Printer Boy
1Heads up1 fire 5.6 mi away
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- Sites
- 4All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Printer Boy Group Campground is located near Turquoise Lake, in an area with plenty of recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing and hiking. Keep reading
Recreation
Hikers enjoy the 1.2-mile Turquoise Lake Nature Trail. The gentle path meanders through the forest and down to the shoreline of Turquoise Lake where it connects with the 6.4-mile Turquoise Lake Trail. Trail guides are available at the Turquoise Lake Trail trailhead, located at the entrance to Molly Brown Campground. On the lake, boating, sailing, canoeing and fishing are favorite activities. Anglers fish for stocked cutthroat, rainbow, brown and lake trout. A boat ramp is located nearby. The campground offers a playground, ball fields, horseshoe pits and a volleyball court. Campers must bring their own sports equipment.
Facilities
Printer Boy offers four group sites: 1 can accommodate up to 50 people; 2 and 3 can accommodate up to 30 people; 4 can accommodate up to 75 people. Sites 3 and 4 are accessible. Each site is equipped with picnic tables, a campfire circle and grill. A centrally-located cooking shelter is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Vault toilets and trash collection are provided. A dump station located just outside the campground is CLOSED (2024).
Natural Features
The campground is situated within walking distance of the lakeshore in a forest of lodgepole pine and subalpine fir. The Mount Massive Wilderness area, a 30,540 acre stretch of primitive land is nearby. Much of the wilderness is above timberline with many alpine plant communities and permanent snowfields. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
The nearby town of Leadville, a historic gold and silver mining town, is worth visiting for its small town charm. Venture to Independence Pass for a scenic drive with breathtaking views of the Rockies and surrounding alpine tundra habitat. At 12,095 feet, it is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the country and marks where the Top of the Rockies National Scenic and Historic Byway crosses the Continental Divide.
Charges & Cancellations
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
Update: Water will not be available at this campground in 2026. Please bring enough water for your needs, including water to fully extinguish your campfire. Check back here to see if there are any changes. Also, the RV Dump Stations at both White Star CG and Printer Boy CG will remain closed this season.
Check in: 2 pm, Check out: 12 pm (noon)
Sites 1 & 4 can accommodate up to 50 people. Sites 2 & 3 can accommodate up to 30 people.
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Be bear aware. Do not leave any food unattended at your site. Lock inside your vehicle or RV.
OHVs, ATVs, and dirt bikes may not be operated in any campground
Firearms and fireworks are not permitted.
No hookups available.
This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations
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.
Click here for more information on Pike and San Isabel National Forests
Firewood for sale - $10.00/bundle
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 4 · 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…on a first-come, first-served basis. Vault toilets and trash collection are provided. A dump station…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 400th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 11 days ago, 19 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 · 12
What you actually pay
“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 are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes an…” · 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
4 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 4 mapped sitesAll 4 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 4 of the 4 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. 4 of the 4 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Baby DoeSan Isabel National Forest · 0.2 mi
Molly BrownSan Isabel National Forest · 0.3 miBelle of ColoradoSan Isabel National Forest · 0.3 mi
Father DyerSan Isabel National Forest · 0.3 mi
Silver DollarSan Isabel National Forest · 0.6 miTaborSan Isabel National Forest · 0.7 miFrom Leadville, Colorado, drive west on County Road 4 and follow signs to the Turquoise Lake Recreation Area.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Leadville North, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 24°F, day 51°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 3°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
Printer Boy 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 →