Tunnel View Recreation Site

Great campground less than 10 minutes into town. The road down into the campground from the trailhead is pretty narrow with some dips, but we made it just fine with our 27’ airstream.

Once you get to the bottom of the hill, the road splits and there are sites on both sides. The campground host is super friendly and helped us get a spot when we pulled in at night.

We ended up in site #4 which was huge and level (turn left at the base of the hill and it’s the second to last site). All of the sites for the most part looked good - all sit right on the river and the campground was really quiet at night. There’s a trail that runs along the river that we could access right out the back of our campsite so easy fishing access.

We had planned to only stay one night but ended up staying three because this spot was so good.

Cell reception was okay - 2-3 bars on Verizon.

We stayed here in one site and then moved to a better site the next night. #4 was best for bigger trailers. They were all spaced far apart most along the river. Once you come down the entrance, if you go to the right towards the rock outcrops you cannot turn around with a trailer. We had to back out! Should have scouted first. At dusk the Antelope come down to bed! Very cool. We were to get some snow one night and decided that we should move to a more established camping site (went to hecla junction). The road down to the river valley is a single path rutted shelf. We were worried if muddy we might not get back out for a few days. We would definitely stay again.

We set-up here to visit Buena Vista (BV) and fish the Arkansas River. Stream access to a productive stretch of river was right behind our camp. It's also a short drive into town. Trips into Salida were also reasonable from this spot. It's a tight, one-lane gravel road down into this area so take care nobody is starting up or down when you are. Sites are easy to get into with lots of room between camping areas. There aren't any outhouses in this area so come prepared. We barely got ATT mobile service at our location near the river. There was a lot of trash in our fire pit when we arrived.

I realize I have the biggest rig that commented on this campground. It was difficult but possible. We barely cleared the power line at the top which was probably 13 feet. Deeply rutted coming down the single lane road while the tow car blocked anyone coming up from the bottom. However difficult, it was worth it! Very nice large campsites, river flowing by, trees, very pretty. It would be a good place to stay longer.

We just finished a stay here in Oct 2020. It was great. Sites are clean, large and far apart. It is a very short drive into the town of Buena Vista. There are no facilities or hookups so, come prepared. The one lane road into/out of the campground is steep, dirt and treacherous - I can’t imagine having to navigate the situation if two camper rigs met face to face mid-way. We sent a scout to the top before we drove out. There is some road noise from across the river but overall it’s great scenic spot.

The campground is open, there’s even a camp host next to the day use area. One lane road is a little uneven and narrow coming down into the sites. Good fishing along the river. No hiking trails out of the campground. A little noisy during the day with climbers at Turtle Rock and rafters putting in at Elephant Rock. Someone dumped their ashtray and trash in the burn ring but still a good spot and no toilets so be careful in the trees. Good Verizon LTE coverage so you can get some work done. Four miles from town.

Arkansas River headwaters just outside of Buena Vista, CO. Beautiful dirt pads, protected by large rock outcroppings, trees, and post fences between the site pads. Tunnel View recreation site. 3 miles from town. With showers and laundry available. 5 miles from the Cottonwood hot springs. Just a handful of RVs here in October. Access road is in very good shape, and graded for easy access for TTs up to 35 feet.

This used to be just plain old dispersed camping, but it appears they are developing the sites - they've added fire rings, log rail entrances to each of the sites (as seen in some of the recently posted pictures), and have numbered all the sites. I believe there are 18-19 sites total (there didn't appear to be a site #1 - they started at #2 - not sure why!). The sites are of various sizes, from small tent sites (#14-16 are walk-in tent sites with amazing privacy) to a number of sites that could accommodate multiple tents/campers.
The road in is a bit daunting - mainly because it is a narrow one-way road with a drop on one side - meaning there's no place to pull over once you start. And from the top, unless you get out & peer over the bushes, you may not be able to see someone coming past the slight bend in the road. I would not want to have to back an RV or trailer back up or down that road if you meet someone coming the other way. Thankfully, there's little traffic in/out, so the odds are with you. :-) But I would see no issue pulling a larger rig in here (and we did see some larger ones camping) except for that potential concern.
We were in site 11 - and it was the 2nd to last site available on a Friday evening (we got lucky- the last site filled within an hour of our arrival). It was a great site - nice views, a bit of shade if we needed it, and we couldn't see any of the other sites from our site. There are some trails you can take along the river from the main parking area near the entrance road. It's close to downtown Buena Vista, and not to far off the highway - so easy access - but aside from hearing one train horn some nights (early in the evening - maybe between 8-9pm?), and the occasional traffic sounds from across the river on CR371, you'd never know it. Some sites are closer to the river than others, so you can hear the sounds of the Arkansas, but other than that, it was crazy quiet at night.
Verizon cell service in our site was just enough to make quick phone calls and send/receive texts, but not good enough for data - but the signal did seem to vary when we walked between sites.