Little Bear Campground

Exceptional campground with amazing views right on the lake. We pulled our 20’ toy hauler up here no problem. The bathrooms are super clean. No cell service except occasionally get a few bars near the lake. They do have 1 hose area where you can fill with water, just no dump site. Lots of firewood provided for reasonable price! We will be back for sure!

The wife and I typically have an unofficial “no paid campground” policy as we just love the remoteness, seclusion, raw beauty, and literal and figurative “freedom” of boondocking. Little Bear, however, embodies all the best organized camping for a fee. First off, the setting is quintessential, all American, “get away for the weekend”, gorgeous. On a crystal blue alpine lake, with towering pine covered hills all around. While the area was full, and sites were close together, it didn’t seem cramped or exposed in anyway. The sites are laid out in a way that maximizes privacy. The area is very obviously well maintained and pristinely clean. Firewood is available for purchase on site. And all the other campers just seemed very kind and respectful. The only downside are the mosquitoes. Lots and lots of mosquitoes.

The Grand Mesa is a very special place. It almost feels like the abundant lakes of Minnesota, meets the lush evergreen forests of Washington, and then are thrown on the top of the worlds largest flat top mountain. Definitely a “must explore” kind of place. 2 things to be aware of... did I mention the mosquitoes? And 2, you don’t really realize you’re close to 10,000 feet up here so you can get easily winded, easily drunk, and easily cold at night even in the middle of August.

We've camped here before and enjoyed it enough to come back. It's a smaller campground, managed by Recreation Resource Management and hosted by some great, friendly hosts. The restrooms were very clean with firewood for sale by the hosts, ($7 a bundle). There's a couple water taps but you need an anti-backflow valve to hook up a hose. There is no dump station anywhere near here. This campground is located on the south shore of Island Lake which is a beautiful Grand Mesa lake with tons of fish. There's the 'put-'n-take' 10"+ Rainbows, some Splake Trout, (hybrid lake and brookie) and I'm told cutthroats. We took and released many fish over 4 days of on again-off again fishing with a fly on a bubble. Blue Duns and Red or Yellow Humpies were good producers. Our campsite was not very private but very roomy and pretty near level for our travel trailer. There we a few mosquitoes but not too bad by Grand Mesa standards. We had good weather but most afternoons it would cloud up and rain and/or hail for a bit then clear off. Cobbett Lake near by was also full of fish that were not shy to the fly. This campground is located on a beautiful lake, one of 300 on the Grand Mesa. There's a ton of family activities in or nearby. Some very mild and or strenuous hiking trails that all begin around 10,000 in elevation. We saw many a paddle board on the lake as well as pretty much anything that would float. The area is busy on weekends but pretty quiet during the week. We'll be back for the fishing, biking, hiking and scenery.

Great first come campground. Our site and a number of others had views of the lake. We launched our kayaks and paddle board right below our site. Beautiful trail along the lake which connected to other trails. No AT&T or Verizon. About 4 miles away was the visitor center which had free WiFi. Lots of lakes for fishermen. Free campsite on the other side of the highway available but were occupied by off road vehicles and trailers. They were logging in one area of the Mesa taking out damaged trees.

We stayed the better part of a week at this beautiful Grand Mesa lake. This campground is right on Island Lake. The area is busy but remains very quiet except when the Hells Angels roar by on the nearby highway.

The lake is full of stocked fish and a special hybrid, Splake. We caught a few but most of the fish seemed to have an allergic reaction to the flies we brought with us.

At 10,000 feet in elevation Little Bear Campground remains warm in the daytime and cool to very cool at night. Our furnace kicked on a few times at night but we remained as snug as three bugs-in-a-rug inside our camper. (We don't miss our old tent much).

The Grand Mesa is a wonderful outdoor playground for all people who enjoy what God has created. Lakes, trails, 4X4 roads, campgrounds and wilderness all play a big part of the experience. Don't forget the mosquito repellent as many times I've had to put rocks in my pockets for ballast to avoid being carried aloft by the ravenous hordes of blood sucking insects.

We will make our trip to Island Lake an annual event, but maybe late August or September when the bugs freeze off.

The host was a great guy who was friendly, helpful and very courteous.