Campgrounds Near Denver, CO

[aldebnj]

Since I know a number of the people on this board are from Colorado, I am hoping the someone can help us out.

This next Summer (late July), our DD may be attending a Fine Arts festival in Denver. She will be traveling with the church's youth group and we plan on following on our own and doing some sight seeing. Can anybody recommend a campground near Denver? I found Cherry Creek State Park on the state's website and that looks the best so far.

Thanks for the help and happy camping!

Al

[CastleRockCamper]

Al,
If you plan on attending any of the state parks surrounding Denver, you will need to make reservations at least 1 Month ahead. To get a good site make the reservation several months ahead as they fill up very quickly.

I have stayed at Cherry Creek.. It was nice, just crowded... Chatfield(Hosts an annual Hot Air Balloon Festival) is not much better.

I am not sure how far you would want to travel outside of Denver...Estes Park(Rocky Mountain National Forest) approx. 1 hour 30min... From Denver

HTH

[aldebnj]

We would like to stay pretty close to Denver and we will be coming from the east. By that point I will have driven from NJ to CO and will be pretty tired. However, I have heard the Rocky Mountain National Park is very nice and worth a visit.

Decisions, Decisions. Any recommendations in Estes Park?

Thanks!
Al

[hal]

Are you planning to stay in a Colorado State campground? Most do not have full hook-ups but include electrical, water and showers. A dump site is usually located at a remote edge of the campgound. Campgrounds that are convenient to the Arts Festival include Chatfield and Cherry Creek. They are about twenty minutes away from the Arts Festival. Boyd Lake is about an hour plus drive to the north of Denver. Both Chatfield and Cherry Creek have full hook-up which includes dumps at most sites.

You can get information at http://parks.state.co.us. Reservations can be made six months in advance and are a must as people the campgrounds will fill up quickly. Local campers know the best sites and they compete for them by being the first to reserve. Cherry Creek while being the nearest to your destination does not have many sites, expecially full hook ups. You can usually drop in to camp without difficulty during the week. But the full hook-ups (include dump on site now) are reserved early.

If you would like to stay in a privately owned campground, you will find Dakota Ridge to be extra nice and clean and with full hook-ups. Dakota ridge is located about 1/2+ hour to the west of Denver and near Golden. Sixth avenue would give you a straight shot from Dakota Ridge to the Festival.

There are many campgrounds in Estes Park. Elk Meadows is highly recommended. Travel distance to the Arts Festival may be 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Have fun and plan to stay a while. Maybe we can get together for a little camping. Anyone else care to camp?

Hal

[Roy Boy]

Gotta go to Golden Gate State Park.... about 15-20 miles west of Golden.

QUIET, beautiful, with first class facilities, and less than 1 hour from downtown Denver...