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Open year-round; visitors come for the spectacular rock climbing adjacent to the campground. Approximately 15 miles north of Cañon City, Colorado, The Bank Campground overlooks Shelf Road and is located at an approximate elevation of 6890 feet. The Bank has 33 campsites. The dirt road leading to the campground is very rough and not recommended for large RVs and travel trailers.
The Bank Campground offers easy access to the popular rock climbing area, Shelf Road. Climbers can access nearly 1000 bolted routes via the Cactus Cliff and Dark Side 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, The Bank Campground offers a day-use parking area for recreationalists.
The dirt road leading to The Bank campground is steep and rough. This 33-site campground was recently renovated and has 31 individual sites, 2 group sites, and 4 vault toilets. The individual sites are limited to 2 vehicles and 8 people. Group sites are limited to 4 vehicles and 20 people. Each campsite includes a parking space, a metal fire ring and a picnic table. The sites are small and designed for tent-camping. Large camp trailers and RVs are not advised. Drinking water, electric hook-ups and trash service are not available at The Bank Campground so please bring your own water and plan to take your trash with you when you leave. Bring your own firewood.
The Bank 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, continue straight and follow the sign for The Bank Campground. Campground is located approximately 1 mile up the rough dirt road.
Individual Sites: $7 per night
Group sites: $14 per night
Not much to say other than you won’t be disappointed. Love this campground and the climbing at Shelf.
It's a beautiful high desert campgrounds with views in every direction. Vault bathrooms are clean and close by. Great hiking and as I hear it superb rock climbing.Very quiet at night. We'll be back ...
Thank you for fixing the road into the campground, it is wonderful! We have stayed at this campground several times , love the beauty and QUIET of this place. Not this time 9-21 to the 23rd. Friday night there was a very loud group of people up until after 12, and that night someone had to make themselves proud by carving "Gay RIght's" in the metal door of the first bathroom. Such a shame to destroy public property!
Amazing views from the A-Loop campsites but the Biting Flies were as thick as... flies. (The Gnats were incessant too.) So essentially, it made the time from mid-day till 7pm really difficult to enjoy there in the campground. For our next two days, we made sure to be gone by then. We had stayed in sand gulch just down the road, over Labor Day and had problems with the flies also but we're hoping that they wouldn't be as bad earlier in the summer. We were wrong.
We stayed in site A2 which was a decent site and convenient to one of the vault toilets. Not a lot of privacy as site A1 shared the same general area for its picnic table and fire ring as our site did.
Another key thing to know is that the majority of the tent pads in the A loop are 9' square, which is smaller than normal in Colorado. There was no way we were going to be able to fit our hexagonal shaped tent on that tent pad. So we had to find some open space and that was still difficult to work with because there are a lot of rough, unevenly shaped rocks embedded in the ground all over the campsite which we couldn't avoid.
Overall well-maintained site and convenient for those who like making reservations. Our campsite was on an edge of a cliff, too close to a drop-off with no warning signs or fences - could be dangerous at night, especially for dogs. The ground was rocky with shallow layers of dirt (at least at Campsite 1), making it difficult to stake our tent on the ground in multiple spots. We camped late summer and there were lots of ants and large cacti - fine for us but wanted to share that info especially for those who have allergic reaction to ant bites. Great location if you plan to camp for Shelf Rd climbing. There are multiple public vault restrooms stocked with toilet paper. Beautiful scenery. Nice area for stargazing.
