Weekend spots near Denver?

[Jawi42]

The wife and I are bouncing around Denver looking/scouting out primo spots. We need some easy weekend spots for the upcoming holidays. Any suggestions? Towing 19ft Bambi.

[ghaynes755]

Are you on or off-grid with your rig? Lots of USFS sites in the mountains if you don't need power (or have a generator). But, and it seems like there are a lot of them, weekends in most places were booked months ago. There are walk up spots but I've never had much luck with those. You can check ReserveAmerica as it has most of the locations. Allstays shows most spots. There are a few Colorado SWF places that allow camping depending on time of year.

[Cottonboll]

Originally Posted by ghaynes755

Are you on or off-grid with your rig? Lots of USFS sites in the mountains if you don't need power (or have a generator). But, and it seems like there are a lot of them, weekends in most places were booked months ago. There are walk up spots but I've never had much luck with those. You can check ReserveAmerica as it has most of the locations. Allstays shows most spots. There are a few Colorado SWF places that allow camping depending on time of year.

Camped at Buffalo Springs in Pike Nat.Forest 2 weeks ago. Good camp near Denver. Also Dicks Camp on the Peak to Peak.

[Beaker63]

Hey Jaw,
We recently stayed at the Cold Springs National Forest campground. It was very nice. It's on state highway 119 between mile posts 12 and 13, about five miles north of Blackhawk.
30 minutes from Denver. I would stay there again.
Tim

[handn]

If you like to mountain bike or hike, try St. Louis Creek campground west of Frasier, 67 miles west of Denver on U.S. 40.
If fishing is your interest there are many campgrounds around Grand Lake 110 miles west of Denver on U.S. 40 and 34.
If you like a commercial campground in a tourist town, there are many campgrounds in Estes Park about 60 miles NW of Denver with no mountain passes to cross.
If you don't want to drive very far, try Cherry Creek State Park in Metro Denver.
The Colorado State Parks are jewels. Our favorite is Steamboat Lake State Park about 180 miles NW of Denver. We enjoy listening to the sand hill cranes and fly fishing for big cutthroat trout in nearby Pearl Lake.

[AtomicNo13]

Free no frills camping at the city of Empire park. 45 minutes west of Denver just off i70. Bill Moore lake trail close by, Georgetown, and the Georgetown loop Railroad. It's a fun way to kill a weekend over there. Check in with the local PD above the restaurant/ saloon for a permit. Water and electric at the shelter but no dump. Free and a great location. Bring everything you'll need as Evergreen is the closest opportunity for services!

[TWA640316]

We stayed at Golden Gate Canyon State Park last week, 30 mins from DEN
Very nice

[mayco]

My kids live up in fort collins. Check out horse tooth reservoir, i havent camped there yet but it looks like some nice facilities operated by the county but part od the national Forrest service i think. They have a web site. So that would be about a two hour drive for you? Im gonna try it out when we head that way.

[bonginator]

What sort of camping so you like?

[Ron_Kat]

Cherry Creek State Park is nice place for being in the metro area. We stayed there in Feb. and enjoyed the time there, nice trails around the lake and not bad as far as traffic noise.
We wanted to be close to town for a variety of reasons and this worked great.

[bonginator]

If you want an easy getaway with full services, try St. Vrain State Park off 119 and I-25. Despite its location, it is fairly quiet and has lots of ponds for fishing. It's a great location if you are driving north or south on I25 and passing through. It's about 40 minutes north of downtown Denver and in the town of Longmont.

[blickcd]

Chatfield State Park, just south of Denver in Littleton.