White Star Campground

The RIdge Loop of this campground is first come first serve. There is distance between most sites. The vast majority have full sun exposure for solar.The lake was less than a 1/4 mile from our site There is a place you can rent paddle boards or kayaks next to the campground . There are numerous hiking trails within 1-2 miles of the campground. The small community of Twin Lakes is about a mile from the camp ground. There is a general store, restaurant and tourist information office. Many of the sites are not long enough to handle a large class A. It's 12.00 a night with a Senior Pass.

We stayed here for 7 nights at the end of June/beginning of July. It was a bit chilly for us considering we are from San Diego and used to the warm weather. There was snow still on the tops of the mountains and we have a view of Mount Elbert, the tallest summit in Colorado, from our site. Most days were partly cloudy although we have had a few days of mostly all sun and some days with rain storms, hail, and nights that got down to freezing. Colorado trail is right next to our site which either wraps around the twin lakes or climbs to the top of Mount Elbert. There is fishing at the lake. The best spot to fish is near the power station on the big lake, as the power station churns up the water and the fish like to hang there. There is a town store about a mile down the road that has some water and a few chips/snacks and souvenirs. The best part of our stay besides the view was the camp hosts. They were super friendly in every way possible. We were stranded because our truck broke down here and they brought us cookies and got us paper plates and water that we needed from the store. They were extremely gracious hosts. The bathrooms were very clean the whole time we stayed, the camp sites are far from each other and it’s nice to have your own space. The dump station here is currently closed and although the website said there was drinking water here, there was some government/forest service dispute going on and we finally just got drinking water yesterday. When there was no drinking water the site was $17/night and now that there is water it is $23/night. The drinking water is a 1,000 gallon tank that the camp host says he keeps track of and they come refill when empty. We have sprint coverage here, sometimes 3 bars, sometimes 4 bars of LTE, although on Saturday we could only get 3G when it got crowded here on the weekend and we couldn’t even access the internet then.

White Star sits a little above Twin Lakes with fabulous views of the water with Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive in the background. The campground has three loops: Sage, closest to the water and the most big rig friendly; Ridge Loop, which looks more appropriate for tenting and smaller rigs, and; Valley Loop, which is a mix of tent and larger sites. Sage loop has water spigots throughout the loop, the others only have one spigot per loop. We stayed in Sage, the sites are spacious and spread out. The lake is a short walk away and there is a small sandy beach area near the boat ramp.

Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Bathrooms are vault toilets, no showers. There is a dump station ($10 additional fee), but no potable water. Filling tanks is prohibited at the water spigots in the loops. No way to fill the water tank is a con, no issue for a short stay but could be problematic for longer stays. The camp host was friendly and keeps the place immaculate.

Rog biked the Twin Lake Loop trail and loved it. The Inter-Laken Historical site (an 1800’s resort) is definitely worth a visit. Leadville is about 15 miles away for groceries, gas, a laundromat with showers, restaurants, and shopping.

We had 2 bars of Verizon 4G, but it was extremely slow.

We pulled into White Star at 2:00 p.m. and grabbed one of the four remaining sites on a Thursday afternoon. Sites are abundantly spacious with views in every direction. Each site has a 'cocktail pad' to set up your chairs and take in the views with picnic table and fire pit. Clean vault toilets and water spigots available. Easy access to trail and Twin Lakes Reservoir. Independence Pass, at 12,100 elevation, is the highest pass in the nation. If you are longer than 35' you will want to enter White Star Campground from the Buena Vista, CO side vs. Aspen, CO. Sites are $20/night; $10 night with Golden Access.

Verizon two bars gave me adequate hot spot for Mac and no problems connecting with the outside world via cellphone. We camped in our 30' Airstream.

It's no wonder this campground seems to always make the "most beautiful campground" lists I see...Most of the sites are very well-spaced, and are clean & level (site hosts were out raking sites between visitors...), and all have views of either the lake, dramatic mountain backgrounds, or nice pine forests (some have views of all three). Easy access in & out of the campground. Close to Independence Pass and plenty of other hiking options. There is also a nice, clean dump station right outside the campground (which is either not widely publicized or I completely missed reference to when researching the campground before our visit) that is self-service pay (bring cash or check).