Pickle Gulch
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- Sites
- 6All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pickle Gulch is a group picnic and camping facility located just off the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway/Highway 119. Visitors enjoy the area for its scenic and off-road driving, and nearby hiking and fishing opportunities. Keep reading
Recreation
Many hiking and biking trails are found nearby. Scenic driving is available along Highways 119 and 72, which is also known as the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway. Numerous creeks, rivers and lakes in the area provide fishing opportunities. Off-road enthusiasts will find many jeep roads in the vicinity.
Facilities
Pickle Gulch is an area that offers day-use picnic sites and six campsites to accommodate large groups. The picnic site can accommodate up to 150 people and is equipped with picnic tables and campfire circles. A parking area, vault toilets and a playground are provided. The group campsites are all walk-to sites for tent camping only. Each campsite is equipped with picnic tables, a campfire circle and tent pads. Vault toilets and drinking water spigots are shared between sites. A separate day-use area contains two volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, picnic tables and a vault toilet. Firewood may be gathered from the surrounding forest, if available, or purchased from the host.
Natural Features
The site offers many scenic views of the surrounding area. It is set among a fairly level forest of lodgepole pine trees, dotted with aspens. Due to the mountain pine beetle infestation and removal of hazardous trees, there may be little to no shade at these sites.
Nearby Attractions
The historic mining town of Central City is nearby. The town hosts various popular events, including Lou Bunch Day and the Central City Opera and Jazz festivals. Golden Gate Canyon State Park is a short drive from the campground. This scenic park offers more than 35 miles of hiking trails. Mountain biking and horseback riding are also allowed on some trails. Every stream and pond within the park is open to fishing. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (970) 234-1110.
Charges & Cancellations
Modifications for this campground must be made through Recreation.gov or by calling the call center at 1-877-444-6777 PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.
What the agency tells you
No RV water connections are available.
This is bear country! For bear and human safety, keep a clean campsite and do not place food or other attractants in your tent. For more information about visiting bear country, contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife at http://wildlife.state.co.us
Reservations are required for any camping at the site
Everything else this campground posts · 10
RVs are not permitted past the parking area
Utility hookups and electricity are not available
https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp for more information on the Arapaho and Roosevelt 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.
All campsites must be occupied within 26 hours of the beginning of the reservation. If not present the site will be rented by first come first serve basis.
EXTRA VEHICLE FEES: One vehicle is included in your reservation. Any additional vehicles will be charged $8.00 per vehicle per night and will be collected by the camphost. There is not a way to pay for extra vehicles when you make your reservation. One vehicle consists of one camper being towed by vehicle, or any other vehicle towed behind camper. One van or one truck with camper attached counts as one vehicle.
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
Pets must be on a hand-held leash at all times.
Modifications for this campground must be made through Recreation.gov PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.
Check-Out is at 12 P.M. Check-In is at 2 P.M.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 6 · 6 walk-in, 6 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…and campfire circles. A parking area, vault toilets and a playground are provided. The group campsites…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…circle and tent pads. Vault toilets and drinking water spigots are shared between sites. A separate…”
- Playground
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Scenic drives
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 11 km away
- Peak color
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 · 13
What you actually pay
“Any additional vehicles will be charged $8.00 per vehicle per night and will be collected by the camphost.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
“Modifications for this campground must be made through Recreation.gov or by calling the call center at 1-877-444-6777 PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.” · this campground’s own 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
7 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 6 mapped sitesAll 7 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 7 of the 7 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. 6 of the 7 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.
| Day Use Only Picnic Site | 001A Day Use | day use | 543 ft | 197 ft | $193–$263 | |
| Grp 1 | 001 | group walk to | 57 ft | 346 ft | 151 ft | $69–$92 |
| Grp 2 | 002 | group walk to | 57 ft | 402 ft | 117 ft | $69–$92 |
| Grp 3 | 003 | group walk to | 61 ft | 462 ft | 119 ft | $69–$92 |
| Grp 4 | 004 | group walk to | 65 ft | 535 ft | 179 ft | $69–$92 |
| Grp 5 | 005 | group walk to | 61 ft | 549 ft | 239 ft | $69–$92 |
| Grp 6 | 006 | group walk to | 61 ft | 505 ft | 258 ft | $69–$92 |
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.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cold Springs - Arapaho Roosevelt NF (CO)Arapaho National Forest · 1.5 miCold Springs CampgroundArapaho National Forest · 1.5 mi
Columbine CampgroundArapaho National Forest · 2.5 mi
Kelly DahlRoosevelt National Forest · 6.3 mi
Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain Fire LookoutArapaho National Forest · 11 miRainbow Lakes CampgroundRoosevelt National Forest · 12 miFrom Interstate 25 in Denver, travel west on 6th Avenue to State Highway 6 and continue through Clear Creek Canyon. Turn on State Highway 119 toward Black Hawk and Central City. Follow the highway 4 miles north of Black Hawk, to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Black Hawk, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 52°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 15°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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Pickle Gulch 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 →