Sand Gulch Campground
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 29 of the next 30 nights read 15:32 UTC
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 31All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
With easy walking access to sport rock climbing routes in the popular Shelf Road Recreation Area, Sand Gulch Campground is a 31-site camping facility, open year-round. The campground is located 14 miles north of Cañon City at an approximate elevation of 6,400 feet and features spectacular views of the surrounding limestone cliffs. Keep reading
Recreation
Sand Gulch Campground offers sport climbers easy walk-in access to tall monolithic cliffs. Climbers can access Contest and Freeform Walls with bolted routes via the Sand Gulch trails. A variety of other recreation opportunities easily accessed from the campground include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding as well as 4wd routes. In addition to campsites, Sand Gulch Campground offers a small day-use parking area for recreationalists.
Facilities
Sand Gulch campground has 29 individual sites, two group sites, and two vault toilets. Individual sites are limited to 2 vehicles and 8 people. The group site is limited to 4 vehicles and 20 people. Each campsite includes a parking space, a metal fire ring and picnic table. Many sites are designed for tent or van camping. Large camp trailers are accommodated best in pull- through campsites 5, 7, 11 (see map). Drinking water, electric hook-ups and trash service are not available at Sand Gulch Campground. Please bring your own water and firewood. Plan to take your trash with you when you leave.
Natural Features
Sand Gulch Campground and the surrounding area is well known amongst rock climbers and outdoor enthusiasts for the long bands of limestone cliffs dominating the landscape. Stunning rock features paired with the piñon pine and juniper vegetation, enhance the dramatic vistas and a picturesque camping environment.
Nearby Attractions
The region around Shelf Road offers numerous attractions and recreation opportunities. Popular activities include visiting the Royal Gorge via the Royal Gorge Bridge, the Royal Gorge Train, hiking trails or a rafting trip with one of a number of river outfitters. The Arkansas River offers whitewater rafting as well as outstanding angling. There are numerous trails for all activities in the region as well as agricultural and heritage tours along the Gold Belt National Scenic Byway. The local communities offer a range of shopping and dining experiences. Visit the Royal Gorge Region web page for more information about local attractions: Explore - Royal Gorge Region: royalgorgeregion.com
What the agency tells you
There are no hookup services, no trash collection services and no potable water.
Bring your own drinking water.
Maximum length of stay is 14 days.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Individual campsites are limited to 8 people and 2 vehicles per site. Group campsites are limited to 20 people and 4 vehicles per site.
Campsites are various sizes, some are smaller and designed to accommodate tent or van camping. Sites 1-16 accommodate longer trailer units (5, 7, 11 are pull through sites).
No overnight camping in day use parking areas.
Fires are only allowed in BLM approved metal fire rings, do not build rock fire rings. Bring your own firewood.
Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. This includes, but not limited to, generators, music, loud voices, and loud pets.
Generators during non-quiet hours are highly discouraged, for the consideration of other campers.
Sites 1-15 and Group Sites are Reservation Only, Sites 16-29 are First Come, First Serve, pay at the Pay Station at the entrance. Reservations can be made the day of. Cellphone Coverage is limited, it's recomended that you make your reservation before arriving.
Check-in time is 1:00 pm. Check-out time is 11:00 am.
Please keep your reservation number on hand for reference.
During the months of June, July and August, the extreme heat and the presence of pinon gnats, flies, ants and other insects can make camping during these months unpleasant. It’s advised to plan accordingly if you plan to camp during this time of the year.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 31 · 2 walk-in, 2 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 99 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…sites, two group sites, and two vault toilets. Individual sites are limited to 2 vehicles and 8…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…at Sand Gulch Campground. Please bring your own water and firewood. Plan to take your trash with you when…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Climbing
- Scenic drives
- Night sky · 463rd darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 7 days ago, 16 km away
- Peak color
Full this Saturdayread 15:32 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedNot reservable
Every one of the 15 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 17 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 15:32 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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 15:32 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
31 sites
All 31 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. 29 of the 31 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Sand Gulch | 1 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 10 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 11 | standard nonelectric | 99 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 12 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 13 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 14 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 15 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 16 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | $20 |
| Sand Gulch | 17 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 18 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 19 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 2 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 20 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 21 | walk to | 15 ft | ||
| Sand Gulch | 22 | walk to | 20 ft | ||
| Sand Gulch | 23 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 24 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 25 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 26 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 27 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 28 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 29 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 3 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 4 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 5 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 6 | standard nonelectric | 85 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 7 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 8 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | 9 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | $20 | |
| Sand Gulch | Group Site 1 | group standard nonelectric | $40 | ||
| Sand Gulch | Group Site 2 | group standard nonelectric | $40 |
25 of 31 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
The Bank CampgroundRoyal Gorge Field Office · 0.8 miFive Points CampgroundRoyal Gorge Field Office · 18 miCrags CampgroundPike National Forest · 19 miThe CragsPike National Forest · 19 mi
Spillway CampgroundPike National Forest · 24 mi
Cove CampgroundPike National Forest · 24 miFrom Highway 50 in Cañon City, Take Dozier Avenue north following it as it turns west. At the four-way stop sign turn right on Field Avenue and follow it north until it turns into CR 9. In approximately 10 miles, take a left turn at the sign for Sand Gulch Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Victor, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 65°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 19°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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Sand Gulch Campground 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 →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyBrittany PettersenU.S. Representative · Colorado’s 7th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJohn W. HickenlooperU.S. Senator · Colorado
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMichael F. BennetU.S. Senator · Colorado
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Sand Gulch Campground, Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado
Dear Brittany Pettersen, I’m a constituent in Colorado’s 7th district. I tried to camp at Sand Gulch Campground, Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 31 sites at Sand Gulch Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 15 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Sand Gulch Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sand Gulch Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Sand Gulch Campground (Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Sand Gulch Campground, Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado
Dear John W. Hickenlooper, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I tried to camp at Sand Gulch Campground, Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 31 sites at Sand Gulch Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 15 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Sand Gulch Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sand Gulch Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Sand Gulch Campground (Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Sand Gulch Campground, Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado
Dear Michael F. Bennet, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I tried to camp at Sand Gulch Campground, Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 31 sites at Sand Gulch Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 15 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Sand Gulch Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sand Gulch Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Sand Gulch Campground (Royal Gorge Field Office, Colorado) via campanac.com