Best Glamping near Whitewater, CO

One of the most beautiful camping experiences we've had. Camped one night on our road trip throughout southwestern Colorado. Campsites over look the canyon.

Very well maintained campground with lots of trees and nice sized sites. They use flood irrigation to maintain the grass and plants. Its a bit of a drive to Grand Junction and the Colorado National Monument, but great if you want to get away from the crowds.

This RV park had a great shower/ bathroom and laundry facility. Our spot overlooked the Colorado River and had great scenic views. We had no issues with the hookups even though the temperatures were below freezing. It's mandatory to have a heated hose during the colder months. The Wi-Fi had a strong signal and we had very few issues with lagging.

This is a small campground on the Western Slope of Colorado. It has a lake that allows motor boats. During high usage times, it gets smelly on the beach from boat exhaust. But people love to be there, it gets super crowded during the peak times of the summer. They also rent paddle boats on site. We visited the two swim beaches. One thing that is disappointing is that the swim beach is all gravel. It's really hard on the feet. Bring some sort of water shoes. The campsites are pretty centralized, all pretty close to the restrooms. The water was nice. The sites spacious and very accommodating. Definitely will camp there again. Another cool thing is they have 13 geocaches in the park, while we didn't have time to go find them, they are there and we were able to look them up. We will save that for another time.

The cabins are HA and have nice sidewalk paths from the parking lot. Inside a mini fridge, coffee maker, and a microwave are provided. There are 2 bunks in the back and a plastic kitchen table in the "living space." The cabins have nice patio furniture on the front porch, which was a nice touch for a State Park.  The outdoor picnic table and campfire area outside the cabin is large. The five cabins in this area are close together and you can view your neighbors but this was not a problem for us. (It would make for great a trip with extended family or friends.) One may consider the cabin pricey, but it was typical for a Colorado state park.

During our stay the bathrooms (vault toilets) near the cabins were so full of bees it was like Candyman was also staying the weekend. There are flush toilets and showers next to a small playground closer to the reservoir. A trail will take you from the cabins to the visitor center. While other areas of the park were not full during our stay, I imagine that at the peak of summer the boating and RVing is plenty.

Driving through Colorado in the fall there is nothing which can compare. Mild days and cool nights equate to perfect camping for those who are a bit adventurous and that is a term which suits me to a T!

I found myself in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison area in early October.  As I happened to be driving I noticed signs for the National Park, which otherwise I didn’t know was even there.  I took a turn and drove up the winding paved path, used my park pass and loved what I found.  It was like a dark canyon of steep embankments.  I could see for what seemed like forever downward to the waters which cut through the canyon.

I went on the short distance to the visitor center before deciding I wanted to check out the camping at this facility and when I did so I was so excited.  The campgrounds just were a continuation of the amazing views and because it was fall, the site was not full.

Sites were average size and offered great views.  It looked like mostly a tent zone which was nice, although it did look like perhaps it could accommodate an RV, though there were not any present when I was there.  

The campground had several bear boxes around, which kind of made it all seem so real about the wildlife presence in the area.  There were also a few water spouts available and vault toilets nearby.  Picnic tables were scattered and in good condition.

Something that makes this site unlike many in Colorado area was that I didn’t see any scheduled closures posted. Many sites in the state close with weather and do not offer services, this one might do the same but I saw no obvious postings to indicate such.

My site was $16, which was not bad considering the views and access to trails.  You could easily follow the roads and find something of interest is you were not wanting to hike and had a lot of information available just a short distance ahead at the visitor center.

TIPS:

• This is not a fill up station for your water reserves as water is limited at these points.
• Check out a trip down to the river if you have an opportunity, it is amazing from above but the access below displays an entire different ecosystem of vegetation and animals.
• Drive slowly on roads leading up to your turn, this area is heavily patrolled and it is easy to miss speed limit signs in the area.

Campground Review

I only stayed for an overnight but I did make a reservation, although they were not full. They do close at 6pm (the office does) so late entry doesn't work unless you have made a reservation. I found my map and site info in a mailbox at the office entry. I chose to stay in the section along the river. All the way in the very last site, I think it was site 9. When I got to my site, there weren't very many other campers but I was quickly greeted by a man in a golf cart. Turns out he was the camp host. He was really coming down to view the sunset, which was very nice, but he also chatted with me for a bit.

The site itself was quite small. It was a good thing I had a very small tent. I spent a bit of time just trying to decide where I'd put it due to signs stating no camping beyond a certain point. The camp host kind of sorted it out with me. But I have a tiny two man tent and it was the perfect size for it. There was a picnic table, what appeared to be a brand new firing (this campground is new) and an electric outlet. Of course, there was also the fabulous view of the Colorado River just about 200 feet away. The bathrooms were up the ridge, although there was a porta potty just at the end of the riverfront sites. The bathrooms were pretty extravagant. Heated, flush toilets, free showers, running water sinks, mirrors galore. There were also family restrooms, I did not explore those. Laundry facilities were also onsite. Along with greenhouses, gardens, a swimming pool and a hot tub. What looked like an area to have a gathering with a grill. There was a trail that went around the park too. Up until recently the Colorado River has been too low to fish but I imagine fishing is about to get better now that it's really flowing.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Morsel Sporks. I went with the XL Morsel Sporks because we do a lot of eating out of a bag when we are in fire bans, which is often. This trip was no exception, except we are not in a fire ban. At first glance, these sporks seem really durable. Which is good, camping can be rough on utensils. I noted the spoon on one end and the rubber edge for getting every last bit, also the fork with the knife like edge on it. I did use the knife like edge to cut ham and it worked fairly well, not as well as an actual knife but that can be expected. The meals I had this trip made more use of the spoon then the fork. I had a chowder for dinner, which I transferred to a bowl due to the bag it came in being too narrow to really use the morsel spork. The other meal was granola and that package was perfect for the morsel spork. I didn't have any trouble with the spoon for mixing or eating. It held a good amount of food. The spork fit in my mouth well, I have a small mouth and sometimes if a utensil is too big it can be difficult to get in my mouth, but this fit well. They were so simple to clean too. I was using just a jetboil and was able to get my morsel sporks completely clean. Food didn't get stuck anywhere. Another feature that may become useful is the hole on the end of the fork that I could use to attach my spork to my bike while I travel. They are dishwasher safe and BPA free so I am confidant that I can add these sporks to my camping routine.

Campground is a loop of 30+ sites. Sites on inside of the loop are mostly roadside with a few pull through sites. There is a lot of green space in the middle with a few more sites. Most sites on the outside are back in/pull in sites, and some are quite deep. The sites are a nice size, but you are in close proximity to your neighbor across the road in many cases.

The transaction fee of $10 for a Colorado state park reservation on reserveamerica.com is the highest I have encountered. Then you pay $7/day for a state park fee when you enter the park. (Or buy the CO parks pass for $70.) Add these fees to the base cost of $20/night, and two nights cost us $64 total which seems pricey for a site with no electricity. We did have water at our site so you can hook up a hose if you want. The bathroom has showers that cost $1 for 4 minutes.

Generator policy is quite liberal...and ineffective. You can use a generator any time except during the 10 pm to 6 am quiet hours. That's good for people with big RVs, but it's obnoxious if you're near a generator. Had to ask someone to turn their generator off after 10 pm because the host on duty was not around to ask (asleep). Then someone else turned theirs on around midnight and left it on all night. No one reviews campground rules at check-in so this is the result.

In addition to noisy generators, people wanted to share their music choices with everyone around them. It was the loudest campground we've been in this year (and we've been in 45 campgrounds for about 100 nights). Maybe it was people coming in for Country Jam, or maybe there were just a lot of inconsiderate people.

This seems like a park where local people come to hang out and use the lake. There is a beach along with cabanas/picnic tables and trails around the lake. If the lake is what you want, it might be a good option...if you don't mind the noise. If you are touring the area, there are federal lands that are less expensive, more scenic and quieter.

Campground Review: We stayed at Ward Lake on Colorado's Grand Mesa. Ward Lake sits at about 10,000 feet. So, depending on time of year, it can get a little chilly. We arrived mid morning and the camp hosts were not available. There are two campgrounds, the upper and the lower. We stayed in the lower campground. The upper seemed to house more families and had more wooded sites, the lower seemed more suited to rvs and such but we still put our tent up in the lower section. Our site said that it was a shore line site, but the lake was down something like 40 feet and was supposed to drop another 20 feet. The shoreline was a bit muddy and the rocks made navigating the area difficult for us. Other people went down and fished though and did appear to be catching fish.

Our site was a bit less shaded, which we chose because we were expecting it to be chilly. There were some great shaded spots also but we were looking for sun. It had plenty of room for our two tents (they are small but still), it had a long driveway and a picnic table along with a fire ring. The restrooms were very near by, just across the road. The restrooms were immaculate! Some of the cleanest pit toilets we've seen. No oder and very clean. The whole campground was really clean in fact. The hosts were doing an amazing job.

The chilly weather had us wanting to get moving so we found Ward Lake Trail and hiked all the way to the other side of the lake, which was beautiful! The trail was amazing, the trees were great and it made for a very scenic trail. The hike back was a little less scenic, along the shore line, the rocks were hard to navigate at times, especially with a 3 year old along. When we returned to our site, the rest of the campground had begun to fill up and the host made the rounds to collect our registrations. The fee was $18 for the night. The hosts were very friendly and sociable.

There was a wedding on the other side of the lake and by nightfall the band was in full swing. The music was pleasurable and not over powering. I don't know if weddings are common but we enjoyed listening under the stars.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Green Goo Pain Relief. Our green goo arrived just in time, we hit up the post office, tossed it in our bag and then headed to the mountain. I have chronic knee pain from many years of playing hockey and I was coming off a nasty fall that left my knees swollen, bruised and sore. So while hiking, they definitely started to act up. The green goo pain relief is a bit softer then many of the ointments I've used, making it really easy to rub in. While hiking, I was able to simply pull up my pants leg, rub it on, drop the pants leg and keep right on hiking. To my surprise, it took care of the pain immediately! But, and I hate to have a but, it only lasted 15-20 minutes before my knees got achy again. It didn't really have a cooling/heating effect but it did provide immediate relief. I'll definitely use it again.