U.S. Forest Service · Rio Grande National Forest · CO

Bristol Head Campground

First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
9,510 ftElevation
264 ftWater · South Clear Creek
36.4 miSE of Telluride, CO
0%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 6th darkest of 522 in CO

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

This campground contains 15 sites (11 are pull through) ranging from 35 to 55 feet in length. There are both dead end spurs and pull throughs. Sits in a meadow on a bench above South Clear Creek. A short trail from campground leads to an overlook of the Clear Creek Canyons and a waterfall. The campground stretches 0.6 mile along a "bench" (a level area) above South Clear Creek. The grassy field between camping sites and creek are dotted with wild flowers. Every site has a view of towering mountains dominated by Bristol Head Peak. Spruce and Aspen line the meadow and provide some shade. The campground is an excellent area for viewing wild life, especially moose. Quiet & secluded. Fishing in the creek nearby. 14 DAY CAMPING LIMIT.

Around the campground

On the water
Waterfall, Creek, Meadow
Auto Touring
Hiking
Hunting
Picnicking
Wildlife viewing
Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 19 km away
Peak color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (19 km) · Oct 5, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.

recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe agency’s record
Runs itScenic Canyons Recreational ServicesA private concessionaire under permit from U.S. Forest Servicethe operator link
Every line of the receipt · 3

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s no total to show.
How we know this receipt · 4

rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight26°Clear
Saturday60°Sunny
Saturday Night28°Partly Cloudy3% rain
Sunday55°Partly Sunny then Slight Chance Rain And Snow Showers24% rain

NWS forecast for City of Creede, CO

Typical weather

Typical October night 23°F, day 55°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 2°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

80°32°-10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

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.

Measured at: SANTA MARIA RSVR, CO (USC00057450), 2 miles away and 177 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Box / Road Canyon1,471 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Bristol Head46,413 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Ruby Lake7,060 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Jeff Hurd, official portrait

Bristol Head 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service’s own recreation database flags it not open and publishes no reason and no date. That’s a flag, not a notice.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (19 km) · Oct 5, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: City of Creede, CO, 11.8 mi W. Straight line.