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Blanco River Group Campground is located four miles off U.S. Highway 84, on Forest Road 656. It is about 15 miles southeast of Pagosa Springs, on the Blanco River. The campground is a convenient stopping point between the towns of Chama, N.M., and Pagosa Springs, Colo. Secluded and quiet, the campgound is an ideal place for family and friends to gather.
The Blanco River can be accessed from the campground, offering good fishing. Anglers cast for stocked trout on the lightly fished waterway.
A volleyball court is located within the campground, but campers must bring their own net and ball.
The campground offers one group site that is made up of several single campsites. They must be reserved at the same time for group use. Four parking spurs are suitable for large RVs and ample space is available for tents. The campground is equipped with three picnic areas with large tables, vault toilets and drinking water.
The campground is situated on the banks of the Blanco River, surrounded by ponderosa pine and cottonwoods. The trees offer shade, but the area is quite warm during the summer months. The riparian environment is fairly level with a few adjacent grassy meadows.
Three nearby trails access the roadless area to the east of the campground. The Navajo Peak Trail and V-Rock Trail can be reached from the Buckles Lake Road (Forest Road 663), which is located about seven miles south of the campground via Highway 84. The Blanco Basin Road (Forest Road 657) accesses the Leche Creek Trail.
Group Sites
Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee.
No-Shows
A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.
No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.
Refunds
Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended.
Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay.
For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive.
In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
From Pagosa Springs, Colorado, travel 13 miles south on Highway 84, then turn east on Forest Road 656 for approximately two miles.
Our favorite campground so far. Lot of space, the river right next to it, and amazingly beautiful.
Had our parents 50th anniversary here with family. Plenty of space, right next to the river.
Private and peaceful!
Been coming here for YEARS! The only problem....it's getting too popular and hard to get reserved, LOL. Sometimes people walk in just to look around without reading the signs at the gate but not too bad. Last year had most of our grown kids and grandkids there. Year before, just me, the wife and the dog for 11 nights. It was awesome. A little pricey if you're footing the whole bill for the campground but worth it.
We camp in Pagosa Springs every summer and this is our favorite Campground. We reserve it months in advance. It is a large family campground and we usually camp with several other families. We love this Campground for a number of reasons.
1. the Blanco river runs alongside it. The river is not so big that you can't get in and swim and play and we spend so much time playing in the river while we are camping there. The sound of the Rushing Water is so soothing at night and the river is truly beautiful.
2. There are Vault toilets. They are kept clean and well maintained and stocked. Because this is a group Campground and you reserve the entire thing, you and your group are the only ones using the toilets. You get them all to yourself which is really nice!
3. The other amenities are awesome. The built-in picnic tables, fire rings, drinking water pump, volleyball poles, frisbee golf nets, horseshoe ring, there's so much to do at this Campground! There is also a large grassy area in the center of the campground with lots of room to play. This Campground can accommodate up to 100 people so when we came with our 40 people it felt spacious with plenty of room for everybody.
4. This Campground is very private. The forest Service Roads that you take to the campground does not have anything else along it. No other campgrounds no turn offs. The road only goes to the campground and then to private property Beyond. The road is fenced shortly after the campground so there really is no traffic going by. We did see a couple of other hikers but really those were the only people we saw while we were camping there for 4 days. We saw a lot more cows than we did people! Something that I don't like when we camp in other places are other campers with all-terrain vehicles and quads zooming past the campground all day long kicking up the dust. This Campground has absolutely zero of that. The only noise and dust you will have to deal with is your own. We took a little hike about a mile farther down the road and there is an old abandoned historic Homestead with an old cabin. Pretty neat to explore!
