This post is part of Just Ahead’s Rocky Mountain National Park Trip Planner—our guide to everything you need to know to plan your trip to Rocky Mountain. Click here to see the complete series, and be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Rocky Mountain before you head to the park.
Where to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park? The park is uniformly gorgeous, so all of its campgrounds have the woodsy mountain beauty you’d expect. All of the campgrounds are extremely popular in the park’s summer high season, so be sure to make reservations (details below) or arrive early in the morning for the sites that are first-come, first-served. For more details and for rules and regulations, visit the park’s website.
East Side of Rocky Mountain National Park
Aspenglen Campground
Located on US 34 just west of the Fall River entrance station (within walking distance), Aspenglen Campground has 53 sites, many of which accommodate RVs up to 30 feet. Aspenglen Campground has a unique facility—privacy stalls where you can hang your own solar shower. It’s generally open from late May to late September. Reservations are available through recreation.gov.
This large, 150-site campground, is on Bear Lake Road about six miles south of the Beaver Meadows entrance station. It’s generally open from early July into the fall. Sites are available for tents and RVs up to 35 feet. Reservations are available through recreation.gov.
Longs Peak Campground
This small, 26-site campground is for tents only and does not accept reservations. All sites are first-come, first served. Located just of US 7 south of the town of Estes Park, it’s a great location for hikers eager to take on the tough hike up Longs Peak (14,259). Generally open during the summer months only.
Moraine Park Campground
Moraine Park Campground is the only year-round campground in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s located on Bear Lake Road, just a few miles south of the Beaver Meadows entrance station. The campground has 244 sites (77 sites in winter) for tents and RVs up to 40 feet Reservations are available through recreation.gov, though sites are first-come, first-served in winter. Moraine Park Campground has a unique facility—privacy stalls where you can hang your own solar shower.
Roosevelt National Forest
For national forest camping on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, visit the website for Roosevelt National Forest’s Canyon Lakes Ranger District (for the area west of Fort Collins) or the Boulder Ranger District (for the area west of Boulder)
West Side of Rocky Mountain National Park
Timber Creek Campground
Timber Creek Campground is the only campground on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. It has 98 sites for tents and RVs up to 30 feet. The sites are first-come, first-served. Timber Creek is generally open from late May to early November, though when Trail Ridge closes in late October, it’s only accessible from the southwest. It’s about 10 miles north of the Grand Lake entrance station. Be aware that due to the pine beetle infestation, most of the campground’s trees have been removed.
Arapaho National Recreation Area
Located west of Rocky Mountain National Park, just south of the park’s Grand Lake entrance, Arapaho National Recreation Area, managed by the US Forest Service, has a number of campgrounds on or near the shores of Shadow Mountain Lake and Lake Granby. For information, visit the website for the Sulphur Ranger District, Arapaho National Recreation Area.