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Hi all,

My family and I are coming to Breckenridge for 2 weeks at the very end of May/beginning of June. I plan to knock off Quandary and DeCaLiBron if I can, but my 6 yo daughter really wants to go camping as well. Any recommendations for a good spot? My criteria would be:

[*]reasonable drive from Breck
[*]running water
[*]proximity to a relatively short (2-4 miles) but interesting hike (e.g. to a lake or something of that nature)
[*]ability to make reservations

To be clear, I am thinking somewhere with a pad to pitch a tent for a night or two, not some extreme backpack-in type option.

Thanks!

Go to https://www.recreation.gov/search?q=breckenridge


Start looking early. Colorado got really popular this past year. I just picked up a couple of spots in Rocky Mountain National Park for August - the earliest days available!

Depends - what's a "reasonable drive"?

This was the weather on June 9, 2020 when I camped at DeCaLiBron, so I would just recommend you have warm sleeping bags or bedding. This area does meet some of your criteria though. Consider lower elevations as well for the camp though who knows what weather will be like then. Maybe Buffalo Springs would be good.

SkaredShtles wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:02 am Depends - what's a "reasonable drive"?

An hour-90 minutes?

I am a long time resident of the Breckenridge , Summit County area and for that time of the year I would say go down in elevation to camp. Green Mountain Reservoir is not backwoods camping but you can get to some trails pretty quickly from there. No running water though so buy some gallon jugs at a grocery store and recycle them after.
The Cataract Creek Campground is near there and has more of a backwoods feel to it but has only 5 spots and is first come first served. Will be busy probably.
Both of these are about an hour north of Breckenridge. Both are easy to get to and easy to bail out of if things don't work out .
http://www.greenmountainreservoir.com/campgrounds.htm
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteri ... ecid=40913

brinkmtf wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:47 am Hi all,

My family and I are coming to Breckenridge for 2 weeks at the very end of May/beginning of June. I plan to knock off Quandary and DeCaLiBron if I can, but my 6 yo daughter really wants to go camping as well. Any recommendations for a good spot? My criteria would be:

[*]reasonable drive from Breck
[*]running water
[*]proximity to a relatively short (2-4 miles) but interesting hike (e.g. to a lake or something of that nature)
[*]ability to make reservations

To be clear, I am thinking somewhere with a pad to pitch a tent for a night or two, not some extreme backpack-in type option.

Thanks!

North Tenmile at the end of main street in Frisco is a great option. I took my 6 year old there last summer. It's a 0.75 mile hike to the spot and you can hike out further along n10mi.

It's not a reserve type spot. It's "backcountry". But there are plenty of well worn, established flat spots to pitch a tent. There's a running stream next to the site. And frankly it's more pristine and bucolic than any of the crap you'll find reserving a spot in the area. If you'd like more details about the exact location, DM me.

I am a frequent visitor to the Fourmile Campground just outside of Fairplay. It's about an hour south of Breck on highway 9. It checks pretty much all of your boxes and is usually pretty chill. It's actually on the road that takes you to the Mount Sherman trailhead, so you could also potentially knock that 14er off your list as well.

I don't think you can make reservations, it's all first come, first served. I think it usually opens in May, maybe around Memorial Day weekend or just before. But as another user above posted, the weather can vary wildly at that time of year, so just be ready for anything.

There are four forrest service campgrounds surrounding Lake Dillion. The sites adjacent to the lake are reserved quickest. Prospecter Campground is nearest to Breckenridge, Mt. Quandry and Mt. Sniktau by a few minutes. All four within 20 minutes of I-70. Hiking around lake, along Breck trail, various spots off I-70... ("forrest" is a misleading term because all tall trees removed after the beetles killed them a decade ago.)

pcsongei wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:50 pm I am a frequent visitor to the Fourmile Campground just outside of Fairplay. It's about an hour south of Breck on highway 9. It checks pretty much all of your boxes and is usually pretty chill. It's actually on the road that takes you to the Mount Sherman trailhead, so you could also potentially knock that 14er off your list as well.

I don't think you can make reservations, it's all first come, first served. I think it usually opens in May, maybe around Memorial Day weekend or just before. But as another user above posted, the weather can vary wildly at that time of year, so just be ready for anything.

+1

Great suggestions. Thanks, everyone.

Most (if not all) Colorado State Parks have campsites with at least one running water facility. An hour and a half east of Breckenridge is Golden Gate Canyon State Park where one of my favorite short hikes is. There is a campground called Reverends Ridge Campground with a loop trail to Panorama Point which is a pavilion looking across at the Indian Peaks and Longs and Meeker from above the valley where Nederland is. The trail goes down then up and there is also a road to the pavilion so you can bail out at two miles or hike the road if the return feels like too much.

Having not been since 10 years ago, I looked it up to satisfy my own curiosity and found this info:
All Trails says the loop is 4.7 miles. Reservations are still available for the end of May and early June according to https://www.reserveamerica.com/explore/ ... /campsites. The site seems to dislike either Chrome or one of the extensions I have. I scrolled through sites using Edge and found that there are a lot of openings as the campsite numbers increase.