U.S. Forest Service · Arapaho National Recreation Area · CO

Willow Creek Group

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 14 opens May 14.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
8,190 ftElevation
1,804 ftWater · an unnamed stream
1.5 miNW of Granby, CO
0%Tree cover
Bortle 4Night sky · 427th darkest of 522 in CO

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices

In the agency’s own words

Willow Creek Group Campground is located on Lake Granby, six miles north of Granby, in north central Colorado. Visitors enjoy the area for its great canoeing, kayaking, fishing and hiking opportunities. Keep reading

Recreation

Willow Creek Reservoir is a 300-acre, no-wake lake. It is open to canoes, kayaks and other non-motorized boats. Anglers fish for rainbow, brown and brook trout. Willow Creek can be accessed nearby. National Fishing Week is held annually the first week in June. Numerous hiking and horseback riding trails are located within the Arapaho National Recreation Area, including the East Shore Trail (which is part of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail), Roaring Fork Trail and Monarch Lake Trail.

Facilities

The campground offers one tent-only campsite that accommodates up to 20 people. Single-family campsites are available at the campground on a first-come, first-served basis. Picnic tables, campfire rings, grills and tent pads are provided, as are vault toilets.

Natural Features

The campground is situated on the southern shore of Willow Creek Reservoir, at an elevation of 8,130 feet. Afternoon thunderstorms should be expected during the summer months. Due to the mountain pine beetle infestation and consequent removal of hazardous trees, there is no shade within the campground.

Nearby Attractions

Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake are all nearby. Boating, sailing, fishing and hiking are popular activities. The west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park's is just north of Grand Lake. With lush valleys and craggy peaks reaching elevations higher than 14,000 feet, visitors are provided opportunities for countless breathtaking experiences and adventures. Scenic driving, hiking, backpacking, fishing, horseback riding and wildlife viewing are popular activities in the park.

Charges & Cancellations

Modifications for this campground must be made through Recreation.gov or by calling the call center at 1-877-444-6777 PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.

What the agency tells you

Rule

RV water connections are not available. Utility hookups are not available.

Rule

This is bear country! For bear and human safety, keep a clean campsite and do not place food or other attractants in your tent. For more information about visiting bear country, contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife at http://wildlife.state.co.us

Rule

Boats are subject to inspection to prevent the spread of zebra and quagga mussels

Everything else this campground posts · 8
Rule

An additional fee will be charged for admission to the Arapaho National Recreation Area; fees are $5 a day, $10 for three days, $15 per week or $30 per year, and can be purchased from the Forest Service or local vendors.

Rule

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp for more information on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests

Rule

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.

Rule

Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.

Rule

Tents must fit on the pads provided. RVs, trailers or other vehicles must fit on the parking spur. Driving or parking off road is not permitted. Maximum Vehicle Length: 40 feet.

Rule

Pets must be on a hand-held leash.

Rule

Modifications for this campground must be made through Recreation.gov PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.

Rule

Check-Out is at 12 P.M. Check-In is at 2 P.M.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 tent-only, 1 group
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…and tent pads are provided, as are vault toilets. Natural Features The campground is situated on the…”
Camp host
On site
recreation.gov lists “Host”

Around the campground

On the water
Reservoir, Lake, Creek
Birding
Canoeing
Fishing
Hiking
Kayaking
Non-Motorized Boating
Sailing
Wildlife viewing
Fall color · reported 7 days ago, 17 km away
Peak color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (17 km) · Oct 10, 2026

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.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 14, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 14, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay7 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$116From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
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’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, May 14 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$116
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$116
These are next season’s rates, May 14, 2027 to Sep 18, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

“Modifications for this campground must be made through Recreation.gov or by calling the call center at 1-877-444-6777 PRIOR to your reservation start date. Customers and contact center agents cannot modify reservations on or after the check-in date.” · this campground’s own 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

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Group1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 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. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Coordinate40.14250, -105.95306
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight21°Clear
Saturday62°Sunny
Saturday Night24°Mostly Clear
Sunday62°Mostly Sunny

NWS forecast for Granby, CO

Typical weather

Typical October night 27°F, day 55°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 3°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

80°32°-10°

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.

Measured at: GRAND LAKE 6 SSW, CO (USC00053500), 5 miles away and 98 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Gold Run6,569 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Joe Neguse, official portrait

Willow Creek Group 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service’s own recreation database flags it not open and publishes no reason and no date. That’s a flag, not a notice.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (17 km) · Oct 10, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.