Camping Options Grand-Granby Lakes – Labor Day Weekend

At Sunset Point Campground, Lake Granby, Colorado

We REALLY like camping in the Rockies.  Being so close to Denver (94 miles) and the surrounding large cities such as Boulder (100 miles), Fort Collins (100 miles), Aurora (110 miles), Greeley (110 miles), Loveland (90 miles)  and many others, making up most of the Front Range Urban Corridor, which has a total population of over 4 million people, so you HAVE to expect people around you, especially on holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, and 4th of July.  However, that said, it does not mean that you can’t minimize the number of people you are around.

   

I already wrote about Willow Creek above… and Stillwater Campground below in previous blog posts.

Willow Creek was a nice, quiet, out-of-the way campground with a 2+ mile nice dirt road to drive on before reaching the lake and the campground.  A first-come, first camp area, it would work nicely to get away from the crowds, and still have Internet.  Of course, staying for 2 weeks, most would need to dump their tanks at least once…which means another trip down the dirt road.  Stillwater, well, it just does not have the “it” factor due to crowded area, few trees, but good views of the lake at many camping sites.

  

Another option is one of the three campgrounds in the Arapaho Bay area, about 9 miles down a mostly good, but not always good, dirt road in the Arapaho Bay of Lake Granby. 

 

   

Driving over there today I found three parks, totally full, most of the spots are reservation spots, but there were also first-come, first-camp spots at all three campgrounds.  However, cell service was nearly non-existent, so I am fairly sure Internet service would be too.

    

But Arapaho Bay is one nice looking area, that is for sure…if you can take the “Yukon type of road” leading to the area.  (See "Skagway to Tok – Pretty, Bumpy, Amazing, Difficult" for definition of Yukon Road)

   

   

And each of these campgrounds are very close to Monarch Lake, a very pretty alpine lake that has a 4 mile trail around it…nope, I did not hike around the lake.  However, the view is stunning…the above pictures were taken around 11 in the morning.  Warning….the parking is real tough to get into…the 40 car parking lot was full (except for the one ADA spot thank goodness), and another 40+ cars were parked along the dirt road leading to the parking lot…two tenths of a mile from where we parked to the end of the last car parked along the road.  WOW!

   

One of the reasons, besides the lake, for the parking situation is that the trailhead serves as a major access portal for the Indian Peaks Wilderness.  Many people there were there to hike, not to just look at the lake.  If you are in the area, take the opportunity to drive the 9 miles down the dirt road to the Arapaho Bay area and visit Monarch Lake…it is an easy short walk to see the lake, depending upon where you have to park. 

There are other camping areas, along with a free area which is available in the  Stillwater Pass National Forest lands. 

     

Heading to the National Park along highway 34, near the top of Lake Granby, just look for these signs above.  Once you turn on county road 4, it is about 2 miles of paved road before it becomes dirt…shortly after it becomes dirt road, you are on National Forest land, and there are numerous camping spots over the next 2 miles.

One area, about a mile in on the dirt road, is this large parking lot, with the bathrooms show a couple of pictures earlier located at it.  On this day, all I saw were pick-ups with trailers that they hauled their ATVs on.  Did not see an ATV, nor did I hear one…but the trucks are proof that they are around.

     

The first four or five camping areas were being used the other day when I wandered into the area, but these three, each of them past the large parking lot, were all available.  28 days of free camping, and the dirt road was in real good shape…way better than the dirt road leading to the Arapaho Bay area, and nearly as good as the one to Willow Creek.

I only traveled a few miles up the dirt road…but the road continues for 20 miles, or you can take another side road for around 8 miles.  I am sure that there are many camping areas up along both areas.

The Labor Day weekend sure brought out the boaters!  The boat launching ramp near our camping spot is filled to the brim…

Sailboats, motorboats, fishing boats…lots of boats, but the lake is so large it does not look crowded.

Just wish they had a restriction as to how close these personal water crafts can be to the campground….the buzz, buzzz, buzzzz is noticeable, especially after having so many days of peace and quiet here in the park.

I think this guy is thinking about heading south early as he looks out over the waterways.

     

Although the daily afternoon storms, which can end up being just showers or hard, yet short lived, rain, drives folks off the lake, and it always makes for nice evening picture taking.  Lots of large groups of campers this weekend…but that won’t last long.  Tomorrow nearly everyone here will be leaving, replaced I am sure by others who are just passing through the area.  On Tuesday we will be headed out ourselves…thankful that we made it through another major holiday unscathed.