5 of the Closest and Prettiest Campgrounds from Fort Collins
Sometimes, one of the best feelings in the world is to lose yourself in nature. Camping is a great escape from your busy life at work or school. Whether you like to camp in your tent, car, camper or RV, if you live in Fort Collins, you have access to incredible, affordable, and clean camping sites at your fingertips. Sometimes your busy life just makes it hard to go up to the mountains and camp, so here are a few campground that are a fast, easy drive from Fort Collins.
- South Bay Campground at Horsetooth
There are about 81 campsites at the South Bay Campground at Horsetooth. If you want to be close to the water, this is the best campground for you! It is about a 17 minute drive from Colorado State University. Fishing, boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, mountain biking, and many other activities are some of the numerous things you can do here!
2. Ansel Watrous Campground
Ansel Watrous Campground is a sweet little campground located along Poudre Canyon Road and the Cache la Poudre River. It is only a 35 minute drive from Colorado State University and is the perfect place to camp if you love to fish. The Cache la Poudre River has many different types of trout. There is an upper and a lower section of the campground which sections up the sites. The only downside is how close it is to the road, but this makes it easy and fast to get to, and the views to the north are of the lovely rock faces and river.
3. Stove Prarie Campground
Like Ansel Watrous Campground, Stove Prarie Campground is located on the Cache la Poudre River. it is a 6 minute drive west from Ansel Watrous Campground. This is a great place for tent camping, as there are little campsites that you can walk into and camp along the river. Again, the campground is along the road, which can cause road noise that you do not want, but the sound of the river should drown that out. The view of the mountains from all the campsites are beautiful. There are only 9 sites so this would be a great campground to go to if you do not want to be surrponded by a lot of other people.
4. Mountain Park Campground
Mountain Park Campground is a 50 minute drive from Colorado State University. The drive is very scenic, surrounded by mountains, along the river. Mountain Park Campground is a great place to go if you have kids, or a kid at heart; there is a playground! There are also restrooms, water, and pay showers so you can freshen up.
5. Kelly Flats Campground
Kelly Flats Campground is a whooping 3 minute drive from Mountain Park Campground. There are 29 sites and it is a first come, first served campground which means you can’t make reservations. This is yet another great campground for fishing, hiking, and mountain biking. If you want to camp here, make sure to plan on a day or a time that sites will be open as you cannot make a reservation!
Don’t forget to follow fire safety regulations and check the fire danger! It is also always important to leave your campsite cleaner then when you first got there. If you love to camp, we have to respect our environment so we can continue to have these campgrounds at our fingertips!
