Our visit to Black Canyon of the Gunnison was strongly affected by the fact that we visited it during the off-season (beginning of October) and the South Rim Campground was no exception. We were one of only a few campers here, making our stay quiet, cheap, and (a little) chilly. But overall, we would return to this campground in a heartbeat.

The South Rim Campground is similar to other national park campground in that it provides convenient access to park activities and trails, but it stands apart due to the fact that the camping fees are cut in half during the off-season, when the water is turned off.

This campground is spacious, with sites that are tucked away from others, and is located close to the visitor center and several prominent hiking trails. For such a cheap price (we paid $6/night), it is a great value. Even though the water is turned off during this time of year, the visitor center’s flush toilets were available to us during open hours, and their water was available 24 hours a day.

If you have a couple of days to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we’d recommend hiking (via the Gunnison route or another route) or driving down into the canyon one day (we had fun unsuccessfully fly fishing near the East Portal.) The hikes are very strenuous and steep, the being in the canyon offers such a different perspective of just how striking this national park is.

You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Black Canyon of the Gunnison)