The Crags Campground — State Forest State Park

Your neighbors will be moose at this campground. It is remote and the sites are near, but I still found it peaceful. Noobs will fall prey to the moose. Seriously, many meals were stolen. Although I must admit, they are rather quiet and can sneak up on you. Rangers were very friendly.

Be aware the ranger station north of this park will have the state pass needed. Otherwise bring cash

I love camping. I love the opportunity to connect to the wild spaces that surround us. I love finding people who share that same passion. What I don't love, is sharing a campground with someone who obviously has no regard for the safety of their fellow campers or the wild animals that call those wild spaces home. Over Labor Day weekend I got the opportunity to camp at State Forest State Park in Colorado and a 'fellow camper' 2 sites down from us made choices that put us all, and one of the coolest cow moose and her calf in danger. Despite knowledge of moose being present in the area, the campers would go to bed every night and leave all of their trash out, and various food and drink sources scattered around their campsite as well. The moose quickly learned she had easy access to food there and frequented their site. Each time they would honk their horn and blow a whistle and clang pans, but moose are typically not afraid of humans at all, so she did not deter easy. Not only did they lure her into their trap, they then harassed her and disturbed the peace of the other campers. They clearly had no regard for the rules of campground and had their dogs off leash many times, one evening one of their dogs chased the moose out of their site, much to their amusement. I reported them to the rangers, and was assured they would be talked to, but their behavior did not change. If that moose decides to 'fight back' instead of run off, it will be her that pays the price. My sisters and I made sure our site was clean and tidy and even when the moose visited during dinner one evening all that was needed from us to scare her off, were a few claps and shouts. My point is this, we have a responsibility to utilize our wild spaces responsibly, and in my opinion, if you can't do that, then you lose the privilege to use them. Enjoy some of the pictures from that weekend, and remember to recreate responsibly, and if you see something, say something!