Arapaho Bay Big Rock Loop Campground

This was my second time at Big Creek in early October. Even though Recreation.gov showed other USFS campgrounds as operational, Big Creek was the only one that was actually open. There were only about 4 or 5 other campers there. This campground has a good mix of trees and sky- we like shade but solar is important. There was no water, but we’re always prepared for that. The pit toilets were clean. Since there was rain/sleet predicted, we decided to go south. Hiked around Monarch Lake and said goodbye to Big Creek.

We stayed in the Big Loop at site 019. $25/night w/$8 reservation fee. The photo on rec.gov for the site is not the 019 site (just fyi). Beautiful area, nice, clean, well kept sites. The bathrooms were beautifully maintained. The host is definitely attentive and very clean. Nice and quiet. There are food lockers, a firepit, and a picnic table at each site. Water onsite. If you forget or run out of firewood the host has some ($9 a bundle!). There is great fishing, paddle boarding, kayaking, boating, hiking, etc. in this area with several lakes around you. T-Mobile, no service at the site itself but up the road a bit there is. Verizon, teeny bit of service but def not reliable.

Big Rock appears to be the overflow loop from the other two loops nearer the water - Roaring Fork and Moraine. Roaring Fork, particularly, has a handful of high-demand sites that are right on the lake but both offer a number of tent-only sites that are very nice. Big Rock is a shady loop without any water view and just a little vegetation separating the sites; it is not a good loop for solar. My experience is that you get shade or separation - either big trees, open sites and a lot of shade, or small trees with a lot of vegetation that visually separates sites - this is in the first category.

We came to it on a rainy late August day and all of the no-shows make it a very quiet campground. There is nothing wrong with this campground which is FS standard, but on the other hand I would not call it a destination. The other two loops are the real reason to come here but those choice waterfront sites are booked wall-to-wall. The rates reflects the 50% pass discount - normal rate is $25 per might.

This campground is 8 miles down a slightly washboard-y road off Highway 34 and is 35-40 minutes from the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The road wasn't a problem for our 23' trailer and shouldn't be a problem for any rig. The campground itself has more shade than we anticipated and we had some trouble getting enough sunlight for our solar panels, but the campground host Paula came to the rescue. She is very friendly and ready to lend a helping hand to everyone. She let us borrow her generator all day to recharge the batteries. I want to give a big shout-out to Paula for saving the day with a smile.

There are some classic hikes in the immediate area, including Roaring Forks, Monarch Lake, and all the hikes around the lake. We stayed in late September after the water was turned off for the season but we were able to fill our water bladder from the RV dump in Granby (about 20 minutes away.) The campground is very quiet at night and you can spend days hiking in this gorgeous area.

I would definitely stay here again, especially in the fall. There are closer campgrounds to the national park but it is harder to snag a reservation in those campgrounds.

I really liked camping here, but unless you luck out/plan months ahead of time and reserve the more secluded sites, I would not recommend it. This camping area has all the amenities- bathrooms, firewood, water spickets- so as a result, it’s innundiated with families and loud children. Most campsites are all within 5-10 feet of each other, we went a few weekends after Memorial Day and the amount of trash and broken bottles still around was despicable. I guess this is fine for people looking for easy camping spots and don’t care about crowds, or a good “beginning” of season spot to shake off the rust, but otherwise it’s not worth it in my opinion.