Deep Lake Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $6From, per site
- Sites
- 29All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
At 10,500 feet, Deep Lake Campground lies on top of the vast White River Plateau. Nestled against Deep Lake 29 miles from the nearest paved road, this campground offers a remote experience surrounded by meadows and a spruce/fir forest. Wildlife such as elk, mule deer, moose, black bears, bald eagles, ospreys, and numerous other species can be seen in the vicinity of Deep Lake Campground. Keep reading
Recreation
Deep Lake Campground offers access to a variety of different recreational experiences. Fishing for trout in Deep Lake is popular given its close proximity to the campground. The nearby Deep Lake Day Use area offers a small boat launch for non-motorized and electric motorized boats. With an abundant population of elk and mule deer, the Flat Tops offer world class hunting opportunities in the fall. Deep Lake Campground offers an excellent base camp for hunting trips across the region. Hiking is another activity popular with people staying at Deep Lake Campground. The Flat Tops Wilderness lies a few miles to the north, offering hundreds of miles of hiking trails. Numerous trails outside of the Wilderness offer a primitive experience for hikers willing to explore off the beaten path. While the road to the campground is a graded gravel road, many roads in the area require high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicles.
Facilities
Deep Lake Campground offers a primitive campground experience. Each site has an accessible metal picnic table and fire ring. Many sites have designated gravel tent pads. A short walk leads to a vault toilet, of which seven are spaced throughout the 29 campsites. No potable water is on site, so campers will need to bring water for the duration of their trip.
Natural Features
Camping at Deep Lake Campground is an excellent way to see the character of the White River Plateau, otherwise known as the Flat Tops. The White River Plateau is a high volcanic uplift ranging from 10,000 to 12,000 feet. On top of the plateau, the landscape is a mosaic of meadows and spruce/fir forests, dotted with lakes, wetlands, and rocky hills. In July and August, wildflowers contrast the lush green landscape with a vibrant array of colors. Deep Lake offers a pleasant scene before its waters plunge through Deep Creek canyon down to the Colorado River over 4,000 feet below. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (970) 827-5715.
What the agency tells you
• Deep Lake Campground is 30 miles from the nearest paved road on FSR 600 • While FSR 600 is passable to passenger 2WD vehicles, drivers should be prepared for slow rocky sections and changing conditions • When wet, portions of FSR 600 may be impassable, even to 4WD vehicles • No potable water is available on site. Bring all water needed for the duration of your stay • At 10,500 feet, Deep Lake Campground is at a high elevation. Be aware of altitude sickness symptoms. People with symptoms should go down in elevation. Weather can also change rapidly at this elevation • Single sites are $6/night, double sites are $12/night, and group site is $24/night • To keep this campground in its natural beauty and to respect fellow campers, follow Leave No Trace principles • Stay limit is 14 days • There is no garbage service at this campground. Pack out all garbage.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 29 · 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 16 of 29 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tent pads. A short walk leads to a vault toilet, of which seven are spaced throughout the 29…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…are spaced throughout the 29 campsites. No potable water is on site, so campers will need to bring water for…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Off Highway Vehicle Trails
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 39 km away
- Past peak
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $6 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.
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
29 sites
All 29 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. 29 of the 29 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Deep Lake | 1 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 10 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 11 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 12 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 13 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 14 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 15 | group standard nonelectric | $12–$24 |
| Deep Lake | 16 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 17 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 18 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 19 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 2 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 20 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 21 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 22 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 23 | group standard nonelectric | $12–$24 |
| Deep Lake | 24 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 25 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 26 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 27 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 28 | group standard nonelectric | $12–$24 |
| Deep Lake | 29 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 3 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 4 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 5 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 6 | group standard nonelectric | $12–$24 |
| Deep Lake | 7 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 8 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
| Deep Lake | 9 | standard nonelectric | $6 |
25 of 29 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Gypsum CampgroundColorado River Valley Field Office · 7.1 miLyons Gulch CampgroundColorado River Valley Field Office · 12 miFrom Interstate 70, take exit 133 (Dotsero). Drive north on Colorado River Road for 1.7 miles. Turn left on FSR 600, Coffeepot Road. Drive FSR 600 for 12 miles to the White River National Forest boundary. Continue on FSR 600 for 17 more miles. Turn right at FSR 600.3E, leading to Deep Lake Campground at the signed entrance.
The agency publishes this point for 4 campgrounds; it’s likely a district office, not the campground. Use the agency’s own page for directions.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Gypsum, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 55°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 10°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
Deep Lake 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 →