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With easy walking access to sport rock climbing routes in the popular Shelf Road Recreation Area, Sand Gulch Campground is a 17-site camping facility, open year-round. The campground is located 14 miles north of Cañon City at an approximate elevation of 6,400 feet and features spectacular views of the surrounding limestone cliffs.
Sand Gulch Campground offers sport climbers easy walk-in access to tall monolithic cliffs. Climbers can access Contest and Freeform Walls with bolted routes via the Sand Gulch trails. A variety of other recreation opportunities easily accessed from the campground include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding as well as 4wd routes. In addition to campsites, Sand Gulch Campground offers a small day-use parking area for recreationalists.
This 17-unit campground has 16 individual sites, one group site, and one vault toilet. The individual sites are limited to 2 vehicles and 8 people. The group site is limited to 4 vehicles and 20 people. Each campsite includes a parking space, a metal fire ring and picnic table. The sites are small and designed for tent-camping. Drinking water, electric hook-ups and trash service are not available at Sand Gulch Campground. Please bring your own water and firewood. Plan to take your trash with you when you leave.
Sand Gulch Campground and the surrounding area is well known amongst rock climbers and outdoor enthusiasts for the long bands of limestone cliffs dominating the landscape. Stunning rock features paired with the piñon pine and juniper vegetation, enhance the dramatic vistas and a picturesque camping environment.
The region around Shelf Road offers numerous attractions and recreation opportunities. Popular activities include visiting the Royal Gorge via the Royal Gorge Bridge, the Royal Gorge Train, hiking trails or a rafting trip with one of a number of river outfitters. The Arkansas River offers whitewater rafting as well as outstanding angling. There are numerous trails for all activities in the region as well as agricultural and heritage tours along the Gold Belt National Scenic Byway. The local communities offer a range of shopping and dining experiences.
Visit the Royal Gorge Region web page for more information about local attractions:
Explore - Royal Gorge Region: royalgorgeregion.com
From Highway 50 in Cañon City, Take Dozier Avenue north following it as it turns west. At the four-way stop sign turn right on Field Avenue and follow it north until it turns into CR 9. In approximately 10 miles, take a left turn at the sign for Sand Gulch Campground.
Individual Sites: $7 per night
Group sites: $14 per night
Love it here. Free range cows, beautiful scenery, easy access to hiking. But, just be prepared for one pit toilet, and packing your own garbage out.
@NoOverhead
Incredible place and wonderful memories made! Saw a man get so high on an edible that he Iced himself after bringing a case of Smirnoff’s finest into the camp. The campground was great, had amazing views, level ground for tents, and nice campfire rings. The pit toilet was clean and easy to get to from many campsites. Really loved having trails to Sand Gulch climbing areas from the campground so we didn’t have to worry about driving to trail access. The road into the campground was a bit rutted and bumpy, but not hard to navigate and fine for low sedans.
We really enjoyed this campground. Each site had a tent pad. The one for our site was behind some trees in the corner, so we didn't find it until after the first night. There were some cool trails that go up by the cliffs. There was also a pit toilet. The price per night was really reasonable, although you have to book online through recreation.gov
I'm not a rock climbing or into repelling but there are a lot of people doing just that in the beautiful cliff canyons. There's about 18 miles of jeep trails and more trails open to dirt bike, mountain bikes, hiking or horseback riding. There are a couple of camping areas too and I believe the cost is $14.00 per day. It's a nice area to check out.
We highly enjoyed this campground. Breathtaking views, clean campsites with fire rings, hiking trails, rock climbing galore and a vault toilet. And it was cost effective. My only complaint would be that the per night stay is $7...but then there was a $8 fee to book the site on Rec.gov. why not just make it $15 per night? Add on fees are frustrating.
