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Submission
In Nathrop, CO, at intersection of US Rt. 285 and County Rt. 162, take Rt. 162 west 8.2 miles to campground sign. Turn left into campground.
Beautiful campsite has it all. Stream, mountains, lake, hiking trail, ghost town nearby, and an amazing camp host!! On our list to come back to this one for sure.
We loved our stay here! The campground had stunning views all around and our campsite was very private compared to many others like 3-6 which were pretty close to each other. Our site was also creekside so we got to enjoy hearing the rushing water all day and night. It was so peaceful to sleep to at night! The bathrooms were very clean and had little smell which was nice! The host sold bundles of fire wood for $7 or 3 for $18. I suggest bringing change because everyone was just throwing $10-20s in the bucket and had no way to get change back. There was a very nice lake next to the campground where lots of people were fishing. We also had hummingbirds visit us at our site each morning! I would definitely come back to this spot!
During our stay: We unknowingly took a 2.5 hour hike up the mountain to the ghost town St Elmo (I thought it was going to be 30ish minutes since it’s only a 16 minute drive lol). Before we set out, I asked the camp host about walking to St Elmo and she made a big fuss about how we wouldn’t want to walk up the big hill but made no mention about the mega long walk. So her lack of information gave us a good laugh after we hiked all the mountain 😂 The walk up was super gorgeous either way and saw beautiful views and animals along the way so it all worked out! When we arrived to St Elmo we got to take a tour of a hotel from the 1880s, feed the chipmunks and see the hummingbirds. We hitch hiked on the way down with a super nice family and got back home in about 15 minutes. I highly recommend visiting the ghost town!
On the way back to Denver, we stopped at the Mt Princeton Resort and swam in their hot spring filled pools for $25 and soaked up the sun. It was glorious! It was also nice to use their shower after a weekend was camping.
This campground was amazing and really clean. We had spots 9 and 10 which are side by side tucked down in some trees right next to the stream. We stayed for 3 days and were able to enjoy plenty of fishing, hiking, and riding our ATVs. The old town of St. Elmo is about a 15-20 minute drive away and was very neat to walk to the old general store and feed the chipmunks. We had a 2yr old and a large dog with us and everyone we came across was extremely friendly. We went during the 3rd weekend of September and the Aspen trees are breathtaking.
This is a hidden gem. I loved going to this camp site. We were there and no other were due to so late in the season. We had the river sound the snow fell in the early morning and a deer just walks by us. The sites are well kept the small lake is just a walk away. So nice being warped by the large mountains around you.
