Ohaver Lake
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $28–$56Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 32All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Forest Service wants your opinion on reserving sites at O’Haver Lake Campground. Please take a moment to fill out a brief survey at: https://forms.office.com/g/zFknf0tZbS O'Haver Lake Campground sits at an elevation of 9,200 feet, with ponderosa pines and aspen. It is located on the shores of O'Haver Lake. This facility has 31 sites and is a very popular destination that is often full on the weekends. "First come, first served" does not necessarily mean that the site will be available when you get there. Someone may get there before you. This is a popular campground and is normally full starting on Friday, sometimes as early as Thursday, so plan accordingly. Keep reading
Recreation
There is an accessible fishing pier and non-motorized watercraft can be used to seek rainbow and brook trout on O'Haver Lake. If using non-motorized watercraft please be courteous to those who are fishing.
Facilities
Vault toilets and trash collection and campground host are provided. Firewood is sold on site. Sites #1-5, 7 ,13,21,23 and 24 are first-come, first-served, "Walk-up" sites. All other sites are reservable. Site #6 is used by the host from mid-May through September. After that time it is available as a "walk-up", first-come, first-served site.
Natural Features
This area attracts many campers for fishing, bird watching and canoeing on the calm, pleasant lake. Ponderosa pines provide a fresh vanilla scent in the mountain air and aspens please visitors with golden foliage displays in autumn. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
The historic Denver and Rio Grande railroad grade traveled from Salida, southwest to the summit of Marshall Pass. The grade travels along County Road 200 above O'Haver Lake. This is a very popular mountain biking route with cyclists traveling from Monarch Pass to Marshall Pass on the Crest trail and then traveling down the railroad grade into Poncha Springs. Silver Creek, Starvation Creek, Poncha Creek and the Rainbow Trail are also nearby trails. Shirley Site is located off of Highway 285 and County Road 200 just below Poncha Pass. Shirley got its name during the 1880's when it served as a busy construction camp for men building the Denver and Rio Grande rail line over Marshall Pass to the ore-rich mines in Gunnison. By summer of 1881, Shirley boasted 14 large business tents, most of which were saloons and dance halls. Little remains of the town of Shirley except the coal stained railbed that can be seen just north of the Shirley site parking area. Shirley Site is a popular staging area for OHV riders and mountain bikers during the summer months and snowmobilers during winter.
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
Double sites are not eligible for Senior or Access Pass discounts, this includes sites 11 and 12.
Access road to campground has sharp curves; drive with caution
This is a high elevation facility, please use caution when traveling from lower elevations. Thunderstorms are common; take extra precautions for lightning
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Be bear aware; keep all food and other attractants out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle when not in use.
Maximum 8 persons per site: (2) tents (must be on tent pad or parking pad) and (2) vehicles or (1) RV and (1) vehicle per site is included in the camping fee. Vehicles must fit on parking spur. Parking is limited; a $10.00 fee will be charged for extra vehicles.
No firearms or fireworks
No RV hookups are available. No dumping waste water.
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.
Non-motorized watercraft only. Please be courteous to those who are fishing.
If reservations are not available, some campsites are first come-first served, also called "Walk-up" sites. First-come, first-served sites must be occupied the SAME NIGHT they are paid for. These sites usually fill Friday evenings and through the weekends. Due to the remote nature of campgrounds, calling to check availability prior to arrival is not possible.
Campers who are unable to find a campsite at this facility may disperse, primitive camp in the area near Poncha Creek, Silver Creek and off the Marshal Pass road. Practice leave-no-trace (www.lnt.org) camping principles when dispersed camping.
Dogs must be LEASHED and CLEANUP after your pet. Do not leave dogs unattended in vehicles, RV’s or tents.
Firewood is available for sale at host site for $10.00/bundle.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 32 · 3 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 30 of 32 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…to those who are fishing. Facilities Vault toilets and trash collection and campground host are…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Non-Motorized Boating
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 · 15
What you actually pay
“a $10.00 fee will be charged for extra vehicles.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $28–$56 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 · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
32 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 32 mapped sites3 sites share one published coordinate and are left out of the rankings.
All 32 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. 32 of the 32 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| OHAV | 001 | standard nonelectric | 95 ft | 530 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 002 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 432 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 003 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 436 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 004 | standard nonelectric | 82 ft | 339 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 005 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 267 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 006 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 220 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 007 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 162 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 008 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 200 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 009 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 89 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 010 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 69 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 011 | standard nonelectric | 296 ft | 75 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 012 | standard nonelectric | 296 ft | 81 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 013 | standard nonelectric | 97 ft | 258 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 014 | standard nonelectric | 88 ft | 242 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 015 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 233 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 016 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 210 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 017 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 231 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 018 | tent only nonelectric | 204 ft | $28 | |
| OHAV | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 205 ft | $28 | |
| OHAV | 020 | tent only nonelectric | 203 ft | $28 | |
| OHAV | 021 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 229 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 022 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 218 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 023 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 245 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 024 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 225 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 025 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 248 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 026 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 230 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 027 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 242 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 028 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 208 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 029 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 189 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 030 | standard nonelectric | 57 ft | 181 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 031 | standard nonelectric | 57 ft | 170 ft | $28–$56 |
| OHAV | 032 | standard nonelectric | 281 ft | 64 ft | $28–$56 |
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.
25 of 32 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Brewery Creek Guard StationSan Luis Valley Field Office · 9.7 miSalida East CampgroundRoyal Gorge Field Office · 11 mi
Angel of Shavano GroupSan Isabel National Forest · 12 mi
Monarch ParkSan Isabel National Forest · 12 miAngel of ShavanoSan Isabel National Forest · 12 miBrowns Grotto CampgroundRoyal Gorge Field Office · 15 miFrom Salida, Colorado: Travel west on Highway 50 to Poncha Springs. Turn south on Hwy 285 and travel for 5 miles. Turn right onto County Road 200 and continue for 2.3 miles. Turn west on County Road 202 and proceed 2.5 miles.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Poncha Springs, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 25°F, day 54°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night -8°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Ohaver Lake is in Colorado’s 7th congressional district. Its representative, Brittany Pettersen (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →