Saddlehorn Campground

Sandlehorn campground (Colorado National Monument)..June 8-10, 2020
I encourage anyone who is traveling around the United States or going on an extensive family vacation to invest in an annual national park pass. Most national parks charge between $25-$35, an annual pass $80 (its a no brainer)gets you into every National Park or Monument for one year!
plus, a campground inside of a national park usually has more spacing and, dude, you’re inside the National Park!
** Tbone camping scale: (0-10) “0”=horrendous “10”=phenomenal
—getting there: “3” (take the west entrance! Only 4 miles to campground, hug the yellow line going through the tunnels (only 10’3” clearance 2’ out from edge of road) the east entrance is 19miles on “white knuckle road”
— bugs: “9”(some ants, no bites)
— temps: “10”(day mid 80’s/night 60’s with breeze—slept like a baby, no AC)
—bathrooms: “7” (flush toilets, very clean, plenty of hand soap. no showers)
— yahoos: “9” (no one up past 9:30, no generators)
— supply access: “6”(Grand Junction 13 miles, Fruita-7miles)
—things to do: “7” (if you have a road bike this is the best 23 miles of scenery in America. Well over 20 miles of hiking trails. Every overlook is a photographer or artist dream.

• little gem: looking for a good way to cool off? Go to “the potholes” swimming hole see link: https://www.visitgrandjunction.com/blog/hidden-gems-miracle-rock-and-potholes

I wasn't quite prepared for this campground. I have a 3/4 ton diesel truck and a 28 foot travel trailer and I wouldn't want to come up with something much bigger. The road up is steep and windy and isn't for the faint of heart. The view from the top is just mind-blowing, and that's what you're paying for. Sites are just okay in terms of quality - no amenities at all in fall (in summer you can at least fill up with fresh water) and very un-level. None too big either, at least on the side of the road I was on (where you have the view). The view is really what you're paying for - and there's cell service up here! Wish I could have stayed longer but it was getting cold in mid-October.

Colorado National Monument is a true gem, just about 7 miles south of I-70 in Fruita, Colorado.

The Monument offers breathtaking views, fascinating geological formations, and awesome hiking and biking opportunities.

Saddlehorn campground offers the only RV and Trailer camping opportunity in the park. Tent campers are also welcome at Saddlehorn, but they can also obtain backcountry camping permits for hike-in camping.

The campground offers dry camping only, although the campground also offers shared amenities such as modern restrooms, and water (although you cannot fill your tanks from these spigots).

This campground is pretty tight with parking for RVs, trailers and other vehicles right on the campground loop roads. If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would have suggested Class A owners skip this campground, but we did see one Winnebago Brave in one of the campsites.

We originally had site 33 reserved, but that site had a SEVERE slope along two axes and we couldn’t get level in our small 25 foot coach. We would have had to stack LEGO blocks to over 10 levels high in order to come close to level .... and that just didn’t seem safe.

Consequently, we spoke to the ranger and she said they just had a cancellation at site 20 which she said was much more level. We were able to get set up in site 20 using only 4 levels of LEGO blocks under the front tires.

But, in my opinion, the views within the monument are why you come here, not the campground. If you are spending your days hiking, biking and taking in the natural beauty of the monument, you likely won’t even notice the shortcomings of the campground. The campsites are close together, there is limited privacy, and most all of the campsites have substantial slopes to them.

According to the Ranger on duty, the campsite is almost always at 100% capacity during the summer months, so you would be smart to go to RECREATION.GOV where you can reserve your campsite up to six months in advance of your arrival date. If you prefer to roll the dice with your vacation planning, there are 20 first come first served sites at this campground.

We had usable Verizon coverage in the campground at 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up.

We would definitely stay here again, but mostly for the beauty of the surrounding area, not so much for the campground itself.

We paid $11 with national parks annual pass, without pass it would have been $22. A loop and B loop allow trailers/RVs. C loop doesn’t allow generators so it was nice and quite. All sites seemed to have plenty of space and amazing views. Clean bathrooms with flushing toilets and running water. Cell service fluctuated between 4G/LTE and 3G. Close to Fruita and Grand Junction

Awesome scenery with spectacular views of the Grand Valley. The National Monument is small but very scenic with many hiking and bike trails. All needed services are only 4 miles away in Fruita which is becoming famous for its Mountain Bike trails. The closest dump station is at the Fruita Visitor Center which is free, including potable water. There is limited water at the campground and no way to fill an RV's holding tank.

Our site was level and afforded much privacy from neighboring campsites. The campground was clean and well maintained. We never saw a 'host' but didn't really need anything. We'd recommend this campground to anyone looking for a short or long term stay in this area.

The road to the campground from the west entrance is steep with many switchbacks but no problem. We didn't use the restrooms but they look clean and cared for.

We just finished a 3 week vacation road trip from Missouri all the way to California. This was our first night camping spot! Although I can see how it could get busy and basically on top of each other during peak times, it was very nice for us! We stayed on site 75 and the wash station was in between our site and the next. Definitely lots to do within the park as well! Park rangers in front was very nice and helpful! Also if you plan to visit more than 2 NP buy the annual pass for $80!!

I was very surprised when we drove thru this campground. We went to scout it first before possibly staying. It looks to be a well kept campground. My only complaint is the size of the sites. Even with our 24ft trailer tip to tail we would struggle to find a spot to fit. About 1000ft in elevation change from I-70. It's a beautiful climb up to the campground with two very large tunnels. If you are close to 24ft or bigger I highly recommend scouting the campground first.

Stayed here two nights in mid March 2018. Easy to find. Bathrooms were clean with actual flushable toilets. Check the official website to see what loops are open. In the off-season (now), only Loop A was open, which is first come first serve. Site 16 was flat and near the restroom. I just backed in with my truck (tent only). Some sites are pull through that could fit a smaller rig. When I arrived midday, there were only a few people but it started to fill up near the afternoon.

WATER IS ONLY AVAILABLE DURING THE SUMMER. I would assume there’s somewhere near the visitor center to get water but I can’t be positive since I had water with me already so didn’t need to fill up.

Great location because you’re near an end of Rim Rock Drive. Not many other camping options nearby unless you stay closer to Grand Junction

I stayed just one night at this campground in early November 2016 while headed west to Utah. The campground was really quiet with only a few other campers. I didn't see or hear anyone from my site - yay! I was camped in a tent. Many sites had vegetation between them adding some privacy. The weather was great, not too hot in the day not too cold at night. A beautiful place to watch the sunset and sunrise and many short hikes to see amazing overlooks just a short distance away.

Edit: I stayed here again in summer 2019 for several days. Again it was great! While other parks are packed this time of year, this one was still about half full. Nice and quiet with lovely clean bathrooms. It gets hot in the daytime but if you have some kind of awning it is OK in the shade.

Also check out the town of Fruita. Very cute! Grand Junction is a good place to stock up. And if you have a fear of scary cliffs or are driving a big rig you might want to enter the park from the Fruita side as the Grand Junction way is a longer and curvy drive.