Seedhouse Campground
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $26From, per site
- Sites
- 2423 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Seedhouse Campground is a gateway to the Mount Zirkel Wilderness along the Elk River with plenty of opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding, camping, off highway vehicles, hunting, fishing, river rafting and more. At an elevation of 8,000 feet, Seedhouse Campground lies in the mountains of the Park Range near the Middle Fork of the Elk River. The Middle Fork of the Elk River is so close, campground visitors can hear its roar. Campers can access the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail via a connector trail nearby. There are 24 campsites, 15 of which may be reserved. Remaining sites are first-come, first-served. There are two hand pump water systems throughout the campground. Keep reading
Recreation
Seedhouse is located near Mount Zirkel Wilderness and provides a great gateway for hiking and biking. Trout fishing is accessible on the river as well as several mountain streams. Campers can access the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail via a connector trail nearby.
Facilities
There are 24 campsites, 15 of which may be reserved. Remaining sites are first-come, first-served. Each site is spacious and equipped with a campfire ring and picnic table. There are two hand pump water systems throughout the campground.
Natural Features
At an elevation of 8,000 feet, Seedhouse lies in the Rocky Mountains in the heart of the Routt National Forest near the Middle Fork of the Elk River, which visitors can hear from the campground. The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland encompass nearly three million acres from central and northeastern Wyoming to north-central Colorado. Black bear, bobcat, coyote, elk, mule deer and moose are just some of the many animals that inhabit these rich and diverse lands.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors might also enjoy stopping by Steamboat Lake State Park, only a short drive away. Many more outdoor opportunities exist in the surrounding national forests and grasslands, including hiking, biking, camping, horseback and off-road vehicle riding, fishing, hunting, sightseeing and winter sports.
What the agency tells you
Due to removal of larger trees, some campsites are without shade; sites most affected are 6, 11 and 13
This is a high elevation facility (8,000 ft); please use caution when traveling from lower elevations.
Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating.
Everything else this campground posts · 1
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 24
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…first-come, first-served. There are two hand pump water systems throughout the campground. Recreation…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Climbing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 23 of the 24 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $26 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
24 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 23 mapped sitesAll 24 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 23 of the 24 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. 23 of the 24 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| SEEDHOUSE | 001 | type not stated | ||||
| SEEDHOUSE | 002 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 324 ft | 170 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 003 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 399 ft | 94 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 004 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 390 ft | 122 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 005 | standard nonelectric | 153 ft | 401 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 71 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 006 | standard nonelectric | 115 ft | 297 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 166 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 007 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 398 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 138 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 008 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 362 ft | 147 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 009 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 313 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 231 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 010 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 301 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 266 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 011 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 272 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 238 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 63 ft | 288 ft | 123 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 63 ft | 261 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 61 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 014 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | 190 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 54 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 015 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 164 ftMiddle Fork Elk River | 148 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 016 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 187 ft | 131 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 017 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | 192 ft | 119 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 018 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 182 ft | 176 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 019 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 201 ft | 191 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 020 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 266 ft | 302 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 021 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 230 ft | 321 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 022 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 208 ft | 325 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 023 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 176 ft | 358 ft | $26 |
| SEEDHOUSE | 024 | standard nonelectric | 151 ft | 162 ft | 298 ft | $26 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Seedhouse Guard StationRoutt National Forest · 0.2 mi
Seedhouse Group Site - Medicine-Bow Routt NF (CO)Routt National Forest · 2.0 mi
Hinman Campground (CO)Routt National Forest · 3.9 mi
Hahns Peak Lake Campground - Medicine-Bow Routt NF (CO)Routt National Forest · 12 mi
Big Creek Lakes CampgroundRoutt National Forest · 14 mi
Teal Lake Group CampsiteRoutt National Forest · 16 miFrom downtown Steamboat Springs, Colorado, take U.S. Highway 40 west and turn right on Routt County Road 129, locally known as Elk River Road. Continue north 17 miles, cross the Elk River just beyond the Clark Store, and turn right along the river on RCR 64, which becomes Forest Road 400/Seedhouse Road. Continue for 9 miles. Seedhouse Campground is on the right, just after the bridge over the North Fork of the Elk River.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Steamboat Springs, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 21°F, day 53°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 2°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
Seedhouse Campground 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 →