogs. Anyway, I put down tarps to cover an area for my bulldog to at least have somewhere to sit, play a bit and chew on a few treats and toys I brought along and join us during down time. I went up and talked to the rangers and explained why I did it. The ranger I spoke to said he understood and that that particular site had been booked since opening of season and that they hadn't been able to spray the weeds. I explained how dangerous the Foxtails were to dogs and that if they are to rent that space to another with a dog they may want to block out a week and take care of it before someone else's dog gets into it. Most people who are not from the west likely don't even know what Foxtails are and what kind of serious damage (even death) it can do to their loved pets. They agreed and said it's fine that we put the tarps down we were doing them a favor by suffocating them. Day 3 rolls around and we return around 7-ish to our campsite to find a warning citation on our table, written by a different ranger, stating we have to remove the tarps immediately, for destruction of their vegetation or they will write us a citation with a fine and/or evict us from the campground. What really got me is according to the State of Colorado Regulations they are supposed to have 900 square feet of usable safe space (safe, meaning to humans and pets/small animals) per campsite. Most sites are with a parking spot with nice gravel and traveled up to the tent pad. However, this site and a couple others were not, for reasons not really explained to us. Anyways, next morning the ranger came and spoke to my husband and said the other ranger was misinformed about telling us what he did about suffocating the weeds, and that we need to remove the tarps. They offered us an alternative camp site, but when we took them up on that offer, they proceeded to tell us none were available for the time frame we had remaining. We would have to move sights a few times. Now, anyone who knows about tent camping, it is a lot of work to relocate a camp site. To do this several times would not even be worth it. We proceeded to ask for a refund, NOPE! No refunds since there is nothing wrong in their eyes with the T-9 site. They offered their group site area to us, so we took it and moved camp only once. The new problem was no parking. We had to walk all our things twice a day to the car in the visitors parking lot. This campsite has had Bears on numerous occasions. There are NO BEARBOXES and so the moving of all food and items with smell had to be taken to and from the car every night and every time we wanted to cook. The ranger proceeded to tell us that they contacted their naturalist, and deemed those Foxtail weeds as an exotic species and so therefore they need to be protected even though it is all over in between the sites and in the foot tall grasses they haven't maintained. I asked why it had to be in the "safezone" of our so called tent site and they just said because it is a special species and it has to be allowed to grow where it wants naturally. So, I asked, how is it that these plants could be more important than the health and welfare of my dog on a site that was advertised as dog friendly? They could not answer and told me to take it up with Denver Parks and Recreation. So, I will. Now, in addition to this event, over the last two years or approximately since the marijuana laws have changed in this state, we have seen partyers of all sorts up all night making loud noises after the 10 PM quiet time, hypothermic needles on the ground, air wreaking of pot at all hours, drunk and vomiting people in the overnight hours of the restrooms. They seem to also allow the same offenders to come back to other sites on different days. Homeless people sleeping in the ladies restrooms overnight, asking other guests for money and alcohol and they apparently allow homeless people to rent a tent site and just sleep in their cars. One particular person was there with his dog and was so high he didn't even close his windows and his Husky jumped out of his vehicle and was roaming around all the campsites including ours at night. I had to wake this man up and he was smelly and out of it. He said his dog got loose in the evening hours and he just figured he would come back. Also, you must listen to I-70 Vehicles all night as the campground has no sound wall from the highway. if you like to hear J-brakes from semi's all night this place is for you. I now see why they have a whole list of rules and regulations in place because the childish behavior from the homeless and Red Rock concert goers and pot smoking hippies that are swarming the place are completely out of hand. All the while they apparently only enforce their precious Foxtail weeds over all the other nonsense. No Campfires, strict restrictions on how you can and can't cook food. no hammocks or lines from trees for dogs or dish towels etc. The last two times have progressively gotten worse. This last time being the topper on the cake. I will never return to this campground EVER!

• 

  Bounding Around

  Legend

  

  Oct. 31, 2019

  Chief Hosa Campground

  Convenient location, small campground

  This is yet another super popular campground in the Denver area. We got super lucky and scooped up a last-minute cancellation. There are tent sites as well as RV sites with water/electric. There is a bike path as well as some mountain biking nearby. Downtown Golden is a super cute town and it is only about 15 minutes away. The campground isn’t very big or scenic, but the location is great! The showers here are coin operated and the bathrooms are kept really clean.

• 

  Kayla W.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 24, 2022

  Liberty Ranch - CLOSED

  Liberty Ranch

  Our stay at liberty ranch was so great, we ended up staying longer than we had planned and the hosts were super accommodating, friendly, and people we are very glad to have met. We loved being able to see all of the animals and the outdoor bathroom and showers were great, so were the activity options they had. We felt incredibly safe and liked the location as well, secluded but not far from Aurora at all. Bring extra padding if you do decide to tent camp on the concrete is our only advice. We would definitely recommend if you’re stopping through for a bit!

• 

  Jordanna B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 1, 2022

  Clear Creek RV Park

  Def don’t recommend

  If you have a rooftop tent - they won’t let you park in an RV site, but you also technically don’t count as tents sites. We saw TONS of open RV sites but literally were told to leave. So, I don’t recommend this site.

• A

  A A Ron J.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 16, 2024

  Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon

  Way too expensive

  I spent the night at Base Camp because the campgrounds North and South of Ned were full and it was dark and getting late. You have to be lucky with those ones to get one of the few good spots that are there. I have been to the convenience store at BC before and it was closer to Idaho Springs (I was going there the next day to meet a friend). $39 per night for a tent site is INSANE. I could have stealth camped and there was another spot I could’ve gone too but BC was close and I was tired. I guess that’s how they make their business. Begrudgingly it worked for what I needed.

• L

  Lexi A.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 26, 2018

  Reverend's Ridge Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  STUNNING!

  This campground was absolutely amazing! It was so easy to get to and the facilities were extremely impressive. They offer a coin-laundry room, showers, and clean bathrooms. We were tent camping but had a small u-haul behind our car and there was plenty of room in the parking lot for it. Our site was perfect, we were tucked into loop F, but set far enough back that it felt like we were completely alone. The night was clear and the stars were absolutely amazing to see. I love the fact that this campground is so close to many of the trails in Golden Gate State Park. In the morning we got up and hiked the Mule Deer Trail and the views from the top were well worth the hike!

• R

  Ryan G.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 17, 2019

  Deer Creek Campground — Golden Gate Canyon

  The Forgotten Valley Backcountry Camping

  There are a few areas at Golden Gate Canyon State Park, but Forgotten Valley is my favorite. Access to fishing at Tallman Ranch Pond, and Monutain Lion Trail leads to the summit of Windy Peak.

  Forgotten Valley has 4 backcountry campsites and a backcountry shelter for overnight camping. All backcountry tent sites and shelters are first come, first serve. You'll need to check in at the visitor center to reserve the campsite, and pay for a park pass.

  Park at the Bridge Creek Trailhead, and take Burro Trail to access Mountain Lion Trail, which leads into Forgotten Valley.

  Site #15 is my favorite in Forgotten Valley. It's settled in an Aspen Grove, and is more secluded that the other sites.

  Bear lockers are available for each campsite.