Best RV Parks & Resorts near Medicine Bow-Routt NFs & Thunder Basin NG

We stayed at The Laramie KOA in August 2021. This is a FHU RV Park which offers a variety of sites including premium extra large pull-thru sites. We opted to save the added expense of the premium sites and stayed at a regular pull thru-site. These sites are very close together which was difficult to negotiate into with our fifth wheel. The sites are so close together that I had my neighbors sewer hose directly in front of my camp chair between my legs. 😳👎🏻 Next time we will opt for a premium site because this is a very nice, well maintained KOA with an excellent staff. There is a nice dog run here and lots of green space to walk dogs. We were able to receive mail here, also. All in all, we would recommend this park and enjoyed our stay here. If you would like to see videos of this park and others, please check out our YouTube channel: Jeff & Steff’s Excellent Adventure.

$20/night cash or check for off season first come first serve. You can reserve and pay electronically “on” season. I got an rv spot (last in upper loop) but a few tent spots open while searching. Also a few more spots opened in lower loop as I was unloading. Came to check out new rock climbing routes. Before the “season” here starts. Spaces are spaced nicely. Bear signs posted so be mindful of food and trash left out. It is Wyoming so very windy but sunny.

Excellent small campground. Everything from full hookups to grassy tent spots. Bathroom with showers. Laundry facilities. Sits on the Encampment River. Owners Lee Ann & Leroy were very friendly & helpful.

This wooded campground has a very narrow season. Gravel roads (starting at Albany) were snowed in 4 miles out in late May 2019, While there are gendered vault toilets (TP stocked), bring your own water for cooking and cleaning. This fact alone makes it better for RVs than tent campers like us. There are loads of sites, well spaced with fire rings and picnic tables. We got rain and small hail on the 3rd weekend in July and it got to 40 F or below overnight. Deer, chipmunks, and a bald eagle were spotted. There were mosquitoes. There is a boat ramp into the reservoir. Heavily ATV traffic. Dog friendly but must be on leash. Gunfire noted early and late across reservoir. With proper prior planning, you will probably have a pleasant experience.

Very well maintained and clean. Leroy, the owner lives there onsite. A mix of primitive and full hookup sites are available and even a 4 room motel. Very quiet and calm when we stayed in June. Easy highway access,but virtually no cell service with Verizon. The campground provided WiFi was decent. Leroy runs a tight ship at the camp, but it’s worth it. I would stay again when back in the area.

Needed a stop for the night and this sufficed. The check in without a reservation was smooth and painless. The sites look newly rocked and clean. Our site was full hookup which was convenient. Firepits provided and they looked brand new. Location is off the interstate and you can hear it all night. There is literally not a drop Of shade - i would expect it would be hot as hell in the middle of the rock during the day. Fine for a night - nothing more.

Checked in about 8:30pm on weekday for car/tent camping.  Got last spot on upper tent loop (FC/FS-self serve).   Upper tent loop also has some RV spots. It seems like a very popular spot for XC RV drivers. The upper loop was very quiet, both the people and the area, and far enough from Interstate that Hwy noise was not an issue. The only problems were the wind(strong in am), and the lack of running water. Vault toilets were clean enough. The faucets near toilets did not work. The only available water was from the green well pump, and it had noticeable color to it. I used it for cooking and cleaning, but not drinking. Great trails! We did a nice 3.5 mile loop around Turtle Rock. It has good and climbing/bouldering, wish I had more time for that. It was cool due to a recent rainfall, and the 8000'ish elevation kept it that way at night. All creeks were dry in late august, and the 3 ponds were nearly so. Very pretty spot that feels more remote than it is. There is a lower tent walk in loop, which is much better sheltered from road noise and wind.  The lower tent loop has vault toilets, but it does not have water as far as I could tell.  Lower tent loop was completely vacant and available, while upper RV/tent area was full.

This is not 'glamping'. This is a pitch your tent, start a fire, watch the deer walk thru type campground. Beautiful views of the Rockies, trails for all levels of hiking. My only tip--bring your own TP, they kept running out. And a jacket, nights are chilly at this altitude. No trailers, RVS allowed as tiny, winding dirt road to get there.

This campsite was pretty awesome, and the views and scenery were beautiful. One of my favorite parts about this campground is that every site does have a view of the lake. My buddies and I came here pretty late in the day, and still got a pretty great spot...with a view of the lake! The cost to stay was only $10 a night, which is well worth it! We stayed here 2 nights, so we just split the $30 cost. We brought our kayaks and stand up paddle boards, and really enjoyed doing this in the lake. We literally just walked a few steps and put our boards and kayaks in the water! The campground was very well kept and clean which we appreciated too. The last couple of miles before getting to the campground are gravel road, and the road is pretty narrow. I would say all vehicles could probably fit down this road, but we did have to get over a few times to let cars coming down get by. They do provide restrooms, and we thought they were pretty well kept and clean. They don't have any electrical hook-ups, which would be a downer for those bringing an RV and wanting the electrical hook-up. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for wildlife. We saw a few moose and some deer, but we were told/warned that there are black bears and bobcats that have been seen numerous times. We did put all our food in containers and up from the ground for this reason. The campground is in a great location, and it is surrounded by beautiful mountains and trees. We really enjoyed hanging our hammocks and sitting by the fire at night. We also really enjoyed some great hikes that were nearby. The hikes we did were Sheep Lake Trail and Lost Lake Trail. Both were great hikes that had some pretty awesome views which made the hard hike worth it. We also saw people fishing in the lake, although we didn't do this. Cant wait to come back and hang here again!

This campground is managed by the city of Saratoga. There is no one on site. When you arrive, pay by filling out one of the forms that in a box attached the the backside of the bathroom. You will need your license plate number and cash, as well as the number of the site you are parked in. I suggest testing the electric before committing to a site. Sites with electric are $15/night. The campground consists of two “tiers” and everything is gravel. The second tier doesn’t have great views, as there is some shrubby foliage in the way. Each site has a picnic table. The boat launch is here but since I am staying in late September it’s been very quiet. Town and the public hot springs are only ~8 minute drive away, but you do feel like you are further outside of town. There are some private homes across the lake. There are no sewer hook ups or potable water, so fill up before you arrive! Overall this is nothing fancy, but it’s quiet and nice to get a remote camping feel while still having electrical.

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!

We camped here July 25th-29th, 2018 with our 5 children (4-13) in our pop up camper. 

First thing to know is this is a remote area of CO at 9,000+ ft. elevation. It is also an area that has been affected by wildfire (2016). It is still absolutely gorgeous!

Worst part—> You will have to travel down a gravel/dirt road for ~30 miles to get to the lake and campground. Sections of it are TERRIBLY washboarded. Plan for over an hour to navigate through. You will be rewarded at the end! 

There is zero cell service (we have Sprint and Verizon), no electric/water/sewer hook ups or bathhouses. There are pit toilets throughout the campground that appeared to be very well maintained and cleaned often. There are also numerous water spigots throughout with potable water. 

The sites are all HUGE, almost all are pull through and many offer beautiful lake views with trails directly from your campsite to the water. We were in site 14. It did not have a water view, but was still amazing. All sites are gravel and appear to be fairly level. Most have pine trees, boulders and other natural landscaping that adds to the beauty of the campground. Very nice metal fire pits and sturdy, large picnic tables (though many are slightly bowed) were present at each site we saw. Bear proof dumpsters were easily accessible. 

We had hundreds of chipmunks visit us each day to clean up the kids’ crumbs. We also saw antelope and deer on the drive in and several moose, elk and a coyote off the highway heading to RMNP. 

There are two trailheads in the campground, lots of areas to fish, a boat dock and horse corral. 

This was our very first run at dry camping. We were 10 hours from home with 5 kids! We may be crazy, but lots of memories were made and we are calling this trip a big success! 

This campground was only $10/night and a true hidden gem in the Rockies. (Those roads though...ugh!)