Grand Lake Colorado

[stargirl96]

We're interested in returning to Rocky Mountain National Park, but maybe staying in the Grand Lake area rather than Estes Park. Any recommendations on campgrounds in the Grand Lake area. I would love to stay in campgrounds inside the park but just can't see how dry camping would work for more than a night. We have a 29' class C motorhome with small tanks, especially gray water.

[fanrgs]

As a Colorado resident with a 5th wheel, I also prefer the "quieter" side of RMNP. Last fall, we stayed at the Stillwater cg for most of a week when the aspen were changing. We drove into the park every morning and afternoon for "golden hour" photos of the trees and scenery. But we have Federal senior passes, so there was no cost involved with our many visits. One night we had a very enjoyable dinner inside the park at the Grand Lake Lodge.

But I also have a personal reason for my preference for the west side over the east side of RMNP. I spent the entire summer of 1967 living in a government trailer and surveying USFS roads all over Middle Park. In fact, I was on the crew that surveyed the current road alignment into the Arapaho Bay campground and Monarch Lake. Unfortunately, with most of the lodgepoles cut down due to the bark beetle epidemic, that whole area looks very different today. But I still love to hike and fish at Monarch Lake--one of my favorite places in the state--just like I did 50 years ago!

[Lauren]

I am a former Estes Park resident. The west side has one advantage - it is less crowded. There is a reason.........90+% of all the activities, sights, ranger programs, visitor centers, etc. are on the east side. Which is about 40 miles over the top on Trail Ridge Road.

That is the choice you make.

[Thom02099]

The "quiet" side of the park is quite a bit different than that "other" side. In the Grand Lake area there are 2 commercial CG/RV Parks -- Winding River Resort, as previously mentioned and Elk Creek CG. Both are very nice, both are between town and the entrance to Rocky. Winding River, to me, seems a bit more spread out and diverse. The full hookup, big MoHo area seems to be more akin to what one expects, a few rows of RVs in a line. The other areas, with W/E and dry camping (yes, they offer dry), are interspersed in a couple different areas. They offer showers/laundry facilities and other activities on site.

There's Timber Creek inside RMNP. It's first come/first served, has paved roads and is a great place to stay for dry camping. Used to be in a stand of trees until the beetle kill came along. Lots of stumps and open areas, not a lot of shade, but then it doesn't get overly hot there either.

Besides Stillwater, there are several USFS CG south of Grand Lake, toward Granby. H E R E is a link to what you may want, consider the ones listed for Granby. Stillwater does offer W/E hookups, it's about 7 miles to the entrance to Rocky. Arapaho Bay is also nice, it's off the highway about 9 miles back, and more primitive. It could be a bit tight, however, for your rig. Check the other listings for Granby to see what could work for you, if you want to consider this option.

There's also YMCA of the Rockies/Snow Mountain Ranch CG, which is listed under Granby, but is actually between there and Winter Park, closer to Tabernash. It's a wonderful place to stay, they have FHU at their CG. Only problem is it's really hard to navigate their website, as it gives a lot of information on the EAST side in Estes Park. the CG is listed under lodging and you have to use multiple pull downs to get to the info you want. Just another place to consider, though.

[Ivylog]

We love Grand Lake and usually stay at USFS campground Stillwater a little south of town. The Forest service recently built a new campground a couple miles inside the park entrance at Grand lake. It's in an area where the pine beetle killed all the trees BUT even at 29' I doubt you will find a site big enough to fit in as they put rocks at the back of the sites for no reason other than to limit the length of the sites. The bathhouse for the tent area is over 1/4 mile away from it in the middle of the RV section. Unbelievable how stupid the layout is in this day and age.

I agree with the above post that with a little education you should be able to go two or three days before the gray tank is full.

[Son_of_Norway]

We stayed at Winding River Resort last summer. We don't usually stay at RV parks, but we really enjoyed our stay there. I would highly recommend it.

[2gypsies1]

stargirl96 wrote:
I would love to stay in campgrounds inside the park but just can't see how dry camping would work for more than a night. We have a 29' class C motorhome with small tanks, especially gray water.

Are you towing a car or driving the RV for siteseeing? If just driving the RV you can stop at any dump station in the park and dump your tanks then you'll be set for another night.

However, I would guess you could go longer than one night with a 29'. How big are your tanks? Do you know how to conserve?

You don't have to do dishes every day... use paper plates, cook simply and even wipe out your pots with a damp paper towel and reuse them. Some national park campgrounds have a kitchen sink area attached to the restrooms. Do your dishes there.

Hand washing/teeth brushing - don't let the water run.

Showers: while waiting for the water to be the right temperature, catch that water and use it for other uses instead of letting it go down the drain; then a quick wet down, turn off the water, soap up, rinse quickly. Do you really need a shower every day? Use some body wipes inbetween.

I think you'd be surprised how you can get by with a much smaller amount of water usage.

[pconroy328]

We stayed at Green Ridge once. While I thought the campground was nice, it was extremely crowded. I'm also not sure when you're coming but odds are those campgrounds will fill up very quickly.