Ponderosa Campground is located at the northwest end of the Soap Creek Arm of Blue Mesa Reservoir. 28 tent and medium sized RV sites can be accommodated at Ponderosa. All sites are first-come first-served.

Note: During dry conditions, the first 7 miles of Soap Creek Road are passable to trailers and RVs. Rain can make the Soap Creek Road hazardous or impassable.



Ponderosa Campground

This campsite is only accessible via boat.     There are two fire pits.   The land is flat compared to other sites at the Reservoir.  Most of the ground is covered with sand.   The mosquitoes were not too terrible even though we were right by the water.   There are no bathroom facilities just nature.   It is a nice quiet cove with amazing views.   The stars and the moon light up the sky.   I highly recommend staying there if you have boat access.   It is secluded and private. 

Secluded Campsite. 

The website listed for this campground is correct Ponderosa campground Antonito, CO.

Phone 719.376.5857

This is a very relaxing place to stay and it seems like most of the people there have been there many times before. The drive in is easy on Route 17 and does not require a vehicle with high ground clearance. They do allow campfires, they have clean bathrooms and a shower house. I stayed in a backpacking tent after driving all day arriving on a Friday at about 4:00 PM. The campground is set-up for small campers and has some cabins for rent too. The bathrooms with showers are clean and comfortable. The sites have fire rings with grates and picnic tables. The owner manager is great, providing quality fishing advice, conversation and even a free cup of coffee in the morning. Hiking on the CDT is near the campground and fishing is right in the campground. The steam train is right up the pass and I happened to be there the night before opening day catching a photo when I drove over the pass to Chama New Mexico. The Cumbres and Toltec Train traveling between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. This is a very nice drive and Chama is a cool place to visit, it is a trail town on the CDT.

I will visit this campground again for sure.

The River runs through it

Nice, clean privately owned campground with lots of amenities. Hot showers, bath house, ice and few supplies sold in the office. Campsites right along the river. Very friendly staff. Campsites are a little too close for our liking but worked out well for our stay. Close to lots of fishing and hiking in the area. Beautiful place to watch the sunset and the stars at night. Nice and quiet at night. 

Lots of amenities

I actually deleted my other review because I thought I had the wrong campsite but I checked and it’s all good. The only amenity we had was a vault toilet with a nearby water pump, a fire pit, picnic table and bear boxes. The vault toilets were probably the nicest I’ve been too. They were clean and didn’t smell at all. 

The view was beautiful and it’s a short hike down to wade in the cool water. I really enjoyed the quiet here. There were only a few other campers and it mostly felt like we had the place to ourselves. 

Secluded and beautiful 

Stunning spot, lots of tent sites, room for maybe 12 campers of modest length, mine is 26'   spot #9 is prime for a camper with a driver side slide/kitchen table.   unknown if it's seasonal but the biting flies, primarily deer flies are beyond bearable, I survived 4 days,  most other campers left after one night.  The camp host is very friendly, and knows the best fishing holes. 