We needed a stop on the way out of Colorado and grabbed a quick night here in a tent site. Water was off for weather but stoves made much needed coffee in the cold.
Nice clean campground. Filled propane tanks, picked up trash at site, and nice camp store. Enjoyed the pool and shuttle to attractions. Safe family environment.
September 28th, 2019 Just roaming around and decided to revisit Poudre Canyon when I found most of the NFS campgrounds closed… Taking my chances I continued up the canyon until I found this place. The owner was closing up for the season but showed me the tent pads. The view from the east tent area faces down the canyon and is nice. They have trailers and pop ups to stay in if anyone wants more comfortable accommodations. This place has showers and toilets… there’s a convenience store across the street. This was the only spot where my cell phone worked in the canyon. Nice location. Nice owner. Nice view. 3 stars!
Curt Gowdy State Park, Cheyenne Wyoming
Located between Laramie and Cheyenne, about 25 miles to each. We stayed at the Tumbleweed Campground. If you enjoy stargazing, you'll be amazed. There are no campground lights to interfere and campers keep lights to a minimum. We had a cloudless clear sky to enjoy the heavens. One of the most awesome night skys I've seen. Would love to be here for meteor showers!
This area has electric and water. The sites are gravel and mostly level. Each site is totally separate with great views of the reservoir. There's a nice picnic table and firepit. Vault toilets. Really nice tiled showers (takes quarters) and flush toilets are available 24/7 at the Visitor Center up the road. Boondock and tent campgrounds also available. Staff super friendly. Camp store has the basics. Nice mountain bike and hiking trails. Popular intermediate hike to waterfall, 4 miles rounddtrip. Fishing, picnicking, kids play areas.
We stopped here on the final leg of our journey. They had adequate hookups and sewer cleanout station. This was a great way to close out our trip and get our systems flushed out for parking.
Bonus: the local Walmart had our favorite Ice cream brand Blue Bell.
I highly recommend looking at the website. Lots to do here. Pet friendly. Laundry room, showers, market available. A steakhouse right next door. Definitely would stick to chain restaurants if you’re wanting a steak though. Or any food for that matter. It’s definitely gorgeous here.
Beautiful lake. Very peaceful. Campground host was wonderful. Campground is clean. The Free Birds- #livefree www.livefreebirds.com IG: thefreebirdsrv
Small campground by creek. Lots of room between sites. Very pretty location. -The Free Birds RV- https://livefreebirds.com IG: thefreebirdsrv
We were driving out to Oregon and decided to stay the night here since it’s not too far off the interstate. The site was fairly secluded and interstate noise was not bad for how close it was. We plan to go again and try some biking and hiking in the area. $5 with national park pass ($10 without). No water.
The dyrt has some old info on their overview page, there are no reservations - it is first come first serve, there is no water hookups, but there are several water spickets that are available when the water quality meets standards for drinking water - sometimes water is not available (check USDA Vadauwoo Camprround site for up to date info).
The sites are a combination of back-in, pull-offs, and walk into tent camping sites. All afford amazing views of the unique rock formations and easy access to hiking, climbing and repelling sites within the area.
Nice spot. Beautiful scenery. Minimal parking though. Most spots are level and paved. Lots of hiking trails
Beautiful area. There are a lot dispersed camping sites, you just need to get there early enough. You need to find a spot with a defined access road to it and a built fire ring. Generator use is allowed. Camp fires are allowed as well as long as the wind allows it.
This campground had great facilities and sites, especially for only$10 nightly. If you stay at the loop furthest from the highway, you feel like you’re deeper in wildness because you no longer see or hear the highway traffic. We camped here because it’s so close to the nearby world-class rock climbing. It did get pretty windy during or stay(gusts up to 30mph) but otherwise our stay in mid-August had comfortable temperatures. The bathrooms were pristine. Campsites has ample distance between each other and we had no issues with noisy neighbors. Plenty of well-behaved dogs - dogs are allowed everywhere as long as they are leashed. Unfortunately the water hookup has been off for a couple seasons, so you need to drive 15 minutes away to get potable water. The scenery is beautiful during the day and night. We plan to stay here again!
Older clean campground, Laramie is a great small town w all amenities, the campground provides necessities and a place to stay for night, would not want to stay more than a night, its clean. They are adding new section, it is next to two mobile home parks and freeway. Wifi was pathetic.
Stayed last night in site 7. Great for a tent, unfortunately it got a bit colder than I was prepared for! I’d have stayed longer otherwise. Right on the river, clean bathrooms, water, friendly host! The only drawback is the occasional semi using his muffler brakes coming down off Cameron Pass.
This campground was beautiful and the owners are SO NICE. Each campsite is right next to the river and have the nicest little set ups. We will be coming back!
Glen Echo is an exceptional one-stop Poudre Canyon camping experience. While they do offer large and small cabins, long and short term RV spots, we tent camped for two nights on two different riverside sites - numbers 1 and 6 - and both were awesome! Both spots offered amazing rushing water views, a nice mixture of sun and shade, picnic tables, and fire rings. One of the spots - site 1 - had electric hook-up. Aside from the great tent sites, they have on-site a general store/market, fuel, a liquor store and restaurant/cafe, which made life super convenient because it's located about mid-way through Poudre Canyon and there's not a lot out there. Also, clean showers, which was a nice surprise. Cannot recommend this chill camping destination enough!
Nice large camp ground with some electric hookup sites and a full bathhouse with showers. Cool wooden bridge that you have to cross to get into the campground. Some great areas to be able to play in the river and you can hike up the mountain right out of camp. The only draw back for us was the sites are really close together. So not very private.
This is a great camp ground on 14. It's of of the road enough that the noise isn't an issue, also right on the water. There are a couple of great sites that are private and shaded. Still close enough to Fort Collins if you need to run in. Also very close to Mishawaka, great place to grab a bite and maybe a show.
If you need to be close to Fort Collins or early in the season this is an ok campground. To close to the road and usually very busy. Sites are nice and shaded though and really close to the river. But there are much better camp grounds on up 14.
It's a very small campground with sites right along the river. There is a hairpin switchback to get into the lower loop and the website states that it is not accessible to trailers longer than 20 feet. Our friends cancelled because of that statement, but we watched some large trucks with long trailers negotiate it without issue.
The Greyrock Trailhead is close by and we enjoyed hiking to the rock.
The only drawback to this campground is the rattlesnakes. The camp host warned us not to walk in the tall grass because they have caused trouble to other campers and their dogs. We didn't see any slithering around, but we found two dead rattlers on the road near our site so I don't think she was exaggerating.
Pickaroon is ideal for the tent and small rugged RVs but is used mostly for day use fishing. Tight switchbacks on the final decent into the campground will be a challenge for anything 20+. 4 wheel drive a must if it’s wet.
Most traffic is day use fishermen and is the end of the forest road. Fishing can be good, but the volume of traffic means lots of pressure. The outhouse is old and in need of significant repair (doors won’t close fully) and is under serviced (bring your own tp). No water. Fire rings are old and picnic tables are well used and could use repair.
This seems like an awesome, off the beaten path location to get away - but it seems everyone agrees. I’ve been twice mid week in 2019 and on weekends. All campgrounds were occupied each time. Also, lots of RVs are brought down and left vacant during the week, and the owners just go down on the weekends. Lots of abuse (left for more than 14 days and vacant for more than 24 hours) of Forest service rules by those who frequent Pickaroon.
We stayed along Granite Reservoir. It's lovely, but we had to listen to jet skis and motor boats during the day. The bike trails are terrific, but as paddle boarders, next time we will head to the smaller Crystal Reservoir, where motorized boats are prohibited.
The wind was consistently 25mph+ the whole weekend, but the hiking and alpine lakes just off the campground were great. Camp sites were well taken care of and each had a level tent spot and ample parking.
Personally, I find having easier access to the facilities of the main campground worth $10 per night if you can find a spot. These dispersed campsites are a good free option if you can't find one though. Make sure that you camp at one of the designated spots, it is not a pick-you-spot-anywhere kind of experience: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd581855.pdf
Sites 1-4 are found shortly after the Nautilus parking lot, where you can find a single bathroom. These spots are also the closest to the trails that take you to the rock climbing routes.
This is not a campground. This is one of two places that offers potable water for nearby camping though (as of summer 2019). The gate is locked so you must walk in with your jugs to fill them up. The Abraham Lincoln Memorial rest area is the other nearby place for water, and the rest area is easier because you can drive right to the pump.
We found a set of campsites in the "Upper Blaire" climbing area.
How to get there from US-30
- *Refer map provided in campground website link
- Approaching from the south: Take exit 329 for Vedauwoo Rd --> Turn left onto Vedauwoo Glen Rd --> Turn right onto Old US Hwy 30 E --> Drive 2.7 miles --> Turn right onto Blair-Wallis Rd / Forest Rd 705 --> Drive 3 miles --> Sharp right on Forest Rd 707 --> Drive 0.7 miles --> Turn right onto Forest Rd 707A then a few hundred feet turn right again onto Forest Rd 707AF --> drive to the end of the road a few hundred feet more and park.
- Approaching from the north: Take exit 323 for WY-210 toward Happy Jack Rd --> Turn left onto WY-210 E / Happy Jack Rd then shortly thereafter turn left again to stay on WY-210 E --> Drive for 6 miles --> Turn right onto Headquarters Rd / Forest Rd 707 --> In 0.3 miles turn right to stay on 707 --> drive 2.7 mi --> Turn left onto Forest Rd 707A --> Turn right in a few hundred feet onto Forest Rd 707AF--> drive to the end of the road a few hundred feet more and park.
These sites are primitive and have a nice secluded feeling. You cannot see or hear the highway from here. There was spotty cell service (we have T-mobile). There are no facilities here, but if you would like to access picnic tables or a vault toilet, the Blair Picnic Area is not far away: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mbr/recarea/?recid=22894. Make sure to pack plenty of water, you can fill up at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial rest area.
If you want to do some rock climbing in the area, these sites are very convenient.
Some words of caution:
- there are cows roaming free in this area. You might find them blocking the road or next to your tent when you wake up (!)
- a lot of broken glass at the sites near the parking area
- there are many fell trees in the area, and it was very gusty when we were there, so make sure to check weather in advance to avoid strong winds that might bring trees down
We found a set of campsites specifically on the forest road 705F, near the Hidden Valley picnic area. The sites are free, as they are primitive set-up with only a fire pit. Although there are not facilities immediately there, if you finding camping in this area you are close by to a bathroom at Summit Trailhead and potable water at either Hidden Valley or the Abraham Lincoln rest area. We found a whole list of forest roads that allow dispersed camping 100 feet off-road: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3841999.pdf