Trails End Campground

The good parts: very quiet, very picturesque, lots of wildflowers in July. Sunsets and sunrises are stunning.

Drawbacks: no water, no trash service. Bugs can be bad, so bring your citronella and bug spray. A trailhead parking lot (one of two near the campground) seems to be where outfitters muck out their horse trailers.

The entire campground is first-come first-serve. There were sites available (including some in the RV loop - sites 1-5) until late in the afternoon on a Friday afternoon in July.

We used this campground as a base to explore the trails and the lovely Pinedale area.

TIP: RVs/Trailers should restrict to the loop containing sites #1 thru 5.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork." Psalm 19:1
5 stars:
1. Long lasting stellar sunsets. Site #5.
2. STUNNING night sky.
3. The trail to Sacred Rim Peak leaves the Pole Creek Trail to the left at an unsigned junction approximately 1/4 mile from the Pole Creek trail head. Photographer's Point has nothing better except a different angle. How far do you want to hike?
4. Moose ambling through the camp site.
5. If heading for the high country, what better place to camp than at the trail head. Move your vehicle from campground to hiker parking lot when you leave.
6. Verizon LTE from the high places while hiking compared to 1x at the campsite.
4 stars:
1. For the day hiker, steps saving horse trail that quickly junctions with the Pole Creek trail that leaves the campground at site #5, behind sites #3 & #4, then through the upper loop.
2. Lots of extra parking in the nearby equestrian loading parking lot. Great place for our toad.
3. Very knowledgeable and pleasant attendant in the information center.
4. Clean restrooms that get used heavily.
3 stars:
1. Outfitters arrive with the horse trailers pre-dawn to head out to provision or extract backpackers gear. We witnessed a backpacker extraction also. With the early morning noise comes the entertainment. Site #5 also has more exposure to evening noise that results from end of day hikers finishing the haul up from Long Lake and the parking lot in general.
2. How could there be so few flies with as much horse manure as there is? Wonderful!
3. There are 2 places near the top of the drive up the mountain where the roadway has significant damage.
2 stars:
The carnage in the forest from straight line winds the day after Labor Day in 2020 is staggering!! The magnitude of the challenge of clearing the Pole Creek Trail is amazing. The thought of being trapped behind it all when it happened is sobering. Is this clearly a good example for leniency in the prohibition of use of chain saws in the area designated as Wilderness. The clearing of the trails from the Pole Creek Trail to Miller Lake and Sweeney Lakes has not started and it makes for a lot of "work arounds".
1 star:
None

The CG is at 9500’ so cooler days and nights are a welcome change in the summer months.
Three hiking trails with pole creek trail being very popular with various destinations to lakes and view points. If you pull a trailer stay left out of the tent loop as two rigs got stuck during the night that I camped.
I’m driving ms lazy to the next adventure.

There are only three sites that will fit an RV/Trailer : sites 3,4,5. Max RV size 35’. There is a large parking area at top. It’s paved all the way up.

There is no water (not turned on June), no trash and no cell.

Why 4 stars? Oh my goodness the views. They are stunning. We did not go hiking but there are several trails. At 9,500 feet, it was all we could do to walk around.

This campground is accessed at the very end of the road from Fremont Lake. It's a paved road with good views. The campground has a small loop to the right with 4-5 sites. It's a very tight loop with small sites. Caution against trying to tow anything through this loop. The area to the left is very open for any size vehicle, and also has a large parking area for the trailhead. No hook ups. I didn't notice if there was water. There's a vault toilet. I would mainly camp here for hiking in the area.

The road up from Pinedale is paved all the way except for a stretch that's being widened. The unpaved part is smooth and washboard-free, though. The campground has a loop of very small pads that work for pickups, vans and cars, and there are some slightly larger sites by the horse trailer parking area. I arrived a little before noon on a Saturday in August and had my choice of spots. I was able to get three bars of 4G with a directional antenna and signal booster.