Saddlehorn Campground
1Heads uppark alert
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $22From, per site
- Sites
- 7929 of them walk-up
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Saddlehorn Campground is located within Colorado National Monument which preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West. Much more than a monument, towering monoliths exist within a vast plateau and canyon panorama. You can experience sheer-walled, red rock canyons along the twists and turns of Rim Rock Drive, where you may spy bighorn sheep and soaring eagles. Keep reading
Recreation
Colorado National Monument is famous in cycling communities for its majestic views and challenging climbs, but Historic Rim Rock Drive is also a popular motor tour. Hikers flock to the miles of maintained trails, photographers come year round to capture the spectacular views, and geologists study the unique landscape for its scientific value. Climbers come for the towering sandstone, and wildlife lovers may spot Desert Bighorn sheep, golden eagles, collared lizards, and many other special creatures.
Facilities
Saddlehorn Campground is located near the Saddlehorn Visitor Center, four miles from the west entrance (near Fruita, Colorado) and nineteen miles from the east entrance (near Grand Junction, Colorado), and is the only established campground within the Monument. There are 79 campsites with three camping loops within the Saddlehorn Campground (Loops A, B, and C). Loop A is typically open early April through the end of October. Loop A will remain on a "day of" reservation basis for the summer due to need for scheduled maintenance. All "day-of" reservation sites open at 8AM mountain time on the day of. Loop B is open year-round. Outer loop sites are reservable 6 months in advance, inner loop sites are reservable 2 weeks in advance. Loop C is open early May through mid/late October, weather dependent. Sites 52-69 are reservable on a day of basis, while sites 70-80 are reservable up to two weeks in advance. All "day-of" reservation sites open at 8AM mountain time on the day of. Reservations can be made via www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Due to size of the campground, vehicles longer than 40 feet cannot be accomodated--this includes tow vehicle AND trailer. Restrooms have flush toilets and water available during the summer, and each site has a picnic table and charcoal-only grill. There are no electric hookups, fill or dump stations, or showers. There are three tunnels on Rim Rock Drive . There are two tunnels on the west side and one on the east side of the park; the campground sits between the east and west tunnels. Heights: The clearance above the lanes of traffic ranges from a low point of 10'6" near the edge of the curb to a maximum of 16' above the centerline of the road. Vehicles must be able to stay in their lane; vehicles may not cross the centerline without a pilot vehicle. For a group of 15 people or more, do not book through recreation.gov. Contact the park at 970-858-2800 or colm_campground@nps.gov to make group reservations.
Natural Features
The campground is nestled within large red rock formations, with pinyon and juniper trees providing adequate shade. There are spectacular views of the Grand Valley to the northwest, and some of the park's most scenic monoliths and canyons to the southeast Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (970) 858-2800.
Nearby Attractions
The cities of Grand Junction, Fruita, and Palisade boast many urban and agricultural attractions, but there are also abundant recreation areas surrounding the Monument. Among these are McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, James M. Robb Colorado River State Park, Highline Lake State Park, and many Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service areas.
What the agency tells you
For a group of 15 people or more, do not book through recreation.gov. Contact the park at 970-858-2800 or colm_campground@nps.gov to make group reservations.
No wood fires or wood gathering permitted. Cook in charcoal grills and camp stoves only when no fire restrictions are in place.
Hammocks, tarps, tents and all other camping equipment cannot be attached to trees or vegetation.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
No generators from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. in Loops A & B. The campground prohibits generators in Loop C. Quiet Hours are 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
The campground cannot accomodate vehicles longer than 40 feet (12 m). This includes the tow vehicle and trailer. Maximum vehicle length in Loop C is 19 feet (5.7 m).
There are three tunnels on Rim Rock Drive: two tunnels on the west side and one on the east side of the park. The campground sits between the east and west tunnels. Heights: The clearance above the lanes of traffic ranges from a low point of 10'6" (3.2 m) near the edge of the curb to a maximum of 16' (4.8 m) above the centerline of the road. Vehicles must be able to stay in their lane and may not cross the center line without a pilot vehicle.
Do not fill camper/RV tanks from campground water faucets. The nearest Dump Station is at the Colorado Welcome Center in Fruita.
Reserved campsites will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival.
Pets must be on a leash at all times. Pets are not allowed on trails, only paved surfaces.
Bicycles are allowed on paved surfaces only. Bicyclists must have front and rear lights on inside the tunnels.
No Fireworks.
From late October to late March, Loop A and C will be closed for the season.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 79
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- 4 of 79
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Little
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Amphitheater
- Biking
- Birding
- Cross Country Skiing
- Educational Programs
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Ranger programs
- Ranger Station
- Climbing
- Scenic drives
- Stargazing
- Wildlife viewing
- Tree cover
- 12%
- Night sky · 481st darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 4
Fully booked this Friday and Saturday, all 92 site-nights takenread 16:43 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 42 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 25 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 16:43 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
These counts cover the 80 reservable sites only. This campground also has first-come sites, and recreation.gov publishes no availability for a site you can’t reserve.
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 · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $22 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.
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:43 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
80 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 50 mapped sitesAll 80 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. 79 of the 80 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 01 Host | host pad | 59 ft | $11 | |||
| A | 02 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 87 ft | 4,381 ft | $22 |
| A | 03 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 71 ft | 4,447 ft | $22 | |
| A | 04 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 59 ft | 4,414 ft | $22 | |
| A | 05 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 59 ft | 4,356 ft | $22 |
| A | 06 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 67 ft | 4,396 ft | $22 | |
| A | 07 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 67 ft | 4,358 ft | $22 | |
| A | 08 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 97 ft | 4,276 ft | $22 | |
| A | 09 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 51 ft | 4,226 ft | $22 | |
| A | 10 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 51 ft | 4,181 ft | $22 | |
| A | 11 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 59 ft | 4,167 ft | $22 | |
| A | 12 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 59 ft | 4,219 ft | $22 | |
| A | 13 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 54 ft | 4,189 ft | $22 | |
| A | 14 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 54 ft | 4,241 ft | $22 | |
| A | 15 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 55 ft | 4,216 ft | $22 | |
| A | 16 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 55 ft | 4,270 ft | $22 | |
| A | 17 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 ft | 4,252 ft | $22 | |
| A | 18 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 50 ft | 4,301 ft | $22 | |
| A | 19 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 53 ft | 4,292 ft | $22 | |
| A | 20 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 53 ft | 4,345 ft | $22 | |
| B | 21 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 76 ft | 4,264 ft | $22 | |
| B | 22 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 66 ft | 4,197 ft | $22 | |
| B | 23 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 58 ft | 4,131 ft | $22 | |
| B | 24 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 58 ft | 4,160 ft | $22 | |
| B | 25 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 56 ft | 4,092 ft | $22 | |
| B | 26 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 56 ft | 4,130 ft | $22 | |
| B | 27 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 58 ft | 4,063 ft | $22 | |
| B | 28 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 58 ft | 4,095 ft | $22 | |
| B | 29 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 4,036 ft | $22 | |
| B | 30 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 54 ft | 4,080 ft | $22 | |
| B | 31 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 62 ft | 4,012 ft | $22 | |
| B | 32 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 62 ft | 4,062 ft | $22 | |
| B | 33 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 72 ft | 4,020 ft | $22 | |
| B | 34 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 55 ft | 3,968 ft | $22 | |
| B | 35 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 55 ft | 3,936 ft | $22 | |
| B | 36 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 60 ft | 3,876 ft | $22 | |
| B | 37 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 85 ft | 3,840 ft | $22 | |
| B | 38 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 72 ft | 3,924 ft | $22 | |
| B | 39 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 54 ft | 3,864 ft | $22 | |
| B | 40 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 54 ft | 3,913 ft | $22 | |
| B | 41 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 45 ft | 3,940 ft | $22 | |
| B | 42 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 45 ft | 3,897 ft | $22 | |
| B | 43 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 83 ft | 3,930 ft | $22 | |
| B | 44 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 77 ft | 3,990 ft | $22 | |
| B | 45 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 84 ft | 3,967 ft | $22 | |
| B | 46 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 ft | 4,037 ft | $22 | |
| B | 47 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 85 ft | 4,045 ft | $22 | |
| B | 48 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 ft | 4,081 ft | $22 | |
| B | 49 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 80 ft | 4,136 ft | $22 | |
| B | 50 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 66 ft | 4,147 ft | $22 | |
| B | 51 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 80 ft | 4,216 ft | $22 | |
| C | 52 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 53 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 54 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 55 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 56 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 57 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 58 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 59 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 60 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 61 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 62 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 63 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 64 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 65 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 66 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 67 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 68 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 69 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 70 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | $22 | ||
| C | 71 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 72 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 73 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 74 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 75 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 76 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 77 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 78 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 79 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 | |||
| C | 80 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $22 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 80 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
North Fruita Desert CampgroundGrand Junction Field Office · 16 miKnowles Overlook CampgroundMcinnis Canyons National Conservation Area · 16 miWestbound on Highway I-70 towards Grand Junction: take Exit 31 (Horizon Drive). Follow signs through Grand Junction to the park's east entrance. The visitor center and campground are 19 miles (30 km) from the east entrance.
Eastbound on Highway I-70 (Fruita): Take Exit 19. Turn south on Highway 340 to the park's west entrance, which is approximately three miles (5 km) from Fruita. The visitor center and campground are four miles (6 km) beyond the west entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Redlands, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 66°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 21°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
Saddlehorn 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 →