Colorado Parks and Wildlife's reservation system is miserable. The fee station provides the number to call to reserve a site from the campground (800-244-5613), but there is no cell phone service and you will have to go into Salida to the park HQ. Difficult getting a trailer into HQ as there is no parking for anything other than cars a... more

well the state of Colorado has ruined what once was a free camping area. the above costs do not include the $8.00 per day fee. $18.00 gets you a primitive site. for $10.00 more you get a picnic table and a tent pad. don't need a tent pad with a motorhome, trailer, or a 5th wheeler. one vault toilet by the boat launch and a porta-potty... more

Very close to Salida, but dang is it pricy. $18 for camping, but you have to buy a vehicle pass too, which is an extra $8.

Right by the river, which is great.

This clean campground is off the highway and next to the Arkansas River and Mountain view’s are beautiful! It’s minutes from the town of Salida, but far enough to feel like you aren’t camping in the city. It is completelly possible that another reviewer is correct that you may get some homeless/drug users that have access to wander... more

For years, this area was a boondocker's dream...close to town, free, next to the river, and did I mention free? Now, for $18 per night, you get a porta-john and a table. No water, no trash. Lacking many viable alternatives, we spent the weekend here. Only one other site was taken, as it was the weekend before Halloween. I suspect ... more

We were disappointed in this campground. It is close to Salida and on the Arkansas River. I gave it one star for each of those factors. Other than that, it is basically just a gravel place to park. It is BLM land, but managed by Colorado. That means that our lifetime pass discounts don't apply. It is waaaay overpriced for off season us... more

Got here by 6pm on a Monday and had the pick of most sites. We opted for the “deluxe” $18 a night site (+$7 vehicle fee). Has a nice table and tent pad (not needed). We chose site 14. It was tucked into a corner surrounded by trees and a stones throw from the river. Site was level and felt very secluded since no one took the site next ... more

Great spot on the river but it could use some trees for shade. Also got very windy on us both days we stayed. The spots are pretty spread out and it really didn’t fill up midweek in June anyway so we felt like we had space. They have improved a lot of the sites with fire rings and picnic tables as well as tent pads (though a neighbor t... more

State is renovating this entire area so it currently closed. Probably will be that way for months.

We stayed here October 26-27. As of November 1, this is no longer a free site. Rates will be $10/site, and $7/camping pass, so $17/night total. We had a nice level site overlooking the river. There is a little road noise, but it wasn't too bad in our site. Most sites are closer to the road than ours was, however. As of right now sit... more