Moraine Park Campground

Place Of Sheer Beauty But……….it only gets 4 stars because of the price for services ! First off, As others said I think it’s unreasonable or rather ridiculous to up the nightly charge from $20 a night to $30 a night in the “winter” season, which just happened to be the night we arrived October 12… I mean you’re charging people more for less services . Next day they cut the water and closed the dump… now if anything they should charge LESS not more, shame. The sites here are challenging to say the least..yes it a beautiful and great location but man the sites are not for beginners for sure, I saw few that just couldn’t work themselves into the site and decided to just give up and move on. They could def move few rocks and wood parking poles around and give much better access to park at your site. That’s the reason I’m my 4 stars. But soo beautiful and peaceful and saw a family of elk just chillin in the field across our site #8. Had an amazing bike ride from there all the way to the Bear Lake I say AMAZING! Oh and yeah I was jumping for joy cause we had cell service lol

We camped here in our camper van. The reservation window had ended so it was first come first served. With only loop b open it filled up very quickly. Easily before noon. There didn't seem to be any ranger patrolling the campground or available for help or questions. The reservation system is self-register. They never put out a full sign, so people drove through the campground all evening and into the night that we're looking for an open spot. The dump station was closed and we didn't find potable water available. Convenient location but we expected a bit more especially for the $30 per night charge with no hookups.

This campground has a great location in the park and it's only 15 minutes from Estes Park.

The NPS has locked this place down like Fort Knox. You have to go through the main entry station, a secondary bear lake road entry station, and the campground entry station to get in to the park. This can take a considerable amount of time despite the short distance.

Our site was a pull-through in loop A. There was plenty of room for our 30 foot rig. It was very unlevel front to back at 5 degrees or 30 inches. There's a reasonable amount of room between sites. Views were good. The site wasn't great for solar with decent shade.

Potable water is available at spigots around the park and an RV fill is available at the dump station. The dump station is tiny with room for maybe 2 rigs at a time.

ATT service was excellent with a roof mounted Pepwave antenna. We got 35mbps down and 14 up. The regular 5G service in Estes Park is absolute trash - barely usuable because of congestion

Got lucky with a last-minute spot in Moraine Park while we were visiting RMNP. My AT&T hotspot got, no joke, up to 60Mbps download speeds here. The D-loop is closed to campers but was great for scenic dog walking around the campground. We saw one elk in the early morning; he is allegedly famous and named Bruno according to a campground neighbor. Loved that there were shower stalls for bringing your own solar bag setup, though we did not use them.

The best things about this campground are…views and location. Staying inside the park, specifically at this campground, negates the need to obtain a daily entry pass for the Bear Lake corridor of Rocky Mountain National Park. Bear Lake is highly desirable due to the popular trails and stunning scenery of the area. Parking fills up quickly during the summer months and staying at Moraine Park Campground puts you a short, scenic drive from this coveted location. It’s also very near Estes Park, the hub for dining, shopping and necessities such as gas. Note that there can be long wait times to enter the park through this entrance during peak season and a secondary wait to enter the Bear Lake Corridor, as this is another checkpoint.

In my opinion, this campground needs multiple upgrades to accommodate the volume of visitors. To begin, many sites are uneven and need improvement. My site was severely slanted and had an unavoidable washout through the middle, making parking and leveling the trailer a bit tricky. Some loops have only a few pit toilets, while others have running water/flush toilets and wash water disposal sinks. Potable water spigots are not always located near the bathrooms, which is inconvenient. There are two “solar shower” locations with two stalls each for the entire campground. Only one of these has accessible parking; the other requires that you park and walk a distance with your water, change of clothing and shower items. None of these are deal breakers, but other national park campgrounds are better organized.

On a positive note, the sunrise view from my loop was beautiful and the nights were quiet. Drive up the nearby Old Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitor’s Center. Look for moose and sheep in the viewing area along route 34 (Trail Ridge Road) to Estes Park. Simply enjoy the scenery - Rocky Mountain is a fabulous national park!

We spent five nights here in July 2021. Many of the sites were closed, so it felt very uncrowded. One bathroom could get a little dirty from use, but it was cleaned every day. Deer wandered through our campsite and elk wandered past the campground. We did not need timed entry for Bear Lake Corridor and could use the shuttle service to get to our desired hikes or visit the rest of the park.

Large sites with provided fire rings, and on select sites there were bear boxes (most sites but not all, no idea how to check which have them/don’t have them). Very large campground (250+ sites) but the sites are split up pretty well to maintain a little bit of privacy. Bathrooms are a bit small for how large the campground is. I would say the bathrooms were decently maintained. A dish washing sink outside the bathrooms. One dump station and multiple fresh water spouts around the campground. Solar showers (no bags provided). The wildlife seemed to wonder through the campground quite a bit as well.

Walk-in tent site, about 150’ from parking but enough to give decent distance from other sites. Views blocked by some beautiful trees, but easy walk down towards the meadow for the full view, we brought our chairs down and watched the sunset each evening. The boys fished each morning and evening further down the meadow, in the Big Thompson. A few elk in the meadow, and a doe and her fawns visited each evening. Bear scat on the trail to the site. A shuttle goes from the campground to the park and ride for bear lake area, easy to use. Only complaint was the vault toilets.....some of the worst I’ve been to, needed to be cleaned! All in all, a wonderful 3 days.

I love staying in National Park Campgrounds and this one is no exception. Sure, there are no hookups or showers (solar shower stall only) here, but it is totally worth it to be in the park! We had an incredible view from our site and enjoyed sitting outside listening to the nearby elk. You can also walk to the shuttle from the campground which will be crucial once the crowds really start to arrive. Our site had incredible views and we couldn’t be happier with it! There are many many trails to explore in the park. We did our best (loved the hike to Emerald Lake even though it was busy!), but couldn’t do as much as planned due to all of the snow - even though it was the first day of summer!! Luckily Trail Ridge Road was open so we could drive that. I highly recommend it!