Camping near PSICC

Very well maintained campground with spotless vault toilets and clean camp sites.  The camp host was very friendly and helpful.  He had firewood for sale and offered warnings for recent wildlife issues.  

We rolled in mid-afternoon Thu and 5 sites were open.  They were all claimed by that evening.   There was regular flow of people searching for sites into the evening, but they turned around at the entrance once the Full sign went up.  When we left Sun morning there many sites available.

It got quiet early and was great overnight, but many campers are early risers for the hike up Pikes Peak.  

No mobile signal once turning off the paved highway.  

The two well water spigots were working.  Creek was flowing well and could also be filtered.

It’s an easy drive from Westcliff. Too easy. I expected crowds of out of state tourists and maybe a few locals. But to my surprise it was virtually empty.i grabbed a cozy site right next to the creek. Lovely sounds.

The environs where I camped was a dense mix of deciduous and conifer trees., and on either side of the road and campsites, there were very steep, heavily wooded slopes. But a confusing feature are the No Trespassing signs as you enter the campground. I don’t know where the hiking is.

My phone and WiFi (through my phone) worked very well. I have AT&T currently and there was no one here to ask about other carriers.

In the late afternoon there was one of the biggest storms I’ve ever experienced. The thunder was loud, extended and close! Leaving did cross my mind. But two hours later it was quiet again. Glad I stayed.

Stopped in Cañon City then drove out to phantom canyon gold belt tour. The coordinates will take you to where the paved road turns to dirt. You need to go a few more miles and you will see signs for BLM land. The farther you go the better the sites. We camped next to Eight Mile Creek and the tunnel. The flies and mosquitos were bad but our bug screens did their job until dark then we had to close up the van. It was an amazing experience being in the canyon. Starlink worked great as there is no Verizon cellular for miles. It took us three attempts to get our overweight 2-wheel drive van up the hill and back onto the road. There are a lot of loose rocks. We are planning to head back down and drive the whole byway this fall.

Between the price and the little space available, there is no way I will ever stay here again. I'd rather travel from Cheyenne Mtn State park to the area then have no room to breathe....and not that I would breathe, as my neighbor's sewer was next to my picnic table, if I wanted to sit and it stunk! Walking out of my RV to get into my car was terrible because of the smell. Also, we were next to a site that was deeper and we were much longer....what made this worst was that they said they got that sight in June. I had called in Dec 2024 and was told there were only 2 sites left. If someone cancelled, shouldn't you look to see if a longer RV needed the space?? Also our bedroom sat over the stream just to fit, but what made it worst was the neighbor who got the bigger site in June parked his car right on the edge of both sites and so to get to our sewer or a storage area, we had to squeeze under our slide to get there. Then when said neighbor left the day before we did, we talked about dumping while we had time, but almost as soon as he left, someone else was allowed in before 11am to that sight. Luckily they switched car and table so we could get to the sewer. These situations and the fact that we could not enjoy anytime outside until the other side neighbor left 2 days before, just makes this one of the worst situations we ever of been in while traveling.