Thirtymile Campground

Very nice peaceful campground. We had no cell service at our site but when we drove through there were a few spots that did. There are only 3 spots on the little area off to the side where we were and we were lucky the night we were there and there was no one camped on either side of us. We could here the creek and the Rio Grande which made for great sleeping. The road in was very rough.

We really liked this park. Beautiful location, quiet, a friendly host, and good fishing. The only down side was that it rained for a couple of days so we were not able to hike on the trail or spend too much time exploring the area. The fishing in the park on the Rio Grande was great. Was nervous about the dirt road when I looked at the map but it was very easy even after the rain. The only downside was that we pretty much had no cell service. We would sometimes have 1 bar or 3G on Verizon but it wasn't consistent and was very slow if it did work. Can't wait to go back and next time we will stay longer.

We were fortunate to get a fcfs site #04 which is a pull-through - our 30' trailer and F-250 truck fit very well with room to spare - picnic table and grill and beautiful trees - huge site with lots of privacy due to distance from other sites and trees - there was a bull moose (I think that's the correct term)laying in grass and trees at rear of our site when we pulled in and he stayed the whole time we were setting up and paid no attention to us - no hookups but we use solar and even with the trees we did okay - hiking trails from campground were nice- we found a fort hidden near our campsite which was built by two creative and crafty kids from Texas that was a pleasant surprise - they had left a booklet with their first names for visitors to sign - wish I could contact them to show them pictures I took of their fort and some entries in their booklet written by people prior to us - it has given joy to those who found it before our visit so these kids accomplished their mission - we hated to leave this area and would recommend this campground to everyone for the beauty and the peace

First of all, this campground is about 30 miles (hence the name, I suppose) NW of Creede (it is not near Pagosa Springs), CO. Take CO 149 west out of Creede to mile marker 41.5 and turn west on to FR520 towards Rio Grande Reservoir - and go about another 12 miles. I believe that there are about 45 sites, and I don't think we saw a bad one. The perimeter sites are right on the Rio Grande River or Squaw Creek, and the interior sites surround an open group area. All of the sites are spaced out nicely so that they feel very private. There are both pull through and back-in sites, and small to medium sized rigs should have not have a problem. I am not sure what the maximum equipment length is (we camp in a small 21' travel trailer) but that information is probably available on Recreation.gov or the forest service website for the campground. Most of the sites are reasonably level. Reservations are taken for the majority of the sites, but there are a few that are walk-ins.

There is fishing in both the Rio Grande, as well as Squaw Creek. There are also a couple of hiking trails that start in the campground. To the southeast of the campground are the remnants of what used to be the Thirty Mile Resort (operated from about 1938 until 2008 or thereabouts) which has several cabins. The forest service has the resort area closed off, but it is still interesting to hike around the area.Potable water is available as several locations, and the vault toilets are very clean. There are also dumping receptacles for sink water. Verizon cell service was pretty much nonexistent. This year's (2019) camp hosts (Ted and Doris) are very friendly and are doing a terrific job.

Thirty Mile is a relatively remote campground at 9500' in elevation so it is very quiet. We camped at at the beginning of June (early in the season) so we had the campground pretty much to ourselves. The only noise that we could hear was the rushing of the Rio Grande that was running fast right behind our campsite (#5). Our neighbors were a couple of moose cows with their newborn calves, and a 'camp robber' fox who joined us for dinner a couple of evenings.

The only negative to this area is significant burn scar from a recent wildfire that is evident on the drive in on FR520 - with that said, though, the burn scar ends right before you arrive at Thirty Mile CG so it does not detract from the camping experience there.

We will definitely go back. Standard rate is $22 night, but we paid $11/night with our lifetime senior interagency pass.