It's been years since we started here but for a free camp ground is perfect.

Paved & gravelled roads, hiking trails, free camping, sightseeing, off roading, atv, handicap accessible, dogs off leash, picnic tables, firepits, kid friendly. This is also near Royal Gorge Bridge where there is a large facility to zipline, tram ride or walk across the gorge.

Fantastic site. Newer fire rings/rock work, vault toilet, smooth roads. Dispersed primitive sites close to one of the trailheads. Saw 30ft motorhomes and hammock camping, so it seems to draw all types.

Nice clean sites. Perfect dispersement camping with amenities, ie table fire pit.

Not really for RV’s. Even small ones like mine. Very narrow roads in with no real place to turn around. More for tent campers. Disappointed because I was hoping to stay there.

Overall: We LOVED this place! Beautiful, CLEAN, quiet and free.

Directions: Follow the signs instead of google maps. There comes a point shortly after turning onto 3A that you'll see a sign that points straight ahead to the campground. Soon after that, google maps wants you to turn slightly left onto a dirt road. Keep going straight!! Either way will get you there, but if you follow the signs you'll get to stay on the paved road much longer. Near the top of the winding hill, you'll see another sign pointing left to a dirt road - this is the one you want (by this point, google maps will have caught on and will recalculate you). Follow the signs in - the road's not bad at all, we were in our Ford F-150 and kept it on 2WD the whole time - and when you get to a fork, bear RIGHT. You'll see the campground sign ahead and will have your choice of turning onto the north (left) or south (right) loops.

Site: We stayed on the south loop at site 4 and it was wonderful! The sites are a little close together, but everyone was quiet and kept to themselves - not a big deal at all. We arrived at 4:30pm on a Friday and there were two spots left. Not sure about the north loop - signs and other reviews indicate that the north loop is tent camping only, but there were a bunch of rigs over there. Secure trash cans throughout and pit toilets (no locks!), though no water. Each site on the south loop has a picnic table, tent pad, and fire ring. Our site was very clean! We were also surprised to get great cell phone AND internet service here.

Hiking: What we really loved about this place was its access to some great hiking trails! Once in the south loop, you'll see a wooden sign that says "trails" near campsite 7. We took the Canyon Rim trail to the Overlook trail and got some gorgeous views of the gorge (out and back hike, a little over 4 miles). Also recommend taking the Canon Vista trail and then turning right on Far out to make it a 2 mile loop (be sure to take the Le View spur for the best views of the gorge)! The Smores trail is a fun little 1 mile loop around the campsite, good for stretching your legs once you arrive. It was late April when we went and the trails weren't crowded at all. This is a popular mountain biking area too.

Pets: We brought our dog, and lots of other campers did too. Everyone was very respectful and kept their dogs leashed. This is not the place to let your dog run off leash, please don't be that person. Aside from the fact that these are the camp rules, there are a lot of cows that wander pretty close to the campsite - there was a cowpie right by our fire ring, although they didn't get THAT close while we were there. They were close enough for our dog to see though - be aware if your dog is the type that will run up to other animals! We had no issues and she had a blast hiking the trails with us.

We go here in the early Spring when it is still chilly in Denver. Really nice fire pits. There are some other more dispersed sites as well. Good trail network around that have some really pretty overlooks of the gorge.