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**blmitch5** · 06-22-2010, 06:45 AM

Were headed out West the last week of July and have a spot on Dillon lake (Heaton Bay) but was wondering if there are any better spots we missed. We have solar and are buying a Yamaha es2400 generator so hook ups are no big deal. The beetle infestation caused a real mess up there and most campgrounds we've seen were pretty close together.
Were also headed to Cottonwood lake near Buenavista which looks very nice. If anyone has better spots let us know and thanks for the help.

mojo · 06-22-2010, 07:52 AM

We were just in Dillon last week at Heaton Bay for one night. Stayed in the electric sites loop C. The water is turned off in the entire park because of a water main break that they are not too anxious to repair. This means that you have to go into town to the marina to get water and the dump station is at the south end of the lake at the Breckinridge Sanitation Dept., and charge is $5. Seems like loops D & E are closest to the water. Campsite is ok and probably great if you have a boat and plan to access the lake.

The area has been devastated by bark beetles and they are clearing entire mountain sides around the lake. We checked out the other two CG's, Lowry & Peak One, but they were not open yet and looked like they were exposed by all of the tree removal.

This was just a overnight stop for us on the way to Aspen to the Maroon Bells which was excellent. If you want a beautiful CO experience, the Silver Bell CG, sites 1 or 5 will accommodate your Bambi.

Pacerized · 06-22-2010, 07:52 PM

For what it's worth I'd take Prospector as my first choice and Heaton Bay as my second. We've had all of our campgrounds closed at different times over the past 3 years to clear out all of the Pine Beetle kill. This unfortunately means that none of our area campgrounds have very many big trees left. Our lodgepole pine tree loss has been over 90% for the county and lodgepoles comprised the majority of our big trees. What you have left are Aspen, Spruce, a few lucky Pine trees and a few Firs.
The local paper announced about 2 weeks ago that all of our campgrounds would be open this summer but as of today Prospector is still closed. You can find nice lakeside sites at both Prospector and Heaton bay but you will have a lot more wind hitting you from the lake due to the reduced tree cover. You can call 800-678-2267 for details on the opening of our remaining campgrounds. Other options for campgrounds are peak one, and Green Mountain reservoir. Great Boondocking at the top of the Vail Pass, and along the Shrine Pass for that time of year.

Charlie