We stayed at the group camp site and had a great experience! The vault toilets were the cleanest I’ve ever seen. Staff came by twice a day to clean and remove trash. The road coming in from the mail camp site is quite bumpy and you have to go super slow. I recommend taking Jones Gulch Rd in instead. The views were amazing!
This was our first time camping at Shades. The sites were fairly private with nice fire pits. The trails were nice and well maintained, aside from part of the stairs on trail 1 being damaged and closed. (Would have been nice to know at the trailhead, but no big deal.) The facilities, however, we’re poorly maintained. The vault toilets were dirty, needed to be emptied and the women’s stalls didn’t have doors. The shower/flush toilet facility was absolutely filthy and the showers were flooding the entire women’s side. When we arrived Friday, the water was dark brown out of every water source, including the showers and drinking water stations. They fixed it on Saturday, but left us pretty SOL on Friday. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend and I won’t return for camping. I would go for day hikes.
We stayed at site 11 in the Red Pine campground. The sites were wooded and well maintained, as were the vault toilets. I would have preferred to have a sink to wash my hands, but this campground is more “roughing it” than those with full bathrooms. It was nice and quiet, it felt more secluded than larger campgrounds. Great area to hike and explore. We’ll be back!
We loved our one night stay here! The bathrooms were nice and clean. The site was level and there is a lot of variety in each site. Picnic table, charcoal grill provided. The best part, of course, is the nearby scenery. Impressive views and trails are within walking distance, as is the visitor center.
We stayed here one night, just passing through. Convenient to I40, nice and clean new toilets and showers. We had site #23 - clean, with power, water, picnic table and fire pit. Everything we needed for one night.
Some things to know that didn’t negatively impact our trip too much: This campground is right off the highway, so road noise is pretty loud. The new toilet and showers aren’t marked, so you’re not sure what door you’re opening. The campground is an odd mix of RVs and permanent mobile homes.