sara_m

We're planning a car camping trip from Missouri in July with our three kiddos ages 4, 7, and 9. We've camped rather extensively in the southwest (we used to live there), but need some recommendations for Colorado as it will likely be a bit closer for us coming from the East. Ideally, we'd stay in the less-expensive, and much nicer campgrounds of a National Forest and do day trips to State or Federal Parks. We can be gone as long as 14 days, so we have some flexibility, though less driving is always preferable to more driving Any ideas would be welcome!

lindagj

I will check some of my notes later and get back to you.

PaulRabe

The best place to start to look for campgrounds is

www.Woodalls.com

Completely free search of thousands of campgrounds, both public and private. You begin your search by specifying a city and state, and you can then filter out campgrounds based on amenities, user ratings, and distance from the city. You can view your results as a list or on a map.

WhereAreWe

I can only speak to the campground in Rocky Mountain National Park. They are $20/night for a tent site...and the closest national forest campground that I'm aware of is Olive Ridge which costs $19/night. It's not worth saving a dollar when you factor in the price of gas to go back and forth. I don't think Olive Ridge would be classified as much nicer than any of the campgrounds in RMNP either, so if you plan on visiting the national park you are best off to stay in the park.

I did stay in a forest service campground near Colorado State Forest State Park a couple years ago. It was cheap but ugly and had basically no amenities or views. I just wanted a place to sleep so it worked but for a real camping trip I wouldn't stay there again.

Connie

Rocky Mountain National Park--You can get showers at Dad's Laundry in the strip mall close to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

Mueller State Park for Colorado Springs (good place to visit with children). Very nice facilities. Great view of Pike's Peak (a must do either by car or cog railway.

Ouray/Silverton/Telluride/Black Canyon of Gunnison N.P. area--Ridgeway State Park--great facilities and swim beach. If you prefer national forest service campgrounds--Amphitheater in Ouray or South Mineral, a few miles NW of Silverton. Silver Jack, NE of Ouray gets good reviews. It's further off the highways than the others. True Grit (the original) was filmed in this area, including Ridgeway.

Ridgeway and Mueller State Parks are two of the most popular state parks in the state so get reservations early.