Winding River Resort

This was a nice place. People were all super friendly. Pricey, but it’s private owned. Nice hiking trails super close to the campground. You can ride your dirt bikes, atvs from the campground into Rocky Mountain National Park. The town of Grand Lake was nice, typical mountain town. Breath taking views. Adams fall trail is near the town, recommend hiking. It’s pretty easy and not super long, but very cool! We saw our first and only moose while camping up there. It was super cool! They also have horse rides available for purchase and I believe dirt bikes/atvs

Typical private campground 

Winding River Resort is a hidden gem. There are plenty of campsites and a few cabins. All spaces are well laid out with plenty of space between each spot. The facilities are clean and provide everything you need for a great stay.

Be sure to book a horseback ride and get to the cowboy pancake breakfast on the weekends. (Pro tip: Bring a couple eggs for the cooks to throw on the griddle while cooking your pancakes!). If you enjoy trout fishing, be sure to explore the North Fork of the Colorado River that flows through the southend of the property. If you have a disc golfer in the group, bring the discs to play a round or three on the 9-hole course throughout the campground.

Moose have a tendency to wander through the campground toward the evening and the local elk herds like to eat with the horses. There are bear in the area, so take the proper precautions with your food and cooler storage.

Winding River is close enough to Grand Lake to get out and explore for the day and you have easy access to nearly all amenities between Grand Lake and Fraser, in case you forgot something. The cabins look great, but we have not stayed in them during our visits.

In between a national forest and a national park... Welcome to CO!

I’ve tent camped at Winding River Resort twice and both times really enjoyed it. It’s a little more expensive that some, but has lots of amenities that make it totally worth it. If you love real bathrooms and showers, this is your place! There’s a wonderful petting zoo area, playground, basketball courts and much more. They offer all sorts of activities such as horseback riding, ice cream social, chuckwagon breakfast, square dancing, cowboy church. Some do have an additional fee. You may bring your own horses here too! There a several lodging options including camping, full RV hookups and cabins. 
The location near Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park can’t be beaten! So much to do in the area. 
There’s a separately owned, but very convenient onsite place where you can rent ATVs, bikes and snowmobiles. 
There’s even a small store onsite with necessities, T-shirts, souvenirs, etc. 
The campsites are large and trees and wildflowers abound. 

One of my favorites  

Although this site is a no water/ electric site and next to the horses, we had a blast! Especially the kids. The site was a great size! We went horse back riding, hung out by the river, had s’mores, and even went for an ATV ride!! I was most impressed by how clean the bathrooms were, especially with the current COVID situation! Thank you Winding River Resort for keeping the place clean! 

We were at campsite 59. 

Not only is it located inside the south side of Rocky Mountain Nat park, but a wonderful RV facility. A+ on staff/store and bathroom/showers. Many activities to choose from. Horseback rides, jeeping tours, biking and rafting. Not to mention all the great hiking trails. Definitely recommend for families. 

Fabulous Colorado experience 

Winding River is an awesome campground as a Base camp for the West entrance to RMNP as well as centrally located for visits to Grand Lake and Grandby CO-both of which are cute small towns centered around large reservoirs.  The campground itself is on beautiful property and off the highway-aka-no road noise.  There are two sections of the campground-the "bottom" portion and the "top area".  As a personal preference we preferred the 'bottom area' with our Travel Trailer.  This area has more spaced out spots with a bit more privacy but only W/E hookups.  The top area is great, just a little closer spots, and no trees aka not much privacy but full hookups.  

  

Make sure to do  a visit to Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake Main street-very cute area.

Basecamp to RMNP and other CO fun!

Lots of activities to do. Loved the petting zoo and stream to swim in. Also really enjoyed the horseback riding and ATV ride. Would definitely go back.

Great Place 

We got here September 29 and the RV park closes for the season Oct 1. We stayed two nights and were pleased with the services. Full hookups and lots of space at the lower numbered full hookup sites. Nice and quiet. A couple hiking trails here to see some creeks and ponds.

Great place

This is a beautiful campground with lots of family-friendly activities to do.  They have direct access to the headwaters of the Colorado River.  We visited a little late in the season (August) to catch many fish, but we still had fun.  We found some tailwaters below the big lakes and caught some trout on the fly rods.  

  

This site is minutes away from an entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We got up early and hiked a trail in RMNP and had a few moose walk right past us.  It is also close by to the major lakes of the area.  

  

They rent ATVs and lots of people bring their own horses to this campground to enjoy the many back-country trails that begin at the back of the property and go high up into the mountains.  

  

Facilities were well kept and clean.

CO river access, nearby access to RMNP, zoo, & access to nearby lakes

The bathrooms are very clean and that’s something that’s very important to me. We went the weekend after Fourth of July and the bathrooms weren’t ever crowded from what I saw. Everyone was far enough apart. 
Their store is well stocked, everyone was helpful. The animals were adorable. Horseback riding was fun, staff was friendly. Gumdrop is my buddy.

The ground is more dirt than grass at site 106 and the tent sites near it. Can hear the horses neighing. Close enough to hear neighbors talking or singing loudly or closing car doors. Heard a lot of vehicles passing by at night, people returning to their sites. 106 had some decent trees to hang hammocks from, the others nearby didn’t from what I saw. Very windy, not much shade. Next time I’d like to be at the grassier tent sites with more shade. 

My groundhog stakes went in the ground just fine and did not come out super easy. There were some broken plastic yellow stakes left on the ground from previous occupants.

Playground was small and looked nice. There’s a bocce ball court with a basketball hoop. Spigots for drinking water all around. Water was delicious and refreshing.

It was my first time going to one of these places and it was a good experience. Will be coming back. There was also a young moose wandering around. This was my first camping experience as an adult so I did not know this: you need a reservation just to DRIVE through the national park to get to Estes. After 3pm you don’t, and you still need to pay a fee. Just a heads up for other newbies like me.

Note: I did email them twice, two different ways (through their form on the website, and direct email) and they never responded. We did get a hold of them over the phone very easily though. Their map says one tent per site, and when we called they said two tents are alright. No campfires allowed when we were there. Only fuel fires that you can turn off. Dogs are supposed to remain on leash. We saw a lot that weren’t and it must be because they are well behaved. Horses, and a donkey walk around like they own the place. The building at the back that’s supposed to have laundry and bathrooms wasn’t finished and therefore wasn’t open during our stay.

Positive experience

Stayed here for one night on a Saturday in August, and this place is great! So many amenities, activities, large, clean sites, and everyone is respectful and friendly. We were here about a year after the huge fire on the western edge of RMNP, and it’s definitely still burned, so don’t expect fantastic views of the forest. But the burn is beautiful in itself and we saw a ton of wildfires popping up from the scorched earth. I personally would avoid the full hookup sites because they’re pretty close together, but the water/electric only sites are wonderful. I will likely be back!

Great Campground!

Good size camping sites with water and electric hookup. Clean bathrooms with warm showers available. Plenty of onsite activities to do as well. Pancake breakfast requires reservations and totally worth it. The pancakes are huge and there are plenty of mix-ins to choose from. This campsite is only minutes from Grand Lake so you can go to town fairly easily. I would come back here again.