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Portal Campground is located eleven miles southeast of Aspen on Independence Pass Road and seven miles south on Lincoln Creek Road at an elevation of 9,400'. Campers can access some wonderful day hikes from this location as well as terrain for motorcycle riding, mountain biking, ATV riding, fishing and horseback riding, among other recreation activities. Portal Campground has 5 campsites with limited spurs. 5 day stay limit. High clearance vehicles are required and 4x4 recommended.
From Aspen, Colorado travel eleven miles southeast on Highway 82 toward Independence Pass to Lincoln Creek Road. Turn right and travel seven miles south on Lincoln Creek Road.
CAUTION: high clearance vehicles recommended for Lincoln Creek Road.
WARNING: No vehicles over 35 feet long are allowed on Highway 82 to access this campground
No Reservations. First-Come, First-Serve Camping.
One of my favorite places to camp off of Independence Pass, however you will need high clearance and 4WD. Campground is free (donations appreciated) and right on the Reservoir. Bring a paddleboard or kayak.
This site was great. There were 7 sites available. We drove up early morning of 17th of June. The need for a high clearance vehicle with 4x4 is seriously recommended. The drive itself its quite beautiful along the Lincoln Creek Rd. There are 22 free sites along that road on your way to Portal as well. Once you see the buildings there by the side of the Grizzly Reservoir you are pretty much there.
It had 7 sites all with their different perks. Some closer to the Reservoir some closer to the creek, some well shaded areas, some in between. Either way we had a great 3 night stay at the 5th site. Right next to the creek, clear view of the Reservoir and a great spot for the tent in a semi circle of trees.
Just back down the road a bit is the trail head for the Grizzly Lake trail which we hiked for a few hours til we got to the snow line before turning back. All in all a very fantastically beautiful area and I would go back there again sometime.
Vault toilets were as one would expect.
Mosquito situation this trip and time of the year was pretty non existent.
Remember sunscreen! You will burn and burn fast in the sun up there.
Portal campground is awesome. Sits next to Grizzly reservoir. Free, but donations are appreciated for the volunteers who maintain it. There is a limited number of spaces (7 or 8) and they go fast on weekends. The road to it along Lincoln Creek is 6 miles of dirt, gravel, and rock. Rough is an understatement, but it is totally worth it.
We visited in July 2019. There are less than 10 sites (6?), It's about $20, bear lockers are at each site, there are vaulted toilets and no cell service. It's nicely situated on the lake and had good tree cover. The road recommends 4WD I would recommend having an SUV or at least good clearance truck if you plan on coming here. We had no issues in our stock Subaru Outback.
