By:
Submission
The Olive Ridge Campground is located within the Roosevelt National Forest, situated near the southeastern corner of Rocky Mountain National Park at an elevation of 8,350 feet. Recreation Olive Ridge is close to the Wild Basin area of the Rocky Mountain National Park. Several trailheads are in the area, including Wild Basin, Finch Lake and Sandbeach Lake trails. Popular activities include fishing, hiking and mountain climbing. Facilities There are 56 sites in the campground. Twenty six are suitable for RV camping and 30 are more suitable for tents. Tents must be confined to the provided tent pads (14'x16'). There is a maximum of eight people per single site. Sites #26 and #39 are oversized and will accommodate 10 people at an additional fee. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring or grill. Vault toilets, andd trash services are provided. Firewood is for sale in the campground. Natural Features This peaceful campground is heavily wooded with a mixture of ponderosa pine and aspen trees. The interior roads are gravel/dirt. Afternoon thunderstorms should be expected during the summer months. Nearby Attractions Rocky Mountain National Park's main entrance is 14 miles north of the campground, in Estes Park. With lush valleys and craggy peaks reaching elevations higher than 14,000 feet, visitors are provided opportunities for countless breathtaking experiences and adventures. Scenic driving, hiking, backpacking, fishing, horseback riding and wildlife viewing are popular activities in the park. Estes Park is a full-service community 15 miles from the campground. Dining, shopping, rafting, fly fishing, horseback riding and golfing opportunities await. Lake Estes offers boating, sailboarding and fishing. ADA Access: N
The campground is located on the west side of Colorado Highway 7, between Allenspark and Meeker Park at mile-marker 14. It is approximately six miles north of the intersection of Colorado Highways 7 and 72 (which is 21 miles west-north-west of Lyons), 15 miles south of Estes park, and 29 miles north of Nederland.
Great campsite if you’re camping earlier in the week! Saw a ton of wildlife and each site was somewhat secluded by trees and very spacious! Also can’t beat the price for being so close to Rocky Mountain National Park:)
No water was a bummer! Went for a first come fisrt serve and got the last spot available at around 7pm. Overall was a good stay but the restrooms are without water or hand sanitizer so gotta have your own. Gotta have cash too, $18.75 for a night.
First Come, First Served is NOT properly adhered to. Very misleading.
My family, including little children, were all packed up and ready to camp when we arrived on a Friday MORNING ( check-in is 2:00pm ) of Labor Day weekend. Despite that at least 10 campsites were completely empty and claimed to be "First Come, First Served", they had Reservation tags on the site post. Again , check-in supposed to be 2:00pm. No signs of life at these 10+ campsites, as we drove by one after another, ourselves fully prepared and ready to camp. It was upsetting to be prepared and yet see others whom weren't be granted "reserved" access to so many FCFS sites.
This is the consequence of allowing what should be called "In-Person Reservations", since it meant that people interested in camping AT SOME LATER TIME over the holiday weekend came by the camp in-person and effectively RESERVED one of the many so-called "First Come, First Served" campsites. Considering that people were allowed to stake claim to these FCFS sites before check-in time makes it clear that the camp host is effectively allowing reservations of FCFS sites.
Can you imagine if this is how restaurants, or anything else, treated First Come, First Served? Campgrounds, especially when in such high demand nowadays and over holiday weekends, should not treat it this way.
Unfortunately, Olive Ridge Campground does this to the extreme, leaving my fully prepared family out of luck despite being the ones to actually arrive first with our people and equipment, ready to camp.
I understand this kind of poor practice doesn't only apply to Olive Ridge, but for a place that claims to have a lot of "First Come, First Served" sites, it's very misleading and negatively impacts those of us who took the proper time to be amongst the first ready to camp. Spontaneity feels almost possible these days when people are being allowed to game the system. If they won't change their rules, then we're stuck joining the others in gaming the system, which sucks for everyone.
Super great place - I'm not a huge fan of camping but my family is. There's not water here which is a bummer and the bathrooms (or open holes) can be pretty rough at times. Otherwise everyone has been very kind, it's reasonable for $18.75 a night and while it's inconvenient to have to go out for any supplies it's not too awful far. You can get to Estes Park pretty quickly one way and Lyons the other.
Nestled high in the Rocky mountains near Wild Basin, it was a perfect home base for us to explore the surrounding area, especially wild basin. The restrooms were clean, the trees were tall, and the scent of pine permeated the air.. Rocky mountain high
