Traveling to Leadville Colorado in mid June

[sdistel]

I will be traveling from Vermont with my 22 year old son . He will be driving out with me but will be flying back to Vermont after about 2 weeks on the road with me. One of the places that we will be stopping is Leadville, Colorado and I am looking for suggestions for campgrounds to stay at in the area. We will be traveling in a T@B, very small travel trailer. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions that anyone can give me.

[aceinspp]

Welcome to the forum. Might want to post this question under on the Road Travel/chat thread might get more replys. Later RJD

[sdistel]

Thank you for your suggestion. As you know I am new to this forum and having a heck of a time trying to find my way around.

[aceinspp]

There are a ton of knowledgeable folks here that can help ya. Enjoy. Later RJD

[sdistel]

Looking forward to the suggestions. Thanks again for your help.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

Welcome to the forum. Might want to post this question under on the Road Travel/chat thread might get more replys. Later RJD

Since a thread has already been started and replies posted, its actually better to request a site team member move the thread over, instead of starting a duplicate thread. We did move this one over to the travel chat as aceinspp suggested and deleted the duplicate thread.

Hope you enjoy your trip, and welcome aboard.

[Airborne]

Any of the campgrounds around Turquoise lake. They are well maintained, large sites. They do not have hook ups but they are in a beautiful location. They do have dump sites and water at each camp ground.

[Skyliner]

Turqoise lake is a nice place but all sites are Dry as far as I know.

Make sure you have plenty of propane, have a generator, and at least 2 batteries cuz your heater will be running all night.

Since I'm not a campground person, I would strongly recommend you boondock here:

Ghost town of Winfield, CO To get there, go west on Chaffee County Road 390 at the Clear Creek Reservoir. It is worth the drive and there is a large field in the ghost town that you can bookdock in. The drive and scenery is worth it and you can stop at the Viclsburg ghost town on the way up to Windfield. There is camping at Clear Creek Reservoir (campsite) and along the entire Road 390 there are dispersed spots along the road.

Definitely try to boondock, its a lot more fun and you'll experience something most folks don't! You can get a cheap harbor freight generator (2 stroke) 900 watt for 89 bucks. It will work to recharge your batteries in the morning if you don't mind not using anything else electrical. This cheap generator was my backup to my 3000 watt generator until I got solar. It won't run much other than a battery converter.

Another nice spot is Cottonwood Lake off of Cottonwood Pass in Buena Vista. It has large fields for boondocking and you can explore the area if you wish or do some hiking to Ptarmigan Lake if you are inclined. There are a couple of boondock sites on cottonwood pass (both sides) but if you go over the pass (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), I recommend you boondock on the road from Tincup to Tincup pass...many dispersed sites along the river...very peaceful and beautiful.

[High Country]

No idea on campsites, but went through there on a motorcycle trip last fall. Stop and eat at Doc's on the corner, great food, & BBQ., plus outdoor seating. It was a great find on the road.

[sdistel]

TonyD and Highcountry, thank you very much for your suggestions. I have been thinking about getting a small solar panel for my T@B, now may be the perfect time.

[sdistel]

Thank You Airborne for the information.

[KyDan]

Another vote for Turquoise Lake. You can save a lot of battery power by
not running your furnace much. We like flannel sheets and you can use a
down sleeping bag as a comforter. Perk some coffee on the stove in the morning to take off the chill. If you have an oven it's always good to bake up a few sweet rolls. The oven will warm you right up.

Here's a couple pictures to whet your appetite for Leadville.
When we arrived at Turquoise lake my wife exclaimed "it's like a picture post card". She was right.
We highly recommend the scenic train ride from Leadville as well. WHAT views!!! You are above the tree tops much of the time. We want to go back!

This photo is taken from the Baby Doe campground at Turquoise lake.

[sdistel]

Thanks KyDan for the information and the great photos. I am looking forward to spending some time at Turquoise Lake.

[Airborne]

Make your reservations for Turquoise lake early. Our once not so populated state has so many people in it now that the really nice campgrounds get booked early.
Another tip; we use a Mr. heater to warm things up. When I get up to use the restroom around 4:00 am, I turn it on. This way we wake up to a warm camper and do not use the furnace. We do this because most of the camp sites are well shaded and we can't use our suitcase solar panel to recharge the batteries at the rate we need.

[sdistel]

Not sure what date we will arrive at Turquoise Lake so this makes reservations a bit of a problem. Will try to estimate our arrival as the trip proceeded. Thanks for the heads up.

[Airborne]

If your going to arrive during the week, there should not be much problem. The weekends are the real issue.

[sdistel]

Airborne, thanks, I was thinking about trying to arrive on a Sunday or Monday and hope for an opening.

[Wilco]

If you plan to boon-dock, check for parasitic loads that will deplete your battery and disconnect them. I found the heater for the refrigerator door (along with the other normal loads) will exhaust my batteries in ~4 days. The blower for the heater is also a large load when it runs. Disconnecting the door heater and not using the heater extends the batteries to beyond 8 days.

[blue river]

here's the CO State Parks website
Colorado Parks & Wildlife - Camping

Not sure what type of activities you might like, but traveling west you will find Buena Vista, CO and the Brown's Canyon of the Arkansas River...white water rafting fun!

[glenn56h]

BE CAREFULL ABOUT THE ELEVATION 10M+ had a friend from fishing group have trouble with elevation while walking streams needed oxygen