Blanco River Group Campground
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 1 – September 30Open May 1 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Blanco River Group Campground is located four miles off U.S. Highway 84, on Forest Road 656. It is about 15 miles southeast of Pagosa Springs, on the Blanco River. The campground is a convenient stopping point between the towns of Chama, N.M., and Pagosa Springs, Colo. Secluded and quiet, the campgound is an ideal place for family and friends to gather. Keep reading
Recreation
The Blanco River can be accessed from the campground, offering good fishing. Anglers cast for stocked trout on the lightly fished waterway. A volleyball court is located within the campground, but campers must bring their own net and ball.
Facilities
The campground offers one group site that is made up of several single campsites. They must be reserved at the same time for group use. Four parking spurs are suitable for large RVs and ample space is available for tents. The campground is equipped with three picnic areas with large tables, vault toilets and drinking water. The Blanco River Group Campground is a convenient stopping point between Chama, New Mexico, and Pagosa Springs, about 15 miles southeast of Pagosa Springs. This group campground offers one group site, accommodating up to 100 people but no individual sites. The river bottom area is fairly level, and 4 sites are suitable for large-sized RVs (max size = 35ft). Several large ponderosa pines offer shade, but the area is quite warm in summer. This spot is quite a gem as visitors get a mile of river to themselves, along with 15 acres of forest fenced off to play and camp in. Anglers cast for stocked trout on the lightly fished waterway. Amenities include trash pick-up, fire grates, horseshoe pits, and a volleyball court but campers must bring their own net and ball.
Natural Features
The campground is situated on the banks of the Blanco River, surrounded by ponderosa pine and cottonwoods. The trees offer shade, but the area is quite warm during the summer months. The riparian environment is fairly level with a few adjacent grassy meadows. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
Three nearby trails access the roadless area to the east of the campground. The Navajo Peak Trail and V-Rock Trail can be reached from the Buckles Lake Road (Forest Road 663), which is located about seven miles south of the campground via Highway 84. The Blanco Basin Road (Forest Road 657) accesses the Leche Creek Trail.
Charges & Cancellations
Group Sites Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
What the agency tells you
Campground must be reserved as a group site only.
This campground is behind a locked gate with a combination lock. When you make a reservation the combination for the lock will be sent to you in your confirmation letter.
Drinking water is available, however some visitors find its taste somewhat unpleasant. Visitors are advised to bring their own drinking water
Everything else this campground posts · 3
A trail through the beginning of the campground provides the general public access to the Blanco River. Campers may therefore encounter other day users while at the site
Click here for more information on the San Juan National Forest
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…three picnic areas with large tables, vault toilets and drinking water. The Blanco River Group…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…with large tables, vault toilets and drinking water. The Blanco River Group Campground is a convenient…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Fishing
- Hiking
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 · 12
What you actually pay
“Group Sites Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes an…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
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 · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 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. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop A | 001 | group standard nonelectric | 149 ft | $140 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
East Fork Campground (San Juan NF - CO)San Juan National Forest · 16 mi
West Fork CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 21 mi
Ute Campground (CO)San Juan National Forest · 22 mi
Elwood CabinRio Grande National Forest · 22 mi
Stunner CampgroundRio Grande National Forest · 23 miMix Lake CampgroundRio Grande National Forest · 24 miFrom Pagosa Springs, Colorado, travel 13 miles south on Highway 84, then turn east on Forest Road 656 for approximately two miles.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pagosa Springs, CO
Typical weather
Typical May night 34°F, day 74°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May 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
Blanco River Group Campground 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 →