Transfer Campground
- Right now
- OpenInside the published season, our reading; a database flag says not open
- A night
- $24From, per site
- Sites
- 17All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 1Opens May 1. No closing date published.
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Transfer Campground, located approximately 11 miles north of Mancos, Colorado in the San Juan National Forest, is known for its access to many area recreation trails. Keep reading
Recreation
Recreational opportunities abound at and near this facility for horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking and ATV riding. Many campers bring their ATVs and motorbikes to ride on the Aspen Loop Trail (just 1/2 mile north of the campground). There are a number of trailheads nearby the campground, including Big Al Interpretive Trail, Rim Trail and Box Canyon Trail. More trails are available in the surrounding area including: Chicken Creek Trail, Morrison Trail, Gold Run Trail and West Mancos Trail.
Facilities
The campground offers 12 first-come, first-serve family sites and one overnight group site. The reservable group site has five double picnic tables, a large group area, a serving table and cooking grills. A vault toilet restroom is located near the group area. The 12 first-come, first-serve campsites offer one vault toilet and barrier free camping. Parking spaces are small, but can accommodate some RVs. Horses are not allowed in the campground, but there are corrals with five sites adjacent to the campground on Forest Road 561.
Natural Features
The campground is situated at an elevation of 8,500 feet. Surrounded by whispering aspen and making for a great camping atmosphere, visitors will enjoy the sounds of birds and the occasional horse neighing in the corrals across the road. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
Visit the Jackson Gulch Reservoir, just six miles south of the campground for a relaxing day of fishing or hike one of the many trails nearby the campground. Visit the historic town of Mancos and learn about the Ancestral Puebloans who inhabited this area from approximately AD 1 to AD 1300.
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. 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
The extended summer season will continue starting 9/28 through 10/19/2025, FCFS only campsites. No Water will be available during this time. Please plan accordingly. Restrooms will still be available. No trash service. "Pack It in - Pack It Out". Group campsite is not open during this time.
Although livestock is not allowed in the main campground, there are campsites for stock users OUTSIDE the main campground ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of Forest Rd. 561, with H01, H02, H03 & H04 sites adjacent to a corral. PLEASE NOTE that the Horse Sites are located before reaching the campground on the opposite side of the road off FSR 561, a totally separate area.
Click here for more information on the San Juan National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 2
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.
First come first serve sites available
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 17 · 1 group, 4 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed at 8 of 17 sites
- Campfires
- 7 of 17 sites
- Shade
- 3 of 17 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…a serving table and cooking grills. A vault toilet restroom is located near the group area. The 12…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Creek
- Hiking
- Night sky · 204th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 2
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $24 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
17 sites · the site map
All 17 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. 17 of the 17 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Equestrian | H01 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | $24 | |
| Equestrian | H02 | equestrian nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Equestrian | H03 | equestrian nonelectric | 35 ft | $24 | |
| Equestrian | H04 | equestrian nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 001 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | $24 | |
| Transfer | 002 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 003 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 004 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 005 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 006 | standard nonelectric | 31 ft | $24 | |
| Transfer | 007 | standard nonelectric | 1 ft | $24 | |
| Transfer | 008 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 009 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $24 | |
| Transfer | 010 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| Transfer | 011 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $24 | |
| Transfer | 012 | standard nonelectric | $24 | ||
| TRANSFER GROUP CAMPGROUND | 001- Group Site | group standard area nonelectric | 25 ft | 1,478 ft | $75 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Aspen Guard StationSan Juan National Forest · 1.1 mi
Jersey Jim Fire TowerSan Juan National Forest · 2.5 mi
Target Tree CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 8.8 mi
KroegerSan Juan National Forest · 9.6 mi
SnowslideSan Juan National Forest · 9.8 mi
Mavreeso CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 14 miFrom Mancos, CO: travel 1/4 mile north on Hwy 184, turn right on West Mancos Road (Forest Road 561) and travel 10.5 miles to the campground. Most of the road is unpaved, but has a good gravel surface. PLEASE NOTE that the Horse Sites are located before reaching the campground on the opposite side of the road off FSR 561, a totally separate area.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mancos, CO
Typical weather
Typical May night 44°F, day 65°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 44°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Transfer 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 →