Rainbow Lakes Campground

Okay. So this place, once you get there, is GORGEOUS. Hands down the most beautiful, pristine place I've ever slept. That being said we had a few hiccups that were newbie mistakes (i.e. our own issues, not that of the site), and I'll list them below so you don't do the same.

Pros: beautiful nature. Our site was separate enough from others to feel alone (also a con for me - see below). Running water from a nearby stream could be heard from our site, and the bathroom (vault toilet) was easily accessible and clean. Camp host was friendly, and sold water and firewood on site. Very close to Nederland - an adorable town with all basic necessities as well as some cute shops and restaurants. Loved Nederland.

Cons: Removed one star for the sheer craziness of the drive in. 5 miles of horrific bumps. We were scared, more than once, that we lost the PUP. We drove approximately 2 MPH (not exaggerating) in and out. Now. Other than the "road" in... most of these are on me/us. But here you go. 1. The campground is around 10,000 feet of elevation. I had altitude sickness. Bad. I felt fine, then gave my daughter a piggyback ride, then thought I was going to vomit FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS. My only relief was going down into Nederland (around 8,000 feet). Be prepared if you're not used to the mountains. 2. It was the middle of July, but at night it got below freezing. There is no electricity - complete dry camping at all sites - meaning no heat. We were not prepared. Be prepared. Hats and blankets. 3. And lastly. We were new to the mountains (get that yet?) and I knew there might be bears. Our camp host came to welcome us and I asked him what to do if we saw one (after putting everything we own into the bear box on site). He said a bear had been there the night before. Digging into someone's cooler. But that they were like big raccoons - just yell and shine a light and they'll leave. What we really needed to worry about were the Elk. Those are aggressive and will chase you/your children. I spent the entire first night freezing into an ice cube and thinking every gust of wind (it's windy... top of mountain...) was a bear sniffing our zippers, come to eat my children.

Am I fully aware of the fact that I was (probably) overreacting? Yes. Was this site absolutely beautiful? Yes. Would my hubby move there if he could? Yes. Would I? Probably not. Assuming you go prepared and can rationalize the bear fear - this is an excellent campground.

We have a off road Ford Escape SE Sport Appearance Package 4WD. Sinc it has 4 wheel drive it should have a smooth ride. The road is very rough like a tank went over it. The only down side to this place is the life and death issue with 0 cellular service from Xfinity Mobile, Visible, or Verizon and ATT in car wifi 0 services. Having cellular service and data is a human rights issue that needs to be addressed. This is not ok in this day and age!! Make cellular great again. 1 star review because of no cellular service

Rainbow lakes is a pretty campground but is difficult to get to. The road in is 5 mile dirt road riddled with very deep potholes. Most people were tent camping; we stayed in site 12 with our 12' converted cargo hauler. One person brought in a 20' rig; I cannot imagine getting up the road with anything larger than ours.

All the sites except for...I think it was site 6 had good shade. Site 12, where we were, was pretty quiet because it was set back a bit but some of the lower campgrounds (single digit) are closer together and there was one really loud group that definitely had exceeded capacity. The camp host was nice but isn't on site due to a bear-break in so he wasn't much help with the overly loud group. High elevation can also mean some pretty intense wind.

No water and reasonably clean vault toilets.

The site is an an excellent starting place for hiking to the pretty Rainbow Lakes (short and not terribly difficult) and Arapahoe Glacier and Pass (long and hard). The latter hike is one of the most breathtaking I've done in CO but its 12 miles total.