Hinman Campground (CO)
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $14From, per site
- Sites
- 1312 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Hinman Campground is a gateway to the Mount Zirkel Wilderness along the Elk River Corridor with plenty of opportunities for hiking, hunting, biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, river rafting and more. There are 12 campsites, 6 of which may be reserved. Remaining sites are first-come, first-served. At an elevation of 7,700 feet, Hinman lies in the mountains of the Park Range in the heart of the Routt National Forest near the Elk River which flows south to join the Yampa River. Hinman Campground offers the unique opportunity to observe forest succession in progress and will eventually return to a native lodgepole, spruce, and fir forest. Keep reading
Recreation
Provides a great gateway for hiking, biking and hunting. Trout fishing is accessible on the river as well as several mountain streams.
Facilities
There are 12 campsites, 6 of which may be reserved. Remaining sites are first-come, first-served. Each site is spacious and equipped with a campfire ring and picnic table.
Natural Features
At an elevation of 7,700 feet, Hinman lies in the Rocky Mountains in the heart of the Routt National Forest near the South Fork of the Elk River. The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland encompass nearly three million acres from central and northeastern Wyoming to north-central Colorado. Black bear, bobcat, coyote, elk, mule deer and moose are just some of the many animals that inhabit these rich and diverse lands.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors might also enjoy stopping by Steamboat Lake State Park and Hahns Peak Lake Day Use, only a short drive away. Many more outdoor opportunities exist in the surrounding national forests and grasslands, including hiking, biking, camping, horseback and off-road vehicle riding, fishing, hunting, sightseeing and winter sports. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (970) 870-2299.
What the agency tells you
No water available. • Due to removal of larger trees, some campsites are without shade • This is a high elevation facility (7,700 ft); please use caution when traveling from lower elevations. • Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating. • 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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 13
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Little
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Mountain biking
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, $14 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
13 sites
All 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.
| Hinman Campground | 1 | type not stated | |
| Hinman Campground | 10 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 11 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 12 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 13 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 2 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 3 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 4 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 5 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 6 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 7 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 8 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
| Hinman Campground | 9 | standard nonelectric | $14 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Seedhouse CampgroundRoutt National Forest · 3.9 mi
Seedhouse Guard StationRoutt National Forest · 3.9 mi
Seedhouse Group Site - Medicine-Bow Routt NF (CO)Routt National Forest · 5.7 mi
Hahns Peak Lake Campground - Medicine-Bow Routt NF (CO)Routt National Forest · 10 mi
Dry Lake Campground (CO)Routt National Forest · 15 mi
Summit Lake CampgroundRoutt National Forest · 16 miFrom downtown Steamboat Springs, Colorado, take U.S. Highway 40 west and turn right on Routt County Road 129, locally known as Elk River Road. Continue north 17 miles, cross the Elk River just beyond the Clark Store, and turn right along the river on RCR 64, which becomes Forest Road 400/Seedhouse Road. Continue for 6 miles. Turn right, south on Forest Road 440 over the bridge on the south fork of the Elk River about 1 mile to Hinman 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 Steamboat Springs, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 26°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 5°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
Hinman Campground (CO) is in Colorado’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Joe Neguse (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →