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Avalanche Campground has 6 first-come first-serve campsites. It is located adjacent to Avalanche Creek. Fishing is available in Avalanche Creek and in the Crystal River, which is 3 miles downstream. One of the major trailheads into the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness is located adjacent to the campground.
From Redstone, CO, take State Rt. 113 north 5.2 miles to Avalanche Creek sign (may be hidden by tall grass), just past Avalanche Ranch. Turn right, fording Crystal River, onto Forest Rt. 310 (single lane with no turnouts, dirt road) and go 2.3 miles to campground.
Beautiful location right by the creek. Newly rebuild campsites with good picnic tables, bear boxes, and tent pads. Great for tent camping!
Awesome place to camp and hike. Pretty popular as people come through to hike the nearby trails, but the camping is perfect and right next to the river. Facilities are well kept and the host was very nice. I will definitely come back again!
We had the campground to ourselves when we came, so it was very quiet and relaxing here. The only wildlife we saw were a couple birds, some squirrels and a chipmunk. A few of the camp areas were unlevel but most can accommodate a big tent. There are fire rings and tables at each site and the restrooms aren't too far from any of the sites. A warning though-the road in is very Rocky, not recommend for cars or fancy vehicles, the road is only wide enough for 1 car at a time in most places, great care should be used!
Great campsite close to Redstone and Carbondale. Little access points to Avalanche creek but was running very fast right now so unable to fish. Good access points about a mile into Avalanche lake hike. Be mindful that road in is slightly rough and we were stuck for 24 hrs due to heavy rainfall washing out the road, so if rain in forecast just be prepared. Plenty to do in area if stuck but make sure you have enough food and water. Local told us some times it takes 1 to 3 days to be fixed depending on who is available to fix. We had a great time.
Amazing area! Whole crystal river valley rocks! Beware that trail is ONLY maintained to Hell Roaring Creek about 2.2 miles in and very pretty.
UNMAINTAINED/OVERGROWN TRAIL AFTERWARDS! ALL SIDE TRAILS ID IMAGINE ARE UNMAINTAINED TO NON-EXISTENT - EXPERIENCED BACKPACKERS ONLY FOR SAFETY! Hell Roaring Trail heard mixed reviews, near 4,000 ft elevation up from Av Creek Tr.
At Gift Creek (6ish miles in) are 100+ downed trees with 5-10 tricky tree crossings and on switchbacks if backpacking or equestrian. I backpacked down from Capital Lake to Avalache Lake then down to Av TH/CG. I have bumps, bruises, scrapes and low morale going from Av Lake to Gift Creek section.
Heard a story that the Equestrian group from Carbondale made it up to the Lake and one of their horses got scraped/injured due to terrain/downed tree obstacles. That same horse group unfortunately left trash in their fire ring and horse poop all over a nice campsite which i cleaned up! Please pack out/leave no trace, despite how low morale is.
If it's raining or has in the last 24 hours the dirt road up to the trailhead will be ragged and rough, requiring 4WD high clearance! No trailers of any kind recommended as this also ford's a creek and isn't enough room to pass one another.
