Amphitheater (CO)
1Heads up1 fire 2.3 mi away
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $28From, per site
- Sites
- 35All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 23 – October 7Open May 23 through October 7
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Amphitheater Campground is located near the town of Ouray, Colo., at an elevation of 8,400 feet. Visitors enjoy the area for its beautiful scenery and great hiking and off-road trail opportunities. Keep reading
Recreation
Many hiking trails are found in the immediate area, including the popular Upper Cascade Falls Trail, which begins at the campground. Baby Bath Tubs and Chief Ouray Mine trails can also be accessed from the same trailhead. The campground is a favorite among jeep and off-road enthusiasts for its close proximity to a number of exciting trails in the surrounding area.
Facilities
The campground offers single-family campsites, several of which are designated for tent camping only. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided.
Natural Features
The campground is named for the natural rock amphitheater that stands over Ouray. The massive gray cliffs were created by ancient volcanic and glacial activity. The campground is situated on the mountainside above Ouray, with stellar views of the amphitheater. A forest of Gambel oak trees and mixed conifers covers the area.
Nearby Attractions
Ouray is known as America's Switzerland. The charming, historic, mountain town offers a variety of dining, shopping and lodging options, as well as a hot springs pool and a variety of annual festivals.
What the agency tells you
Standard Single Family sites: Recreation Use Fee allows ONE camping unit ONLY.
Extra Vehicles: Cannot be paid for in advance - upon arrival coordinate with the host for payment and where to park.
Late Arrivals: campers are not considered a "no-show" until 24 hours after arrival date check in time. Our policy is that your site will not be released before that.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
FIRST COME FIRST SERVE sites must be booked in person. DO NOT call to determine availability, as they are only available on-site.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing organisms by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Click here for more information on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests
Opening and closing dates are weather permitting, please call 928-537-8888 for more information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 35 · 18 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Paved pads
- 1 of 35
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided. Natural Features…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 247th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 7 days ago, 15 km away
- Patchy color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $28 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
35 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 35 mapped sitesAll 35 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 35 of the 35 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| AMPHITHEATER | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 203 ft | 1,003 ftCascade Creek | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 124 ft | 1,194 ftCascade Creek | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 003 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | 72 ft | 768 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 004 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 64 ft | 701 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 005 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 74 ft | 635 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 006 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 21 ft | 779 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 799 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 878 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 887 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 136 ft | 741 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 011 | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 875 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 012 | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 888 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 78 ft | 1,028 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 78 ft | 961 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 015 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 708 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 016 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 47 ft | 732 ft | $28 |
| AMPHITHEATER | 017 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 83 ft | 815 ft | $28 |
| AMPHITHEATER | 018 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 77 ft | 907 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 019 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 64 ft | 1,059 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 020 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 1,147 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 021 | tent only nonelectric | 47 ft | 1,147 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 022 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 40 ft | 1,123 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 023 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 39 ft | 1,114 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 024 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 39 ft | 1,112 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 025 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 48 ft | 1,188 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 026 | tent only nonelectric | 26 ft | 1,187 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 027 | tent only nonelectric | 26 ft | 1,161 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 028 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 964 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 029 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 1,003 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 030 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 55 ft | 1,011 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 031 | standard nonelectric | 83 ft | 1,001 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 032 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 95 ft | 693 ft | $28 | |
| AMPHITHEATER | 033 | tent only nonelectric | 13 ft | 1,067 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 034 | tent only nonelectric | 7 ft | 1,080 ft | $28 | ||
| AMPHITHEATER | 035 | tent only nonelectric | 7 ft | 1,086 ft | $28 |
25 of 35 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Jackson Guard StationUncompahgre National Forest · 15 miSunshineUncompahgre National Forest · 15 miSunshine Campground - Norwood RDUncompahgre National Forest · 16 mi
South MineralSan Juan National Forest · 16 miFrom Ouray, travel approximately 2 miles south on Highway 550. Watch for the campground sign and turnoff road to the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Ouray, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 34°F, day 57°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 34°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Amphitheater (CO) is in Colorado’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Jeff Hurd (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →