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

Buffalo Pass 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
OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
A night
$10From, per site
Season
May 1 – November 30Open May 1 through November 30
Drawn from the record · 9,120 ft · 17% tree cover · water within reach · Bortle 2 sky
9,120 ftElevation
2,267 ftWater · an unnamed pond
31.6 miSE of Gunnison, CO
17%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 24th darkest of 522 in CO
Open May 1 through November 30Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

The campground is comprised of a single large loop, surrounded by a grass meadow in a Ponderosa Pine grove. There are 19 sites, 4 are pull-through. The sites are large and well-spaced with sites #16, 17 and 18 on a dead-end spur with no turn around. The open areas are dotted with wildflowers. The campground is conveniently situated to State Hwy 114 for an overnight stay.

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Meadow
Source: Stated in the agency description

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and a night costs $10 with nothing added. 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 record
A night$10Per site, fromthe agency’s fee record
A weekend$20DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 7

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, from$10
Single site - $10/night.
Day use - $10/day (picnicking).
Fee envelopes and a collection box are provided near the entrance.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
One night, fromDerived$10
A weekend, Friday and Saturday, fromDerived$20

Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($10), and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

How we know this receipt · 5
Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

record Aug 24, 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

This Afternoon55°Sunny
Tonight28°Mostly Clear
Saturday59°Sunny
Saturday Night31°Mostly Clear1% rain

NWS forecast for Saguache, CO

Typical weather

Typical October night 26°F, day 61°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical November night 14°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°0°

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.

Measured at: CREEDE, CO (USC00051939), 32 miles away and 268 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Taylor Canyon6,062 acres · 6 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Monchego3,876 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Cochetopa Dome7,167 acres · 10 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

Buffalo Pass 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: The agency lists it open right now. Its own recreation database, though, flags it not open with no reason or date; the flag is named under How we know all this.
Season: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 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: Saguache, CO, 21 mi WNW. Straight line.