Cascade (Colorado)
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $25From, per site
- Sites
- 21All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Cascade Campground is located in beautiful Chaffee County, Colorado. This popular facility sits near Cascade Falls and is within 5 miles of a private hot springs resort, making it an ideal location for rest and relaxation. "First come, first served" does not necessarily mean that the site will be available when you get there. Someone may get there before you. This is a popular campground and is normally full starting on Friday, sometimes as early as Thursday, so plan accordingly. Keep reading
Recreation
Stream fishing is best above Cascade Falls, just accross the road from the campground. Nearby Chalk Lake is heralded as a great family fishing lake with rainbow, brook and brown trout. Plenty of off-road vehicle trails are a short distance away. Recommended rides include Mount Antero, Baldwin Lake, Tincup Pass, Hancock Pass, Pomeroy Lakes, Hancock Lakes. Hiking in the area includes the Colorado Trail, The Narrow Gauge trail and the Cascade Loop Trail (Across from Chalk Lake Campground)
Facilities
The campground offers 21 single-family sites, each equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Firewood is sold on-site. Sites #2- 7 and 11, 12 are "walk-up" first-come, first served. All other sites are reservable. Site #1 is used by the host from mid-May to Labor Day weekend. After that time it is available as a "walk-up", first-come, first-served site.
Natural Features
The campground is situated in a dense forest of Douglas fir and aspen at an elevation of 9,000 feet in Chalk Creek Canyon, which gets its name from the soft, white, chalk-like kaolinite canyon walls. Kaolinite is a clay mineral that was deposited by percolating hot springs. Chalk Creek is just across the road from the campground. It flows 27 miles eastward from the Collegiate Peaks before joining the Arkansas River. Chalk Lake is a mile east of the campground. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
Take a day trip to the historic ghost town of St. Elmo, just 15 minutes from the campground. An old saloon, county courthouse and many other historic structures remain from the days of its mining glory. The city of Salida and Town of Buena Vista are only a short drive away where visitors can enjoy distinctive restaurants, unique shops, incredible art galleries and a large selection of antique shops. The area boasts more than 100 miles of Arkansas River to raft, fish, float or kayak in. as well as fifteen 14,000 ft mountains. Visitors choose from recreational activities like hiking, biking, ATVing, kayaking, rafting, fishing, horseback riding, zipping, swimming Charges & Cancellations Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service 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
Do not climb chalk cliffs
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating
This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations
Everything else this campground posts · 9
No hookups available
Click here for more information on Pike and San Isabel National Forests
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.
If reservations are not available, some campsites are first come-first served, also called "Walk-up" sites. First-come, first-served sites must be occupied the SAME NIGHT they are paid for. These sites usually fill Friday evenings and through the weekends. Due to the remote nature of campgrounds, calling to check availability prior to arrival is not possible.
Camping and campfires are restricted in the Chalk Creek Canyon to the four developed campgrounds only. Cascade, Chalk Lake and Mount Princeton campgrounds take reservations, Iron City campground does not.
Campers unable to find a campsite in a developed campground may camp above the townsite of St. Elmo on County Road 267( 4-wheel drive only) or near the Hancock townsite located 5 miles south on Forest Road 295. Additional camping is available in the Browns Creek area south of County Road 162 at the junction of County roads 270 and 272. Practice leave-no-trace (www.lnt.org) camping principles when dispersed camping.
Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance.
Two vehicles or one RV/Trailer and tow vehicle per site is included in the camping fee. $10.00 for a third vehicle.
Firewood is available for sale at host site for $10.00/bundle.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 21
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 73 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 17 of 18 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Firewood is sold…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Firewood is sold on-site. Sites #2- 7…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Lake, River, Creek
- Fishing
- Gold Panning
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Mountain biking
- Mountain Climbing
- OHV riding
- Night sky · 267th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 2
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $25 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.
“Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a cam…” · 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
21 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 21 mapped sitesAll 21 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 21 of the 21 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 21 of the 21 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.
| CASC | 001 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 49 ft | 249 ft | 190 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 002 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 49 ft | 276 ft | 143 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 003 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 50 ft | 321 ft | 94 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 004 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 66 ft | 378 ft | 18 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 005 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 66 ft | 397 ft | 72 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 006 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 126 ft | 451 ft | 228 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 007 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 18 ft | 495 ft | 352 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 008 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 18 ft | 480 ft | 355 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 009 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 47 ft | 529 ft | 465 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 010 | standard nonelectric | 73 ft | 47 ft | 499 ft | 420 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 011 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 30 ft | 509 ft | 538 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 012 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 497 ft | 556 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 013 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 42 ft | 491 ft | 496 ft | $25 | |
| CASC | 014 | standard nonelectric | 115 ft | 409 ft | 591 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 015 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | 108 ft | 265 ft | 659 ft | $25 |
| CASC | 016 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 214 ft | 557 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 017 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 213 ft | 506 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 018 | standard nonelectric | 120 ft | 234 ft | 387 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 019 | standard nonelectric | 131 ft | 316 ft | 260 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 020 | standard nonelectric | 95 ft | 312 ft | 147 ft | $25 | ||
| CASC | 021 | standard nonelectric | 133 ft | 240 ft | 157 ft | $25 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Chalk LakeSan Isabel National Forest · 0.6 mi
Mount PrincetonSan Isabel National Forest · 1.2 miBootlegSan Isabel National Forest · 2.6 miIron CitySan Isabel National Forest · 4.9 miCottonwood Lake - PSICC (Co)San Isabel National Forest · 5.6 miFrom Buena Vista, Colorado, take Highway 285 south to Nathrop. Turn west on County Road 162 and travel 9 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Buena Vista, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 25°F, day 54°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night -8°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Cascade (Colorado) is in Colorado’s 7th congressional district. Its representative, Brittany Pettersen (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →