Dearhamer Campground
1Heads up1 fire 18 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $29From, per site
- Sites
- 1312 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Located approximately 22 miles east of Basalt, Colorado, in the White River National Forest, Dearhamer Campground sits adjacent to the Fryingpan River above Ruedi Reservoir at an elevation of 7,800 feet. Keep reading
Recreation
Renowned for its fly fishing, Fryingpan River flows below Ruedi Dam. Here, large rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout are plentiful in an area nicknamed the "toilet bowl." The fish feed on Mysis shrimp, a small freshwater shrimp stocked in the lake. The stretch of river from the dam down to the confluence of Fryingpan and the Roaring Fork River has been designated as Gold Medal Waters by the Colorado Wildlife Commission. Special regulations in this area include fishing only with artificial flies and lures, and releasing all trout except brown trout, with a limit of 2 fish over 14 inches. For hikers and bikers, the Ruedi Trail, located north of the reservoir, climbs to the top of Red Table Mountain. The trailhead is located 200 feet north of the Jeep trail near the boat ramp and parking lot. This 8-mile trail gains over 3,000 feet in elevation, leading hikers to a spectacular panoramic view of the area. Boating, swimming, and water skiing are all possible in the area.
Facilities
Dearhamer Campground has 13 standard sites suitable for tents, trailers, and RVs. There is a maximum length of 35 feet for RVs. The sites are equipped with picnic tables and campfire rings. Guests also have access to vault toilets and a drinking water hydrant, but electrical hook-ups are not available.
Natural Features
In the heart of the Rocky Mountains, the 2.3 million acre White River National Forest is a place of serenity and adventure, boasting 8 wilderness areas, 4 defined seasons, and 10 peaks surpassing 14,000 feet in elevation. Wildlife in the area abounds. Bighorn sheep navigate rocky ridges and bull elk bugle at dusk. Scenic rivers sustain populations of cutthroat, rainbow, and brown trout. Alpine regions provide habitat for pika and ptarmigan. These species, along with many others, depend on surrounding undeveloped wilderness, clean streams, and diverse forests to live.
Nearby Attractions
The nearby town of Aspen is a popular destination for visitors to the area. From downhill skiing and world-class fly fishing, to dining and resorts, there are a multitude of outdoor and indoor opportunities in this resort mountain town.
Charges & Cancellations
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
What the agency tells you
Please Note: One RV with tow per single site or one vehicle per tent site. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. Extra vehicle will be charged a per night fee and collected at the campground.
All food, beverages, trash and scented items must be properly stored when not attended. Bear-proof food lockers are provided at each site and bear-proof trash receptacles are provided at the campground.
Prevent the spread of invasive species by inspecting and cleaning packs, equipment, and tires before using lake or trails
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (ELEVEN) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
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 about White River National Forest
Any accepted senior passes must be entered for the discount at the time of booking for single sites only.
Campers must occupy the site the first night at a campsite. This prevents booking the site for Fri-Sun and showing up on Saturday.
Campers may leave the site for 24 hours and must occupy the site otherwise. This allows a camper to say go for an overnight backpack trip in the woods for one night and come back to their campsite the next day.
Check in time is 2:00pm and Check out time is 11:00am. It is imperative that you are clear from the site at 11:00am on your check out day so the host can come prepare the site for the next event. Please don't be the group that makes the incoming group have to wait.
Customer Service Contact 801-226-3564 or Help.WhiteRiver.Sopris@AmericanLL.com
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 13
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 69 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…rings. Guests also have access to vault toilets and a drinking water hydrant, but electrical…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…also have access to vault toilets and a drinking water hydrant, but electrical hook-ups are not available.…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Hiking
- Ranger programs
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 290th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 22 km away
- Past peak
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 12 of the 13 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $29 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.
“Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.” · this campground’s own 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
13 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 12 mapped sitesAll 13 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. 12 of the 13 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 001 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 67 ft | 69 ftRuedi Reservoir | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 002 | standard nonelectric | 69 ft | 43 ft | 58 ftRuedi Reservoir | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 003 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 43 ft | 40 ftRuedi Reservoir | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 004 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 52 ft | 76 ftRuedi Reservoir | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 005 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 51 ft | 25 ftRuedi Reservoir | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 006 | type not stated | 52 ft | 10 ft | ||
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 007 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 59 ft | 56 ft | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 008 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 50 ft | 27 ft | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 50 ft | 45 ft | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 010 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 65 ft | 59 ft | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 011 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 50 ft | 91 ft | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 012 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 50 ft | 132 ft | $29 |
| DEARHAMER CAMPGROUND | 013 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 53 ft | 124 ftRuedi Reservoir | $29 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Little Mattie CampgroundWhite River National Forest · 3.8 mi
Ruedi Marina CampgroundWhite River National Forest · 4.1 mi
Little Maud CampgroundWhite River National Forest · 4.2 mi
Mollie B_white RiverWhite River National Forest · 4.2 mi
Chapman Campground and GroupWhite River National Forest · 6.7 miElk Wallow CampgroundWhite River National Forest · 6.8 miFrom Basalt, travel east on Frying Pan River Road for approximately 20 miles, just past Ruedi Reservoir to Dearhamer Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Norrie, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 29°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 9°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
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
Dearhamer 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 →