Junction Creek Campground
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $30–$78Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 44All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 1 – September 30Open May 1 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Junction Creek Campground is located close to Durango, Colo., near the beginning of the Colorado Trail. Visitors enjoy the area for its excellent hiking and biking opportunities in a scenic natural setting. Keep reading
Recreation
The Colorado Trail, also known as the Junction Creek Trail, begins nearby and stretches almost 500 miles to Denver as it rises through subalpine forests and alpine meadows above the timberline. Mountain biking is very popular on the Colorado Trail and the Logchute Trail System, which is nearby. Junction Creek offers fishing for rainbow and brook trout. Skilled anglers may have luck near the campground, but chances improve upstream.
Facilities
The campground offers single- and double-family campsites, many with electric hookups. A group campsite is available that can accommodate up to 50 people. An accessible large-group, day-use picnic shelter, with electricity, can accommodate up to 65 people. Group sites are equipped with picnic tables, serving tables, campfire rings and grills and have access to a volleyball court and horseshoe pits. Single and double sites have tables and campfire rings. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
The campground is situated on a south-facing hillside, a quarter-mile above Junction Creek. A forest of ponderosa pine and gambel oak covers the campground, which sits at an elevation of 7,300 feet.
Nearby Attractions
Haviland Lake is a 35-minute drive from the campground. The 80-acre, no-wake lake offers boating, canoeing and fishing opportunities. Accessible fishing docks are located on the lakeshore. The small town of Durango is just minutes away, offering whitewater rafting, a river trail, shops and restaurants. It is also home to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
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. Group Sites Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use 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
The extended summer season will continue starting 9/27 through 10/18/2025, FCFS only campsites. No Water will be available during this time. Please plan accordingly. Restrooms and trash service will still be available. Host onsite.
This is bear country; please practice safe food storage techniques
For general information about the San Juan National Forest, please call (970) 884-2512. Campsite availability is not available at this phone number
Everything else this campground posts · 4
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
Nearest RV Dump Stations: Speedway Convenience Store, 20453 Hwy 160, Durango, CO 81301 Cortez RV Dump, 110 West Progress Circle, Cortez, CO 81321, 970-565-7320, Open May 1 to October 30
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 44 · 1 group
- Hookups
- 14 electric
- Longest rig
- 65 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 2 of 45 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- WATER SPIGOT on 2 of 45 campsite records
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 404th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 9 days ago, 34 km away
- Patchy color
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:38 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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 · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$78 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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:38 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
45 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 30 mapped sitesAll 45 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 44 of the 45 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| JUNCTION CREEK | G01 | day use | 14 ft | 15 amp | yes | 504 ft | $150 | |
| JUNCTION CREEK | G02 | group standard nonelectric | 14 ft | yes | 644 ft | 449 ft | $125 | |
| Loop B | 01 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop B | 03 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop B | 04 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop B | 06 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop B | 07 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 01 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 94 ft | 1,102 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 02 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 94 ft | 1,044 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 03 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 73 ft | 834 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 04 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 67 ft | 780 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 05 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 73 ft | 777 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 06 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 67 ft | 723 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 07 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 93 ft | 630 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 08 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 61 ft | 585 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 09 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 61 ft | 610 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 10 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 11 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 100 ft | 655 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop C | 12 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 13 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 14 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 15 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 16 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop C | 17 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop D | 01 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 207 ft | 1,047 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop D | 02 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 166 ft | 1,043 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop D | 03 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 111 ft | 1,204 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop D | 04 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 111 ft | 1,289 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop D | 05 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 218 ft | 1,308 ft | $30–$60 | ||
| Loop E | 01 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 98 ft | 1,278 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 02 | standard electric | 37 ft | 50 amp | 98 ft | 1,374 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 03 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 143 ft | 1,285 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 04 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 135 ft | 1,331 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 05 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 106 ft | 1,461 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 06 | standard electric | 20 ft | 50 amp | 96 ft | 1,571 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 07 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 96 ft | 1,509 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 08 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 154 ft | 1,725 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 09 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 100 ft | 1,498 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 10 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 100 ft | 1,595 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 11 | standard electric | 35 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 1,511 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 12 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 1,602 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 13 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 114 ft | 1,488 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 14 | standard electric | 46 ft | 50 amp | 139 ft | 1,536 ft | $43–$78 | |
| Loop E | 15 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 | ||||
| Loop E | 16 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $30–$60 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 45 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
SnowslideSan Juan National Forest · 9.3 mi
KroegerSan Juan National Forest · 9.3 mi
Chris ParkSan Juan National Forest · 14 mi
Miller CreekSan Juan National Forest · 15 mi
Haviland Lake CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 15 miFrom Main Street in Durango, travel west on 25th Street (across from the fairgrounds entrance) for just over three miles, to the forest boundary. Continue just over a mile to the campground entrance. The day-use area loops to the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Durango, CO
Typical weather
Typical May night 37°F, day 71°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 37°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
Junction Creek 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 →