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Submission
In Crested Butte, CO, at the intersection of State Rt. 135 and Whiterock Ave., take Whiterock Ave. (which becomes County Rt. 12 at the edge of town) west and go 6.9 miles to campground and Forest Rt. 826 signs. Bear right at signs onto Rt. 826 and go 2.6 miles to campground.
Location is beautiful and isolated. Only about 32 sites. The only reason is not getting 5 stars is because there is no water or dump station. Crested Butte water management offers a paid dump station in town which is only 10-15 mins away.
This place is first come first serve camping (as of July 2020) and finding a spot during the week after 4th of July was pretty hard. We were lucky and scored one of the last spots at noon right after someone left. Prices are $18 a night, cash only, and have access to a fire ring, picknick table, and pit toilets. Camp host had firewood for $7.
Lake access is only a short walk away but it does get really busy with day use people.
This was a beautiful spot but compaired to other colorado campgrounds this one needs some updating with the bathrooms, as the women’s felt like you were about to fall through the floor. We were unfortunately next to 3 dumpsters and all were overflowing, so just be aware it’s not the sexiest spot but the lake makes up for it.
We took a nice hike around the lake and then proceeded to break out the paddle board. There is plenty of place around the lake to setup a day camp. The scenery is magnificent. It was a wonderful day on and around the lake.
Incredible location far away from even the small town of Crested Butte. We loved it all HOWEVER there was a large bear within 300 yards of the campground and we backed off after it grunted for us to stay away. Then on our way back we saw a large deer killed by that bear or a cat the night before. The camp manager was very responsible and warned everyone to bring food in and be in the lookout. The bathrooms were super clean and we loved the people.
