Camping near Denver Colorado

[fanrgs]

We have lived near the mountains in the western Denver suburbs for 50 years. But we have camped at both Chatfied SP and Golden Gate Canyon SP so the grandkids could experience sleeping in the trailer when they were young. If the state parks are booked, try the campground at Bear Creek Lake Park, a City of Lakewood park with 3 lakes, boating, swim beach, playground, etc. It is a couple of miles south of I-70 and near the intersection of US 285 and C-470, so convenient to everywhere in the metro area.

We seldom go near Estes Park anymore because we can't stand traffic jams when going to the mountains. When we visit RMNP, we camp at the Forest Service Stillwater cg on Lake Granby. It has electric hookups, water, and a dump, is less than 10 miles from the west entrance to RMNP via US 34, and near my favorite scenic area of Middle Park--Monarch Lake.

And snow may not only be available in RMNP for the OP to play in, it could even be available in Denver. Our sons played soccer games in snow in a Memorial Day tournament 3 miles from our house!

For more info on camping, routes, and not-to-miss sights in Colorado, see my blog HERE.

PS--There are NO Corps of Engineers campgrounds in Colorado! Lots of Corps lakes, but their campgrounds are all state parks. And the state parks just raised their campground fees by a significant percentage on January 1. Plus you must now have reservations--no walk-ins during the primary camping season.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by rarmstrong

Thank you all for the great information. I'm sure it will be extremely helpful. Based on your responses, we will delay our trip somewhat, arriving in Colorado on or about Memorial Day (RMNP web site says most roads open my the end of May, WEATHER PERMITTING!). As native Floridians, we want to get out there early. Just like many of you come to Florida to see the beaches, we want to see some snow! As I said in my earlier post, we've done this before, starting in Yellowstone the third week of May without too many problems, but I'm sure we might not be so lucky next time! Being retired, we can hunker down if needed, and we are pulling a Jeep Wrangler 4X4 as our toad.

Anyway, thanks again for all of your help!

I would not plan on arriving for Memorial Day weekend...

Wait at least a week as Memorial Day weekend is 'Opening Day' for the Colorado camping season and traffic everywhere will be a mess.

Not to mention that all of the campgrounds, if not already, will be book up solid.

[67L48]

It's worth noting that Granby/Stillwater is going to be about 2.5 hours from Denver and require a pretty grueling drive up the pass through the Eisenhower tunnel. While I'm no fan of the Estes Park crowds, it is a nice mountain town that is worth seeing at least once.

I camp most Memorial Day weekends. I find it no more crowded than other weekends. If you camp at Golden Gate, e.g., it's packed every single weekend. One weekend doesn't look any different than the others. Same with Estes Park and other tourist locations. They're busy every weekend. I see no difference with Memorial Day. The real difference is weekday vs weekend. There you will see significant differences in traffic, campground density, and the types of campers in the park.

Good luck.