Thunder Ridge
- Right now
- OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
- A night
- $28From, per site
- Sites
- 20All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 1 – October 31Open May 1 through October 31
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
Thunder Ridge Campground, located above the Rampart Reservoir, is one of two campgrounds within the Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area. The campground overlooks the reservoir, which is popular for fishing. Boating and hiking are also common activities for campers here. The campground is located on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, due north of the popular Pikes Peak. The peak has an altitude of 14,110 feet and is America's easternmost peak reaching over 14,000 feet. Keep reading
Recreation
Rainbow and mackinaw trout are plentiful in the reservoir and hikers can enjoy the trails in the area. Rampart Reservoir Trail is nearby. Rampart Reservoir Trail extends for 14 miles and is open to hiking and mountain biking.
Facilities
Three campsites and two of the vault toilets meet current accessibility standards. Most remaining sites have steps that lead below the road level to the site picnic table and campfire ring. Drinking water is provided and each site comes with a picnic table and campfire ring. Firewood can be purchased on-site.
Natural Features
The campground overlooks the Rampart Reservoir in a ponderosa pine forest at an altitude of 9,200 feet. The surrounding terrain includes a mix of grass meadows, spruce, Douglas fir and aspen.
Nearby Attractions
The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs offers tours, and a visit to the quaint town of Green Mountain Falls makes a great day trip.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service 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
• Check-In time is 2 p.m. and check-out time is 12 p.m. • SPECIAL NOTE: Colorado State regulations prohibit attaching hoses to hydrants to fill RV’s. Please come prepared. •• Please check-in with host upon arrival. • RV or trailers over 36 feet will have a very tough time making it through the campground because of tight corners and trees. • All vehicles including campers must fit in parking spur (not on grass) without blocking road. • Motorized and trailered boats may only launch on the reservoir Thursdays - Sundays from 7:00 am - 4:00 pm. All boats and trailers must be inspected for aquatic nuisance species prior to launching. Hand launched boats may launch from the boat ramp 7:00 am - 4:00 pm Sunday - Saturdays. • Do not feed the wildlife. This includes bird feeders of any kind. • Don’t Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information. • 10 mph speed limit in all campgrounds and day use areas. • Discharging any weapon is prohibited including paintballs, bow & arrow, BB guns, airsoft guns. Fireworks and explosives are prohibited. Target shooting is prohibited. • Thunderstorms are common; take extra precautions for lightning. • Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating. • This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations. • No horses allowed. • ATVs prohibited. • Click here for more information on Pike and San Isabel National Forests. • USE OF DRONES PROHIBITED.
Two vehicles or one RV/Trailer and tow vehicle per site is included in the camping fee. $11.00/night for a third vehicle.
Firewood is for sale from the Host site for $10.00/bundle.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 20
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Paved pads
- 19 of 20
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…Three campsites and two of the vault toilets meet current accessibility standards. Most…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…the site picnic table and campfire ring. Drinking water is provided and each site comes with a picnic table…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Meadow
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 522nd darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 5
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 27 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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $28 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.
“Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a cam…” · 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 Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
21 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 20 mapped sitesAll 21 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. 20 of the 21 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| THUN | 001 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 65 ft | 1,661 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 002 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 65 ft | 1,597 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 003 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 34 ft | 1,384 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 004 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 32 ft | 1,358 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 005 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 32 ft | 1,337 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 006 - HOST | host pad | 45 ft | 1,327 ft | |||
| THUN | 007 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 89 ft | 1,247 ft | $28 |
| THUN | 008 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 20 ft | 1,190 ft | $28 |
| THUN | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 20 ft | 1,185 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 010 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 93 ft | 1,084 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 011 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 86 ft | 1,059 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 012 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 88 ft | 1,002 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 013 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 88 ft | 916 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 42 ft | 974 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 42 ft | 977 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 016 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 87 ft | 1,007 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 017 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 56 ft | 1,084 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 018 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 56 ft | 1,046 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 019 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 81 ft | 1,101 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 020 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 11 ft | 1,162 ft | $28 | |
| THUN | 021 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 11 ft | 1,172 ft | $28 |
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.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Meadow RidgePike National Forest · 0.1 miSpringdalePike National Forest · 2.6 mi
Red Rocks Group CampgroundPike National Forest · 7.0 mi
South Meadows CampgroundPike National Forest · 8.4 mi
Pike CommunityPike National Forest · 8.5 mi
South Meadows - Pike San Isabel NF (CO)Pike National Forest · 8.5 miFrom the I-25 and Hwy 24 intersection in Colorado Springs, Colorado, travel west on Highway 24 for 17.4 miles to Baldwin St. in Woodland Park. Turn right (north) on Baldwin (which turns into Rampart Range Road). Travel approximately 3 miles to Loy Creek Road, turn right at the Y, and travel 1.5 miles to Rampart Range Road (Forest Road 300). Turn right (south) on Rampart Range Road. The Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area entrance is approximately 4 miles up the road on the left. Thunder Ridge Campground is approximately 0.7 miles on the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cascade-Chipita Park, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 56°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 30°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 moreOutside the published season
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
Thunder Ridge is in Colorado’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Jeff Crank (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →