Rifle Gap State Park

We followed our RV GPS and arrived at the state park with no issues. Check in was quick and easy. We had to pay the $9 a day entry fee upon arrival and our rate doesn't reflect that fee. We proceed to Cottonwood Campground (CG) where we had back-in site 5 with water and 50 AMP. Back-in was easy and the sites in this small area are very nice with a covered patio and spacious spacing between sites, but no sewer. As we did not plan on using our poop tote, we used their restroom and shower house. Showers cost $1 for first 4 minutes then $.25 for additional minutes. Verizon signal was basically nonexistent. We did get some signal on AT&T, but only early mornings. Down at the park entrance/visitors center, you can get a decent Verizon signal. The reservoir was way down and not easily accessible from our CG, so we launched our kayak from the boat launch at the end of the park. The large Lake View CG up on the hill has FHU sites, but we really liked the quietness of the small Cottonwood loop with only 8 sites. There are other campground loop areas as well from FHUs to primitive. We enjoyed seeing deer everyday and the peacefulness as everyone camping at Cottonwood during our stay (that included Labor Day weekend) was quiet and respectful. There is a nice trail that goes up the hill near the restroom/bathhouse towards Lake View CG that winds back around and ends back at Cottonwood CG.

We followed our RV GPS and arrived at the state park with no issues. Check in was quick and easy. We had to pay the $9 a day entry fee upon arrival and our rate doesn't reflect that fee. We proceed to Cottonwood Campground (CG) where we had back-in site 5 with water and 50 AMP. Back-in was easy and the sites in this small area are very nice with a covered patio and spacious spacing between sites, but no sewer. As we did not plan on using our poop tote, we used their restroom and shower house. Showers cost $1 for first 4 minutes then $.25 for additional minutes. Verizon signal was basically nonexistent. We did get some signal on AT&T, but only early mornings. Down at the park entrance/visitors center, you can get a decent Verizon signal. The reservoir was way down and not easily accessible from our CG, so we launched our kayak from the boat launch at the end of the park. The large Lake View CG up on the hill has FHU sites, but we really liked the quietness of the small Cottonwood loop with only 8 sites. There are other campground loop areas as well from FHUs to primitive. We enjoyed seeing deer everyday and the peacefulness as everyone camping at Cottonwood during our stay (that included Labor Day weekend) was quiet and respectful. There is a nice trail that goes up the hill near the restroom/bathhouse towards Lake View CG that winds back around and ends back at Cottonwood CG.

The location is easy to access from I-70 via Rifle or Google maps sends you through New Castle if you're coming from the east. The New Castle route is a little concerning at night but fine during the day. It's very dark out here! We arrived at 9:30 pm on Labor Day weekend and had no issues getting into our site. We were in Lakeview site 11. The sites are well spaced and everyone was generally courteous but the whole place was packed this weekend.

The reservoir water level is unbelievably low. The situation was the same over at the Harvey Gap state park as well just down the road. We never bothered to go to the water and instead opted to hike at Harvey Gap to the waterfall which was dry or Rifle Falls which was incredible. If you have the time continue north up the 235 for more fun. If you have kids, the Fish Hatchery is cool and you can feed the fish for free. Beyond that is Rifle Mountain which is a very great rock climbing location or picnic location.

The town of Rifle was good. You should visit Colorado Sweetdough donuts and get donuts or their great breakfast burritos. We went to the town pool and my kids had a great time on the rock walls and diving board.

At the state park it seemed no one had cell service. I managed to get 30-40 Mbps down and 2-5 Mbps up on T-Mobile using a Nighthawk M1 LTE router and a directional antenna pointing north-west. It seemed others with T-Mobile on their phones weren't able to get service. Our phones are with Visible (Verizon) and they had no service.

The noise was minimal except a camper who was playing very quiet music but far too late. A number of people left their RV porch lights on which kills the dark sky. You could see an incredible number of stars at night which was fantastic. The bathrooms were clean flush toilets with showers. The water spigot at the site had great flow if you wanted to fill tanks before leaving. Always sanitize the hose bib before using it, I saw plenty of people flushing black tanks on Monday morning before leaving.

360 Photo of Lakeview Site 11
https://goo.gl/maps/kFuGiFZoQQ8HZf2QA

Rifle Falls down the street
https://goo.gl/maps/JEkyB3k9BkTiLohYA

This park used to be absolutely great because it had a beach and you could swim in the lake. With low water levels, the beach is useless. You can try and walk to the water, but you will sink deep in mud. Swimming is out, and that's very unfortunate. Park is very clean and quiet, and it still has nice views with the little water that is left. We stayed in Cottonwood 006 - used to be by the water, but the lake doesn't reach Cottonwood campground anymore.

We loved this park. The sites were super clean, manicured, well appointed. We were in Lakeview loop which is full hookups, all paved. The sites have a concrete pad perfectly level for rigs. Covered picnic tables. Some of the other loops have dirt roads. Lake was clean, friendly staff. Down side, there was a $9 per day use fee on top of the campsite fee which we didn’t think we would have to pay since we had a campsite. It was confusing on the self pay stand. So we went ahead and paid but not sure we needed to. Just wish we had know how nice it was as we would have planned to stay longer. There is also ATV access to BLM off one of the basic loops. Allows boating, fishing, skiing swimming.

This was just a quick stop overnight. The campground is approximately 13 miles from the interstate on a two-lane Road. When we got there the office was closed, but we had already made reservations online for our site. The campground is laid out well. I loved our site, #61. Had a great view of the lake. I felt like the spaces have a good amount of privacy. We weren’t far from the bathrooms. My husband used them and said they were nice and clean. Our spot was immaculate. We had only electric hook up, but that was all we needed! I feel like this was a sweet little gem off the interstate, kind of like a hidden oasis. I would definitely stay here again. We stayed overnight on October 1. The place was fairly full. Glad we had reservations. Yes, AT&T does not have any cell service there. I’m OK with that, as I like to get off grid and away from crowds! I did notice that they do have portable water and a dump station, too. We have a 25 foot travel trailer, and had no issues maneuvering it around.

The lake is beautiful and the place is well maintained. But, it’s mostly a parking lot. Not many trees or shade unless you’re under the awning. I felt like I was on top of everyone. In fairness, I usually boondock so I’m not used to these types of campsites. It’s probably good if you’re used to campgrounds with hookups and big RVs and amenities.