East Fork Campground (San Juan NF - CO)
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $32From, per site
- Sites
- 25All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 1 – September 30Open May 1 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
East Fork Campground is located 11 miles northeast of Pagosa Springs, just off U.S. Highway 160, along the East Fork Road. Visitors enjoy the area for its fishing, hiking and scenic opportunities. Keep reading
Recreation
The East Fork offers plenty of fishing opportunities upstream from the campground. Trailheads for the Coal Creek Trail and the Quartz Ridge Trail are at Sand Creek, 2-5 miles beyond the campground.
Facilities
The campground offers several single-family sites, many with views of the river below. There are a few level pull-through parking spaces for RVs. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The campground sits on a ridge overlooking the East Fork of the San Juan River. Some sites have views of the river, but it's a long way down the hill. Short, but steep trails lead down the hill, to the riverbanks. A forest of ponderosa pine and gambel oak trees shades the campground. At 7,700 feet, temperatures can be a bit warmer than at surrounding campgrounds. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
Silver Falls is located a few miles up East Fork Road past the campground. A short trail leads to the base of the falls. Mountain bikers often ride to Silver Falls. Beyond its junction with Forest Road 684, the East Fork Road is negotiable only by 4WD. Off-road vehicle enthusiasts enjoy the upper section to Elwood Pass. Treasure Falls, located just off Highway 160 about five miles from the campground, is an impressive 100' waterfall with a short hike.
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
Click here for more information on the San Juan National Forest
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.
First Come First Served (FCFS) Campsites are also available at this campground
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 25
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…parking spaces for RVs. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…for RVs. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground sits…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 28 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, River, Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 134th 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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $32 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
25 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 17 mapped sitesAll 25 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. 25 of the 25 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop A | 001 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 252 ft | 868 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 002 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 004 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 14 ft | 774 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 005 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 14 ft | 762 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 006 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 106 ft | 551 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 13 ft | 474 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 009 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 13 ft | 462 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 010 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 88 ft | 398 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 011 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 105 ft | 304 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 012 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 013 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 13 ft | 276 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 13 ft | 285 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 018 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 265 ft | 629 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 019 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 020 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | $32 | ||
| Loop A | 021 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 52 ft | 304 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 022 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 52 ft | 287 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 023 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 100 ft | 195 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 024 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 91 ft | 318 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 025 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 52 ft | 258 ft | $32 |
| Loop A | 026 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 52 ft | 284 ft | $32 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
West Fork CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 4.9 miTucker Ponds CampgroundRio Grande National Forest · 11 mi
Big Meadows Reservoir Campground (South Central CO)Rio Grande National Forest · 12 mi
Elwood CabinRio Grande National Forest · 14 mi
Blanco River Group CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 16 miPark Creek CampgroundRio Grande National Forest · 17 miFrom downtown Pagosa Springs, travel 11 miles east on Highway 160 to the junction with East Fork Road (Forest Road 667). Turn right and continue less than a mile to the campground on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Pagosa Springs, CO
Typical weather
Typical May night 34°F, day 74°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 34°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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.
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
East Fork Campground (San Juan NF - CO) 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 →