Estes Park Campground at East Portal

Excellent location from which to explore Rocky Mountain National Park and the greater Estes Park area. Sites are clean and well-maintained. There are a few full hook-up sites, RV sites with electric and water hookups, and tent-only sites. There is a dump station near the entrance that worked well, but it is directly adjacent to some campsites so be sure to be courteous.

This campground is for tents or for trailers 22' or less, and the sites are very close together so keep this in mind if you prefer more privacy. The playground appears to be fairly new and is very popular, so keep this in mind depending upon whether you need to be nearby for your kids or prefer to be a bit farther away from the sounds of kids playing.

The camp hosts were very friendly and knowledgeable about the area, and the camp store is well stocked with all of the essentials you might need. Of course, they also have ice and firewood for sale.

Despite some reviews, even with a cell booster, there is absolutely no service on Verizon here; T-Mobile service drifted in and out on a very weak signal from time to time, but voice service was acceptable closer to the entrance (in our site we could get voice service if we stood between our trailer and the bear box - YMMV). Since we work on the road and needed Internet, we went to the public library in Estes Park where they had excellent WiFI, lots of comfortable options for workspaces (including "study rooms" that were perfect for Zoom meetings), and a Starbucks right down the road.

Finally, if you like wildlife, you should be happy here! We saw elk and deer both within and on the outskirts of the campground several times.

Everything about this campground is wonderful. Our site was 38 which was quite large and right across from the bathroom, showers, and dishwashing station. I loved it because without hookups you the sewer you didn’t have to fill up your black tank. The hosts were so nice. Playground was brand new and my kids LOVED it. Very quiet and peaceful!

SIDE NOTE!!!!!!!

PLEASE KEEP FOOD LOCKED AWAY. They provide a bear box at each site and there were bears in my campground twice in 5 days. I don’t mind, but because people leave food out the bears keep coming. This particular bear has been tagged twice and the third time they are tagged for nuisance behavior they are euthanized!!!

We stayed four nights here and loved every minute of our time here. It’s outside of the hustle and bustle of the town and close to the entrance of RMNP. Our site 64 was beautiful with our views of the mountains all around us, deer visiting us each night, and ample space for our family. The campground hosts were very nice and helpful. We hope to visit again.

This is a wonderful campground! It is off the beaten path, away from the bustle of Estes Park. Each site had ample shade from large trees. Large sites, had spots designated for tents and some for RVs. Bathrooms were very clean and they had a small camp store where we checked in if you forgot supplies. They also sell local firewood right there. Very friendly staff. And, they have just a wonderful playground. It was brand new and the kids loved it. We usually prefer camping in smaller, remote places, so we were a bit worried this would be too much like an RV park, but we were very pleasantly surprised. It felt private and quiet. We woke up to find a large elk grazing right next to our site! We would definitely camp here again. Another bonus is there are hiking trails that lead right into the National Park just outside the camp entrance! Beautiful stream along the trail, lovely hike!

We wanted to get out of Denver, baby! Made two different reservations for the same campsite at different times, for a three night stay. The campground is run by the City of Estes Park, and I am totally impressed. When we got here, one of the hosts - Joe - blocked the road for us leading to our site and helped us get our little travel trailer lined up in the spot. He went above and beyond the call of duty, directing me so that I finally got everything completely lined up. Only gripe? The site isn’t exactly flat, which could be helped by bringing in more fill dirt. Our site, A39, has water and 20/30 amp electric. The small store at the check-in point is fully stocked with everything you’d need. Each site has a fire ring (they sell firewood), a picnic table, and a bear box. So far, the only negative is that slightly banked site, but I’m still giving this place a 5 star!

I'm so glad I found this place it's very close to Rocky Mountain national Park, from Site A64 you have a great view of it. We had Elk & Deer every evening before sunset graze behind the Trailer. There is a small lake there you can fish, and a great hike right from the campground by the lake along a river. This campground is for 22' or less but they do have a few larger ones you have to call. The campground hosts were great they gave us great information. There is no cell service but you can go up the street to one of the restaurants and use their WiFi if you sit inside and have a drink or eats. Great location we will return.

We loved staying at this facility. Although neighbors are on top of you, for the most part it’s quiet time at 10 pm, making night hikes to the side of the mountain so easy for a beautiful view of the night sky.

Newer showers lack spray to wash quickly. Older showers close to 37 have hottest water and powerful water spray. With thick hair, this matters a lot. :)

We had a blast here. All the camp host were extremely helpful and out-of-the-way nice to everyone.

I almost hated to write a good post because I don’t want this gem to get too popular.