Best Equestrian Camping near Woodland Park, CO

CAMPGROUND REVIEW: COLORADO CAMPGROUND PIKE NATIONAL FOREST

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/colorado-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70684

Colorado Campground is one of several campgrounds less than 10 miles north of the city of Woodland Park off Route 67 in the Pike National Forest.

Situated at 7800 feet elevation, even summer nights get cool. Nearby 5 acre Manitou Lake is a trail walk away. You can toss your canoe or kayak in, but unless you are simply trout fishing, it’s tiny size doesn’t offer much variation.

Numerous foot trails lead into the National Forest, offering wonderfully quiet hikes and exploration.

There are 81 sites available, but some are adjacent to highway 67, so periodic road noise will be heard. The ponderosa pines assist in muffling highway noise.

Neighboring sites are visible across the entire campground, but they are situated in such a way that you are not directly on top of each other.

The back loop sites are larger and set deeper (Site 19, 20,21, 22, 23) which are my choice. Sites can be secured on www.recreation.gov. There are double sites which garner double fees. At the time of this review, sites are $23.00 nightly (a bit pricey for no showers or modern facilities). When there during the week, not including the host and groundskeeper, only four sites were filled. Most sites were reserved for weekends and upcoming Labor Day holiday.

No RV/Campers over 36 ft permitted. Parking pads are gravel, a few are pull-through. Sites are non-electric with no hookups…no showers Water spigots, metal trash containers and pit latrines are spaced out through the campground. Each site has one stationary picnic table and a fire pit. Most sites appeared fairly level. No specific tent pad locations.

With the towering ponderosa pines, there is ample shade.

Plenty of trails permit mountain biking as well as the paved centennial bike path that runs along highway 67 from Woodland Park 15 miles north…that you can walk, in-line, cycle and even ebike.

You have plenty of local activities to keep you busy, including the Red Rocks a couple miles south…or drive east on Rt 24 to Pikes Peak, or further into Manitou Springs for the Incline, Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Garden of the gods and more!

Just six miles south into Woodland Park offers every food or shopping option.

All in all, a nice, clean campground in a great location.

Colorado campground is situated outside of Woodland Park (10 minute drive) and right next to Manitou lake.  This is a great area central to the Pikes Peak wilderness area so many trails are nearby and activities while still being close to civilization if you forget something or choose to eat-out.  The CG itself is large, but the sites are well spaced apart...it is a primitive CG with picnic table, fire-pit and gravel pull through or back-in spots.  There are water spigots, vault toilets and garbage cans equally dispersed throughout.  In the summer they have an educational series also on the weekends of various nature/wildlife "seminars" that are great for the kids in their small amphitheater, although i don't know how frequent they are scheduled.  As others have stated its a short walk to the lake for fishing and canoeing if you choose.  The CG is well maintained and hosts are friendly.

The hosts are very friendly and helpful.  The pit toilets are kept sparking clean which is a good thing for minimalist campers. An amphitheater hosts special events on the weekend. Zillions of kids and dogs and lots of happy sounds. Pull throughs and back ins that are trailer friendly.  Lots of folks in tents.  This was quiet and close to Woodland Park for those essential items you might have forgotten.  We have a TAXA Cricket and have been here twice this month.  We will be back! We came on a Thursday with no prior reservations and had our pick of sites.

This Pike National Forest campground is run by Rocky Mountain Recreation which means you'll pay a $10 transaction fee if you make a reservation on recreation.gov. It looks like some sites are strictly walk-up. Check recreation.gov to see what's available, but you can just show up if there are available sites, pay at the self-pay station, and avoid the $10 transaction fee on recreation.gov.

Every site has a picnic table and fire ring. Vault toilets (rather fragrant as you walk by because of the vent pipes) and trash dumpsters are conveniently located throughout the campground as is potable water. There are no bear-proof lockers but locking up your food is a prudent move.

There are mostly back in sites but some pull through sites. Most of the pull through sites are partially protected from the road by a few tall pines and large rocks, but the pull through curve may be tight for some RVs. There are a few double sites (with double charge) if you need more space.

Manitou Lake on the edge of the campground is a popular fishing spot, and there's a trail around the lake.

Our site (#45) was rather close to the road, but the road noise was not bad throughout the park. Sites 40 through 44 are on a small loop and are probably the nicest sites even with a bit of road noise; these sites are near the trail to the lake.

In my opinion, there are two things that make this campground stand out: 1) The sites are large and not on top of each other. This campground could have twice as many sites, but it's nice that it doesn't. 2) It's a great location because you're close to Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, US Air Force Academy, Cripple Creek (only if you're into gambling), lots of hiking trails...and on and on. It's close to Colorado Springs and even closer to Woodland Park. If you want craft breweries and restaurants, you'll find plenty. We enjoyed being close to a larger city after being in lots of small towns. We loved the inexpensive food at Uchenna (Ethiopian and Mediterranean), Taste of Jerusalem, and Azada Mexican as well as craft beer (Fossil Craft Beer Company and Phantom Canyon Brewing Company with ginger wheat ale, Belgian ale aged on cherries, hazelnut coffee stout, coconut/chocolate porter, and on and on) in Colorado Springs. Beer is $3 during a 3 to 6 pm happy hour at Phantom Canyon....yes!

This campground is only open between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day.

Large campground with many sites that fill up during weekends in the summer, and can be loud in some areas of the campground. Vault toilets are super smelly, but many spots ideal for campers and RV made this a moot point for us other than when walking through the campground. Easy hike to Manitou Lake Recreation Area for fishing, and we always get at least one fish on the line here! Just a quick 10 min drive to Woodland Park and various amenities. Some of the sites have electric but no sewer or water, and there is an extra $3 a night for electric. Site 56 fit our 23’ camper and truck with room to spare and provided wide expanse of campsite for the kids and dogs to play away from other campsites. Road noise on this side of the campground can be heard from the 67, but it would have been worse in a tent. Last summer our spot was on the east side of the campground with very little noise in comparison. Saturday night was very busy and noisy all around with campers and traffic, but Sunday was quite peaceful in comparison. The campground road is easy to access and drive as it is paved and well maintained, and sites are clean and easy to get in and out of. The camp hosts were friendly and helpful, but, due to Restrictions on gatherings in the summer of 2020, the ranger talks at the amphitheater were cancelled.

If you crave primitive sites and 14ers, this is not the place for you. 

I gave it five stars because, although it may not hit everyone's preferences, it is consistently good for what is meant to be. 

We have been here a number of times, some for just hiking, some for camping. It's one of our go-to campgrounds. It is has solid campsites and facilities, more so for young kids. The access to Woodland Park (Jonie's for me) and CO Springs is helpful (again, especially for kids). To the west, on US Hwy 24 you can hit Florissant Fossil Beds. 

I have never been here during peak time in the middle of Summer, which I suspect could get quite crowded. We have been in late May/early June: it was quite pleasant and not too crowded at all. I have been here mostly in Sep-Oct-Nov. This is  the perfect time. It has plenty of trails for the average hiker, perfect for tiny legs.

There are also three cabins to rent, which I admit we have used before, and they are very nice.