Jamie B.

Lakewood, CO

Joined December 2018

Nice dispersed camping

Lots of dispersed camp sites available. Plenty of room between sites, couldn’t see or hear neighbors. There are different types of sites, including some pull-offs for campers, some sites you could drive into off the road, and some with parking on the road and a small hike down to the site.

My group’s site was right next to the creek, which is great for dogs to play in, but meant a lot of mosquitos. Definitely bring bug spray.

The sites are generally pretty large and can fit multiple tents. There are fire rings, but nothing else. There are no bathrooms for the area, but near the entrance, there is a small building with a port-a-pottie that is accessible to campers.

The first few sites get phone reception, but less than a half mile in, most reception gets cut off. Good hiking nearby. Before the road loops around, there is a pretty easy trail that leads to a water diversion tunnel. Popular with dogs and trail bikers.

This place has a good backcountry feel to it, with the convenience of being close enough to your car and to Winter Park if you forget to pack something. Overall, a great campground for hiking, biking, or relaxing.

City Camping Tucked Away

You have to drive through part of Great Falls, Montana to get to this campground, but once you are in it, you forget all about the city. You get the full camping (in a campground) experience, but you can easily drive into the city to pick up whatever you forgot to pack.

Our site was in what they call a tent village, which is a nice roundabout of tent sites. There are walls separating the sites for privacy, but the area is big enough for your vehicle and a large tent, or multiple smaller tents. Toward the middle of the roundabout is a covered area, including a table, counter, electrical outlets, and a large cabinet that can be locked with a padlock. The tent villages are very close to a nice restroom/showers that require a key code to get in.

Neat Place

The original KOA. This place is well kept, and staff was very friendly. Our site was pretty far from the restrooms/showers/office/store, but that was made up for by the spaciousness of the site, a picnic table, and access to potable water at the site, even though that was not included in our site description when booking. You can also hear the Yellowstone River flowing behind the site, which was nice to fall asleep to. In the mornings, they offer a pancake breakfast. In the evenings, there is an ice cream social where you can meet other campers, swap stories, share experiences, etc.

Quiet and Beautiful

This campground is quiet and out of the way from nearby Zion National Park. This is a great place to stay if the campgrounds near Zion are booked or you want to avoid the crowd, as long as you don't mind the 45 minute drive if you are going to Zion before or after staying here. The ground is mostly sand, except for the paved parking and driving areas. There are plenty of trees for shade, and a picnic table and fire ring are provided. Modern restrooms and showers are provided, but they are not the cleanest, though they are acceptable for a smaller campground in a secluded state park.

The real beauty of this campground is the nearby sand dunes. A short walk from the campground is the pedestrian entrance to the the Coral Pink sand dunes, which seem to go on for miles. There is a small shelter with informational plaques, and a path to where you can walk down to the dunes. Be careful though, because the dunes are very popular with dune buggy and off-road enthusiasts.

Well Kept Sight, Decent View

This campground was well kept and the employees were great. The community kitchen, restrooms, and showers were close enough to the sight to be convenient, but far enough away to not wake you up at night with people walking by. The tent sights in the upper portion are on different levels from neighboring sites, so you are separated from your neighbors, but they are close enough if camping with a large group. The upper tent sights have no trees around them, so you get a great view of the stars on a clear night, and you can watch the sun rise and set on the cliffs, but if you look to the left of the cliffs, you get a great view of an industrial-type area. Because there are no trees around the upper sites (and it's nearly impossible to drive a tent stake into the ground), windy nights can get really crazy. I had weighted the corners of my tent with everything I could (camp chairs, suitcase, even some rocks), but the tent still blew around and collapsed on me. Overall a great campground with KOA standards, I just have an old tent and some bad luck.