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Best Tent Camping in Colorado

9,972 Reviews

Colorado tent camping ranges from developed campgrounds with designated tent pads and bear boxes to primitive walk-in sites accessible only on foot. Gordon Gulch Dispersed Area near Nederland includes around 15 numbered sites plus additional unnumbered options along Forest Road 233.1, while Portal Campground near Aspen offers only five sites tucked high up on Independence Pass with stunning mountain views. Most developed campgrounds provide tent pads, picnic tables, fire rings, and bear-proof food storage boxes at each site, as food storage regulations require proper containment to prevent wildlife encounters.

Tent-only camping areas like those at Rocky Mountain National Park require bear canisters for backcountry sites, while frontcountry campgrounds typically include shared or individual bear boxes. Walk-in tent sites provide more privacy and often better positioning compared to drive-up locations, though campers must carry gear from parking areas that can be several hundred yards away. Alta Lakes Campground requires 4x4 vehicle access but rewards tent campers with lakefront views and wildflower displays, while Phantom Canyon Road BLM sites demand small vehicles due to extremely narrow access roads.

Colorado tent camping elevations range from 5,000 feet in desert areas to above 10,000 feet in alpine locations, where overnight temperatures can drop below freezing even during summer months. Sleeping pads with higher R-values become essential at elevation for insulation from cold ground, and proper clothing layers are crucial as temperature swings of 40 degrees between day and night are common. Fire restrictions frequently apply during summer months across national forests, and tent campers must pack in water at primitive sites since many locations lack potable water sources. Reservations through Recreation.gov fill quickly for popular tent campgrounds, especially those near national parks and wilderness trailheads.

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Best Tent Sites in Colorado (345)

    1. Gordon Gulch Dispersed Area

    54 Reviews
    Nederland, CO
    Website

    "So the Gordon Gulch dispersed camping area has around 15 numbered sites that are ok... but if you keep driving further down 233.1 you will find many more unnumbered campsites."

    "Prior campers have left some trash, bullet casings and obviously neglected to dig cat holes. After a quick clean up, the site was fine for my purposes."

    2. Boreas Pass Road Designated Dispersed Camping

    45 Reviews
    Blue River, CO
    Website
    +1 (970) 468-5400

    "Found this spot at about 7PM on a Friday night near the Breckenridge end of the Boreas Pass Trail (39.451441,-106.014294)."

    "This this is a long Winding Road up the mountain that has many nice places to pull over and Camp right off the road. Some are a bit further back than others. Most are accessible to any vehicle."

    3. Phantom Canyon Road BLM Sites

    38 Reviews
    Cañon City, CO

    "Driving down to this campsite I was happy to have a small car because the road is very narrow to say the least. I cannot imagine the feeling of driving a large rig here."

    "We arrived the Phantom Creek Road around 4:30pm. 10miles and 30 minutes later we found our spot."

    4. Alta Lakes Campground (Dispersed)

    39 Reviews
    Ophir, CO
    Website
    +1 (970) 327-4261

    "Perfect lake views, snow capped mountain tops, and wildflowers for days."

    "Beautiful views of surrounding mountains and Alta lakes as well as access to the ghost town of Alta."

    5. Lone Duck Campground and Cabins

    34 Reviews
    Green Mountain Falls, CO
    Website
    +1 (719) 684-9907

    $40 - $87 / night

    "Our site had grass, shade, a picnic table, and a fire ring - everything you need for a basic campsite."

    ": 5 Amenities: 4 Customer Service: 5 Cleanliness: 4

    In the mountains of Manitou Springs/Colorado Springs, just off the 24 highway, Loneduck Campground is tucked away down a driveway you will surely miss"

    6. Allenspark Dispersed Camping

    28 Reviews
    Allenspark, CO
    Website
    +1 (970) 295-6600

    "Our spot was near the creek, the sound was beautiful. The only downside was absolutely no cell service."

    "Fire ban was in effect when we went, but lots of fire circles available otherwise. Bring bug spray, the flies are bold."

    7. Portal Campground

    27 Reviews
    Aspen, CO
    Website
    +1 (970) 925-3445

    "We stayed here for most of our camping trip to Colorado and loved it! It's easily the most beautiful campground we've stayed at. There's only ~5 sites, each with a picnic table and fire ring."

    "This was a stunning campground tucked away high up in the mountains on Independence pass."

    8. Grand Junction KOA

    26 Reviews
    Grand Junction, CO
    Website
    +1 (970) 242-2527

    "We stayed at the Grand Junction KOA when driving cross country from CA to NY a few years back."

    "We stayed here in the tent camping spots for two nights. The restrooms were clean and the site had a light over the picnic table which was really nice for setting up in the dark."

    9. Hermits Hollow Campground — Hermit Park

    25 Reviews
    Estes Park, CO
    Website
    +1 (970) 577-2090

    $35 / night

    "Best place to camp in Estes Park/Northern Colorado! Wooded sites mean privacy from your neighbors and shade during the day. Vault toilets are very clean, well kept."

    "Very conveniently located, only a short drive into Estes Park. Lots of trails for hiking and biking in the park. Each campsite had a bear box, picnic table, and fire ring."

    10. Winiger Ridge at Gross Reservoir

    24 Reviews
    Eldorado Springs, CO
    Website
    +1 (303) 541-2500

    "Came here for my birthday a few years ago, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking—mountains, lake views, the whole deal!"

    "Stayed at campsite 18, had great views and nice weather, no water though but there is a lake down the road. 4x4 Required as roads were rough"

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Recent Tent Camping Photos in Colorado

534 Photos of 345 Colorado Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews in Colorado

9972 Reviews of 345 Colorado Campgrounds

  • Renee H.
    Jul. 2, 2024

    Difficult Campground

    Quiet campground close to Aspen

    Quiet campground, off grid, no cell signal, no wi-fi. Busy campground due to proximity to Aspen. Adequate space between sites. Pit toilets, dumpsters available. May pose access challenges for larger rigs. Each site has picnic table, fire ring, bear box. No amenities, no laundry, no showers, no electricity. Smallest amount of road noise, depending on what site you are in. Day use parking lot available.

  • C
    Aug. 2, 2018

    Glacier Basin Campground — Rocky Mountain National Park

    Great Campground

    This Rocky Mountain National Park campground is fantastic. I tent camped with my husband for 3 nights in Loop B. We saw tents and all sizes of campers many with families. Our tent site included a nice tent pad, picnic table, fire ring, and a shared bear box. The fire ban had been lifted and we could buy fire wood each evening-and ice cream! Clean bathrooms with flush toilets. This campground is very close to a number of trails. We hiked the Sprague Lake Trail. It’s 2 miles round trip and pretty easy. Breathtaking views. If you don’t hike, you can drive all the way to the Trail Ridge gift shop and cafe at the top. This park fills up quickly-amost 3 million visitors a year-so plan to get started early. We love RMNP. We will be back this fall!

  • Amanda M.
    Aug. 31, 2018

    Gore Creek Campground

    Gore Creek - Rocky Mountain camping off Highway 70

    We stayed at the Gore Creek Campground last summer 2017 on a drive from Southern California to Denver, CO. We took highway 15 through Nevada and Utah, and connected to Highway 70 in Utah to Colorado. To budget this trip, we tried to camp most of the way out and back to California - we saved our Airbnb rentals for Denver, where I️ was competing in Pole Theatre USA, an international pole dancing competition. We wanted to find a spot to camp for the night that was close to highway 70 and not toooooo far outside of Denver - Gore Creek Campground was the spot. It’s about 10-15 minutes outside of Vail, and about and hour and a half outside of Denver.

    Campsites at Gore Creek are reservable ahead of time on recreation.org - we planned this trip about 6 months in advanced so had no problem reserving a site for one night on a weeknight. This campground is fairly small, however, with fewer than 30 sites, so I️ imagine it fills up quickly during the peak summer months. There are mostly drive-in sites in this campground, but there were some neat walk-in sites in a loop beyond the drive-in sites.

    Gore Creek is a beautiful wooded campground that sits next to Gore Creek. There are a few ‘riverside sites’ in the campground, that were 60 yards or so from the creek. We had our pick of the sites that many months in advanced, so we chose site 9 as it appeared to be well secluded and close to the river - both were true! The area is densely wooded, so the sites have a lot of privacy, and the sound of the river is relaxing and peaceful at night, and drowned out most of the noise pollution from the nearby highway.

    Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. The camp hosts were extremely kind and welcoming, and kept the grounds and the vault toilets very clean. There is NO WATER available at Gore Creek, so make sure to bring in plenty of water for cooking, washing, and drinking.

    WARNING: You ARE in bear country - be bear smart and safe and use your bear box! We had our own bear box in our campsite - I believe each site has its own food locker. Try to lock all of your food and toiletries inside the food locker - they are large, and we have always been able to fit our big cooler into locker. If you do have to leave a cooler in the car, I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows - he suggested putting put a towel and gear over your coolers when keeping them in the car overnight in bear territory.

    There is a lot of beautiful hiking trails in the Vail - Gore Creek area. We did not have much time to explore as I️ had an appointment in Denver in the afternoon, but the area is absolutely gorgeous.

    CAMPSITE SPECS

    Fees: $25/night

    Plumbed Toilets: NO - vault

    Water: NO

    Showers: NO

    Picnic Table: Yes

    Firepit: Yes

    Cooking Grate: Yes

    Shade: Yes

    Cell Service: Yes

    Trash: Yes

    Animal Bins/Food Lockers: YES

  • Florian J.
    Jul. 5, 2021

    Buckingham Campground

    Great location, sites next to creek, but very busy

    We came here in early July to hike up South and North Arapahoe Peaks (and Diamond Lake for warm-up). The sites are nice right next to a creek, with very few mosquitos. Make sure to stay close to the designated areas (fwiw, Rangers monitor the site). No campfires were allowed and they are no fire rings, so I assume that the fire ban is typical rather than the exception. Bear-proof food storage is provided at each site.

    We made it up the dirt road in our little Honda Fit but that was touch and go at times, and required some careful driving. 99% of the cars at the campground and trailhead were 4x4s. 

    The location is great with plenty of trailheads right next to the campground. But that also means that site is very busy. The trailhead parking fills up as early as 5am. It wasn't much of an issue in terms of loudness, but it does mean that the only two restrooms are also used by hundreds of hikers each day …

    There are no trash bins (i.e., pack out whatever trash you produce), there is no drinking water (except for the creek if you have filters), all sites are walk-in though parking is just a few meters away (one is ADA accessible with parking right next to the site). With Google Fi (Spring) we had no cell reception (we lost signal even prior to the start of the dirt road, so many miles before the campground). Sites are in the shade below trees, and there are picnic tables.

    Overall, I'd visit this place again, just because of the convenient access to amazing trails and scrambles. Trails to Diamond Lake (10km out-and-back) and Arapahoe pass were quite busy, but not unpleasantly so. The trail up to the Arapahoe Peaks (13km out-and-back to South Peak) was *much* less busy though we still saw about 8-10ish groups throughout the day (took us 2:10h up to South Arapahoe Peak, about 30-40 minutes to traverse to North Arapahoe).

  • Amy S.
    Jul. 17, 2018

    Bogan Flats Campground Grp S

    Lovely campground by a rive

    Lovely quite campground in the woods next to a river. We stayed on the side away from the river and I wish we had stayed on the river side, but it was still fantastic. No cell service, pit toilets, no showers. A little far away from civilization/stores, which is exactly what we were looking for. Site 10 setup is great, park near the picnic table and fire ring, pitch tent a little further up the slope under the trees. It did get coooold during early June, bring a good sleeping bag and warm clothes!!

  • NThe Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 18, 2021

    Kelly Dahl

    Stark

    Sites:  46   20 sites FCFS

    Reservation:  877-444-6777 or recreation.gov

    Sites that fit tent, trailers, RV's

    Open Mid May - Mid Oct

    Firewood from camp host, picnic table, fire ring/grill, bear box at tent sites, pit toilet, water, trash, no electric, hookups, dump station or showers

    Sites are very small

    Great sightseeing to check out.  Several historic mining towns and some great hiking trails.  Views of the surrounding mountains are totally amazing.

    AT&T and Verizon service but it is spotty.

    The Mountain Pine beetle is decimating the forest and it is so sad to see.  The forest service is working very hard to keep up with the removal of dead trees and it is creating expansive open area.  The plus side of the removal is for solar.  They are also removing the stumps thank goodness.  Be very careful while walking in the forest for falling limbs or trees.

    Directions:  About four miles south of Nederland, Colorado, on Colorado Highway (CO) 119, watch for the entrance to Kelly Dahl Campground on the east side of the highway at mile marker 22.

    LNT

    Better than when you found it

    Stay safe and happy travels

  • Staci W.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 23, 2022

    East Ridge Campground - Royal Gorge

    Pricey but beautiful

    This campground used to be free when I first found it years ago while visiting the Royal Gorge. Since the city has invested money into fixing up the campsites with fire rings, tent pads, and what seems to be pretty good county road maintenance, it’s definitely understandable why they charge a fee.

    No water is available. There are vault toilets.

    There are NO bear boxes.

    Rules worth nothing (according to the sign upon entering camp):

    1. no alcohol (that didn’t seem to stop anyone from enjoying themselves at their site)
    2. You can only stay for 72 hours per visit unless otherwise noted.

    There’s lots of hiking and mountain bike trails near the campground, which brought lots of mellow mtb riders in during my stay.

    Because of the rules/amenities, i felt the price was a little steep as others have mentioned. However it is clean, close enough to Cañon city that you can go to town if needed, but far enough away to “unplug” from the world in a beautiful location. Overall I’d recommend visiting this campsite! I’ll happily return.

  • B
    Feb. 9, 2022

    Pinon Flats Campground — Great Sand Dunes National Park

    Piñon Flats Camping

    Piñon Flats was an awesome place to camp! It has restrooms as well as easy access to hiking trails, each spot has a fire pit and a big enough dirt pad to stake down a tent or awning. Quiet hours are also nice so you won’t be hearing generators at night.

  • k
    May. 6, 2024

    Ruby Mountain Campground — Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

    Beautiful spot

    Really gorgeous camping spot with easy access to tons of different outdoor activities. Tent sites are very well maintained and very beautiful. Walk-in sites are very close to parking, I would barely consider them walk-in sites. My only complaint is that the tent pads are made of gravel and therefore extremely hard to properly stake down tents.

Guide to Colorado

Tent camping in Colorado offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in stunning natural landscapes while enjoying a variety of outdoor activities. With numerous campgrounds catering to tent campers, you can find the perfect spot to set up camp and explore the great outdoors.

Tent campers should check out Mueller State Park Campground

  • The Mueller State Park Campground features well-maintained sites with amenities like drinking water and picnic tables, making it a comfortable choice for tent camping.
  • Enjoy the breathtaking views and abundant wildlife while hiking the trails surrounding the campground, perfect for nature enthusiasts.
  • The campground is open year-round, allowing for seasonal adventures, whether it's summer hikes or winter snowshoeing.

Tips for tent camping near Telluride

  • At the Alta Lakes Campground (Dispersed), be prepared for a rough drive but reward yourself with stunning lake views and a serene atmosphere.
  • The Priest Lake Dispersed Camping Area offers a peaceful setting with excellent mountain views, ideal for those looking to escape the crowds.
  • Keep in mind that many dispersed sites, like those at Chinns Lake, require high clearance vehicles due to rough access roads, so plan accordingly.

Some prices for tent camping range from free to $28

  • The Knowles Overlook Campground offers free camping with stunning canyon views, perfect for budget-conscious campers.
  • For a more developed experience, the Grand Junction KOA charges around $40 per night, providing amenities like electric hookups and a pool.
  • If you're looking for a unique experience, consider the Turtle Rock Campground, which is free and well-kept, making it a fantastic option for tent campers.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the best season for tent camping in Colorado?

The prime tent camping season in Colorado runs from late May through September, with July and August offering the most reliable weather. However, timing varies by elevation. Robbers Roost Campground sits at 9,700 feet and is ideal in summer when temperatures are moderate but may experience snow into June. Lower elevation sites like Phantom Canyon Road BLM Sites extend the season into spring and fall. Fall camping (September-October) brings spectacular foliage but cooler nights. Be prepared for afternoon thunderstorms in summer, especially at high elevations, and check fire restrictions which are common in dry periods.

What are the best tent camping locations in Colorado?

Colorado offers spectacular tent camping across diverse landscapes. The Dunefield — Great Sand Dunes National Park provides a unique backcountry experience with stunning stargazing opportunities, though be prepared for challenging sand hiking with your gear. For alpine adventures, Buckingham Campground offers creekside sites with minimal mosquitos and proximity to hiking trails for South and North Arapahoe Peaks. Other excellent options include dispersed camping at Priest Lake with spacious sites perfect for groups, the beginner-friendly Sawmill Hiker Campground for first-time backpackers, and the secluded Upper Chipmunk Backcountry Campsite in Rocky Mountain National Park for wilderness immersion.

What amenities should I expect at Colorado tent campgrounds?

Amenities at Colorado tent campgrounds vary widely by type. Established sites like Priest Lake Dispersed Camping Area offer basic facilities including fire rings, picnic tables, and clean vault toilets. Some sites feature bear-proof trash facilities and food storage bins for safety. At Backcountry Campground — Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, expect more primitive conditions with designated camping areas but fewer conveniences. Most dispersed camping areas provide no facilities beyond perhaps a fire ring. Generally, pack in all water needs unless specifically noted, and many sites operate on first-come, first-served availability or honor system payment rather than reservations.

What outdoor activities are available near Colorado tent camping sites?

Colorado's tent camping areas offer exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities. Near Upper Chipmunk Backcountry Campsite — Rocky Mountain National Park, explore miles of pristine hiking trails with alpine views and wildlife viewing. Alta Lakes Campground provides access to mountain biking, fishing, and photography in the spectacular San Juan Mountains. Many campgrounds connect to extensive trail systems perfect for day hikes or multi-day backpacking adventures. Water activities like fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding are available at sites near lakes and rivers. During winter months, areas transition to snowshoeing and cross-country skiing terrain. Star-gazing is exceptional throughout Colorado's high country, particularly at remote dispersed sites.

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