Lone Rock Campground (CO)
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $28From, per site
- Sites
- 1917 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lone Rock Campground, located along the South Platte River, boasts spectacular views and top-notch fly fishing waters. Hikers thoroughly enjoy the nearby Gill Trail and kayakers are drawn to the rapids of the rushing river. Wildlife viewing is rewarding here and campers may spot moose, mule deer, owls, golden eagles and more. Keep reading
Recreation
Anglers flock to the river, renowned for rainbow and brown trout fishing. Tubing is also a popular activity. The Gill Trail is an intermediate hike that weaves through Cheesman Canyon. The trailhead is near the campground and extends 7 miles southwest to the Cheesman Dam at Cheesman Lake.
Facilities
Amenities include two vault toilets and drinking water from a community hydrant. Parking aprons and roads are paved, and each campsite has a picnic table and campfire ring. No RV hookups are available. Services include trash collection and firewood is available for sale.
Natural Features
The campground is situated on a hillside rising up from the South Platte River at an elevation of 6,479 feet. Many sites are open and feature a view of the river. Privacy is minimal but ponderosa pines provide some shade. Temperatures are generally mild.
Nearby Attractions
The drive along Highway 126 from Pine Junction affords magnificent views of the valleys below. Pikes Peak can be seen in the distance and other prominent rock formations present themselves throughout the scenic drive. Limited groceries are available in the town of Decker. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (303) 647-2366.
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
Please bring garbage bags; this is a 'pack in-pack out' facility
Thunderstorms are common; take extra precautions for lightning
This is a high elevation facility, please use caution when traveling from lower elevations
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating
Vehicles must fit on parking spur
No firearms or fireworks
No RV hookups are available
For more information on Pike and San Isabel National Forests, click here
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
- 19 · 1 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- 9 of 19
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…Lake. Facilities Amenities include two vault toilets and drinking water from a community hydrant.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…Amenities include two vault toilets and drinking water from a community hydrant. Parking aprons and roads…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 490th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 11 days ago, 38 km away
- No change
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:49 UTC
recreation.gov lists 17 of the 19 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $28 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 15:49 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
19 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 17 mapped sitesAll 19 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 19 of the 19 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 17 of the 19 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| LONE | 001 | type not stated | 35 ft | 416 ft | 207 ft | |||
| LONE | 002 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 32 ft | 326 ft | 182 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 003 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 90 ft | 108 ft | 279 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 004 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 69 ft | 135 ft | 195 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 005 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 18 ft | 181 ft | 128 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 006 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 58 ft | 177 ft | 57 ft | $28 |
| LONE | 007 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 54 ft | 169 ft | 66 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 008 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 56 ft | 166 ft | 102 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 009 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 61 ft | 161 ft | 94 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 010 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 61 ft | 179 ft | 47 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 011 | type not stated | 35 ft | 189 ft | 40 ft | |||
| LONE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 63 ft | 228 ft | 39 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 57 ft | 252 ft | 56 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 014 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 45 ft | 223 ft | 35 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 015 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 45 ft | 228 ft | 78 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 016 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 18 ft | 199 ft | 115 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 017 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 78 ft | 198 ft | 193 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 018 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 32 ft | 297 ft | 164 ft | $28 | |
| LONE | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 67 ft | 380 ft | 169 ft | $28 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Kelsey CampgroundPike National Forest · 4.8 mi
OuzelPike National Forest · 5.4 miDevils Head CampgroundPike National Forest · 7.1 mi
Meadows Group CampgroundPike National Forest · 7.1 miFrom Denver, Colorado, take Highway 285 southwest to Pine Junction, Colorado. Turn south on Jefferson County 126 and travel 28 miles. Look for signs into campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Westcreek, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 14°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
Lone Rock Campground (CO) is in Colorado’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Lauren Boebert (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →