Rifle Gap State Park Campground

Very nice and well maintained facilities, beautiful scenery and peaceful camping. ADA accessible, and all different sites offered. The reservation process is relatively difficult online, walk-in sites are truly walk in. You have to park and carry your stuff in around 25-50 yards. There are wheelbarrows sitting there that we think are for moving stuff, so that was a nice touch. Toilets are closed in the colder seasons, except for the larger shower houses. Most tent sites are gravel covered. The map is a little vague, the roads pictures on the map are the driving roads. It was 28/night for the walk-in tent sites, which is a little outside of our budget but we decided to swing it because we wanted to shower. Turned out that the showers cost extra, so bring cash. That was a little frustrating to find out, since we felt we had already paid for the facilities.

Excellent experience! The staff was incredibly kind and friendly. Views are unreal and bonfires at night at next level. The showers and toilets were clean. 10/10 recommend and will be coming back!

This campground is great for a family site. Has a lake to swim/boat in as well as plenty of hiking trails around. Nice clean bathrooms with hot showers and flushable toilets. Great views regardless of site.

Loved this spot. Stayed in Cottonwood campground and the site and views were amazing. Hot showers flush toilets. Site had electric. Level concrete pad fire pit and a covered picnic table

Not my thing but had to stay for family reasons. 4 diff campgrounds and rates are $36 for electric sites and $28 for no electric. Water spigots scattered around, RV dump above. Vault toilets and dumpsters. Windy and no sun in many sites. Cell signal is 2weak bars for ATT and TMobile. Verizon is nothing. Good place for the new starlinkRV setup...if I had mine..

We followed our RV GPS and arrived at the state park with no issues. Check in was quick and easy. We had to pay the$9 a day entry fee upon arrival and our rate doesn't reflect that fee. We proceed to Cottonwood Campground(CG) where we had back-in site 5 with water and 50 AMP. Back-in was easy and the sites in this small area are very nice with a covered patio and spacious spacing between sites, but no sewer. As we did not plan on using our poop tote, we used their restroom and shower house. Showers cost$1 for first 4 minutes then$.25 for additional minutes. Verizon signal was basically nonexistent. We did get some signal on AT&T, but only early mornings. Down at the park entrance/visitors center, you can get a decent Verizon signal. The reservoir was way down and not easily accessible from our CG, so we launched our kayak from the boat launch at the end of the park. The large Lake View CG up on the hill has FHU sites, but we really liked the quietness of the small Cottonwood loop with only 8 sites. There are other campground loop areas as well from FHUs to primitive. We enjoyed seeing deer everyday and the peacefulness as everyone camping at Cottonwood during our stay(that included Labor Day weekend) was quiet and respectful. There is a nice trail that goes up the hill near the restroom/bathhouse towards Lake View CG that winds back around and ends back at Cottonwood CG.

Loved this area. Very clean and cozy

It’s dispersed, it’s got views, it’s got friendly hosts, is got magpies, it’s got full hookups. And the views! If you don’t love this place, well, I just don’t know what you would like. It’s a perfect “In the wilderness close to civilization with civilization basic needs™️” campsite.

We camped here during a climbing trip to rifle and it was absolutely stunning. Campgrounds are right by the water. They’re not very private, but that’s expected for a state park camping area. Some of them are paved, others are gravel. All camping areas have Colin operated showers and bathrooms and each campsite has a covered bench, fire pit, and some have a water pump right on site. I think it was something like $20 a night which I think is a bit much but there are lots of nice amenities.

It was hot during the day. The lake smelled kinda gross and was super muddy so we didn’t swim in it but it was really pretty and would be awesome to not and fish at. And at night it cooled down to a super comfortable temperature like 60° or something. It was lovely.

Wonderful, well kept camp grounds! Plenty of space so you don't feel like you're camping with strangers. Clean bathrooms with showers, full hook-up sites along with tent sites. Multiple camp grounds to choose from.

We were in a Lakeview walk-in site. This is the first walk-in site I have encountered that provided wheelbarrows. It's by far the easiest walk-in site I have camped in. There's a gravel path of about an 1/8th of a mile back to the campsites. They're relatively secluded by vegetation and hills from other campers. You can hear your neighbors occasionally, but the privacy level is fairly good. On top of the wheelbarrows, the picnic tables are covered by an awning. Overall, the walk-in sites are excellent for tent camping. I don't recommend trying to reserve an RV hookup site for tent camping because these are open sites with a lot of asphalt.

It’s definitely beautiful. The water has a nice turquoise color to is. Very quiet also. It got up to 90 when we were there in early June so we were pretty miserable till the sun went down but that’s on us for not having air. I will say that my shower went ice cold if anyone flushed in the other bathroom. Also there is absolutely 0 phone signal unless you’re at the front office. All in all, it’s a nice park if you know what to expect.

Absolutely stunning area!! Water is gorgeous (still a little chilly in May😬). The campsites/ campground was some of the most clean and well kept I’ve ever been in- even the outhouses were immaculate! Campsites were spacious and very level. Not a complaint about the campground itself, but our only issue was the wind!! We have a rooftop tent and had to pack up early in the morning and just head out. So if there’s wind in the forecast, definitely beware💨💨

We stayed here for two nights in the tent section. The sites are great size and clean. We loved that our site was near the hiking trails. We were able to hike and get back to our site without driving. The bathrooms were very clean. Everyone is friendly. We will definitely be coming back again.

Our second stop on our epic road trip from MN to AZ. We pulled into Rifle Gap and were just blown any! I mean literally blown away! lol. It was so windy but what can you do? That's nature for ya. It didn't stop us from enjoying this beautiful park. Nice and clean facilities. Nice sites with level pads.

The reservoir has restrictions on all boats so make sure you follow the rules or else they can hit you with a huge fine. 

The campgrounds are large and can accommodate a lot of people and large and small rv’s. 

There are multiple loops near the water and a larger camping area on the north mesa overlooking the lake. Most of the sites have some sort of shade whether that is a picnic canopy or trees. The lower sites near the lake are tightly compacted but can fit RV's and have tent pads with gravel. There are trash cans placed throughout the park for easy access. 

There is a dump station, water on site, and clean bathrooms. Each loop has a camp host so the sites are clean and maintained. They are very friendly but are always on site and the quiet hours are heavily enforced.

The lake is stunning blue and large enough that you will rarely run into other people while out on it. There is a boat ramp for launching on the lake.

There are day use areas with covered picnic tables that you can hang out at and a nature trail through the marsh that you can walk.

We just spent a night but like most Colorado state parks, this one is top notch.  The sites are well spaced but since it's wide open, not a lot of privacy.  Cell service was weak but some had a booster and they had a decent signal.

The view of the reservoir is very nice.  Would stay again.

Loved the site and the location.. easy access to Rifle Falls and the surrounding trails and climbing walls.. close to access for UTV and off-road vehicle areas as well. The remote area does not have cell service and there is no WiFi in the park. If you are trying to remote work it would be difficult. At the time of this review (09/22/2020) the lake was down over 30ft and was basically not useable except for some fishing. Overall we had a great experience here.

Was a beautiful drive about 20-30mins off I-70 but well worth it. Beautiful views and so quiet. Very well kept camp ground nice bathrooms and showers. Highly recommend and you won’t be disappointed

Wow. Wow. Wow. Who knew there was water in Colorado that was a Hawaii turquoise blue!?
I certainly had no idea! According to the visitors center the color is due to a unique mineral deposit in the water. Minerals are magnificent!

Okay, as for the campgrounds- well first they pretty much all overlook the lake so you get a view of that beautiful scenery.

This is one of those unicorn state park campgrounds that has full hookups as well, What a treat!

Do keep in mind that in summer months the sun here is intense and there is really no shade to speak of. It can also get very windy!

Also, super close to the town of Rifle which has plenty in the way of food and groceries if needed. Great place for water sports if you’re into that!

I wanted to love Rifle Gap State Park. It was truly beautiful, and well kept. BUT the other campers were loud and had music playing well past quiet time hours. There was a fire ban, but at least three other campsites had fires going. The camp itself was amazing, they just needed someone to make sure that people follow the rules for everyone's enjoyment and peace of mind.

We stayed in Site # 60 in the cedar campground it had electric I believe we filled with water. There is a loop with full hook up but there a little further than the lake but nice. Our site had a nice covered area with the picnic table under it & a great view from it. The lake is good for kayaking other than there are some people that come a few times a week to pull kids on tubes and they about swamped up. It's a beautiful lake, the weather is warmer than everywhere else we were in Colorado but still nice. Loved watching the deer get a drink from the lake later in the day. 

This park has 4 loops and there is a lot of nice sites. All have differrent things to offer.

Rifle falls is close by we spent several days taking chairs over there & sitting near the waterfalls it was cooler there. There is a campground there but it's busier and has a lot more people coming to see the falls. 

Close by you have Rifle Falls, Glenwood Hot Springs, Iron Mountain springs a little less busy and really nice.

Really pretty country, lots too explore around the area. Nice camping. Sometimes it does get a bit crowded.

We stayed in Cottonwood which is brand new with nice shower facility and gorgeous lake views. There were a few other campers in other parts of the campground but being shoulder season, we had the place almost to ourselves (except for some geese) we were originally going to stay up the road at rifle falls state park but that smaller campground was super muddy due to snow melt. Good cell reception at the visitors center.

Booked through Passport America. Beautiful Rocky Mountain get away. We stayed one night on our way to California. The check in was difficult because only one person was working. After check in, we went to our site high on the hill above the lake. Awesome views and quiet overlook. Since fall weather was closing in, we didn’t need shade but if we had wanted it, there would have been very little to find!

We love that’s there’s multiple loops to choose from for camping, and that the lake is right there. Fun for the kids! Wish there was more landscaping, or just more shady areas and privacy.

Good clean campground. Sites are a little close together. We went on a busy weekend and it was completely full. Sites were clean and the bathrooms were clean all weekend. It is close to the lake and a quick drive or an easy walk. Had a great time!

Ccampground is clean, spacious, and well mantained. Has all the ammenties you need. Great lake. Not a lot of shade but a few.

We had car issues as we pulled into the park. Rangers are all great people here. They helped us get to our site and connect with the tow and repair shop. Water levels are down 10ft, but the boating is still good. Water is clear but bottom is silt. Campsites are very clean, little to no trees.

coming from the Rockies, this is a short drive to warmer weather camping with a lake. This area is great for hiking especially the falls near by. The campground is multiple loops with benefits to each - some have a lot of space with no shade while some have a bunch of shade and trees with smaller area to camp. Bring your kayak and go for a dip on the lake!