roadtripper4635422

I stopped here on my way to a dispersed campsite that was too far for that day's driving.

The Wagons West campground, motel, cabin(s), bar and restaurant are all under new management. I met one of the new owners and he was working his tail off renovating rooms, working the kitchen and helping with campsite issues. All the staff were pleasant and helpful.

The previous occupant of my site (#7) had knocked over the electrical pedestal. The owner came out right away and got it sorted out. The 15 amp outlet didn't work so they loaned me a 50amp-30amp dogbone which worked great. Water pressure was great, maybe a little high but I didn't check with my gauge. My trailer didn't complain.

The site didn't have a sewer port, so I used the campground's dump station ($10). The dump station didn't have a working water spigot, but for my situation I didn't need it. I could have ran a water hose to a nearby site if I needed water to dump. The site was relatively flat, requiring minimal leveling.

I don't know the exact number of hookup sites. I estimated it at 12. There is room for more RV's that don't need hookups, so if they are "full" ask about a non-hookup site.

The shower and laundry building was clean and tidy. WiFi is available but you need to be close to the restaurant/motel to get a signal.

The restaurant was very good. The locals that were there were known by name. That says a lot about the food and service.

There are a couple other restaurants within a short walk. We were pleased with one on the other side of the street. The (only) gas station had prices for fuel (gasoline and diesel) that were very close to what I saw in Great Falls.

This has got to be the worst location to put a truck stop, ever. When the Big Rig side of the truck stop is busy the semitrucks stack up into the intersection (Elk St and Stagecoach Blvd). Cars and RVs cannot get into the non-Big Rig side of the truck stop when that happens.

The one time I used the RV lane, the pump handle was filthy and there were no paper towels available to clean it off. I keep a set of gloves in the truck to use when filling up, but still the handle was bad.

Trying to get an RV trailer into and out of the car side of the truck stop (where the RV lane is located) can be just as challenging, once you actually get in there. After using the RV lane you have to cross all the car islands without running over any of the pedestrians and avoiding all the cars pulling out of the islands.

The truck stop across Elk Street doesn't have a dump station or a dedicated RV lane, but it is much easier to get into and out of. The fuel price is usually lower than Flying J. Or, use the Exxon truck stop further north on Elk Street, which also has separate Big Rig and car islands.

I checked out a number of the sites using my side-by-side instead of driving my truck/trailer into each one. Many of the sites cannot be seen from the main road (BLM 5201) so you don't know if they are occupied or not. Site 3 is one of those. Turning around at the site if someone is already there could be challenging for a large rig. You could end up backing up (uphill!) for quite a ways.

Sites 9 and 10 have very rough roads. The sign at the main road recommends high clearance 4x4. Don't dismiss the sign!

The main road is in very good shape, but very dusty.

I had zero Verizon service at the few sites I checked out. I'm not sure my cell signal booster would have helped.

I drove up the road until I found an open site at #8. This site is more suited to tent camping or a very small trailer. My 25' bumper pull toy hauler might have made it all the way into the site, but the muddy dip going up the incline wasn't worth going through. There was no room to turn around once in the site for my truck/trailer rig. The Ranger came by while I was checking the site out and he said it was OK to park in the drive going up to the site as long as I didn't block the horse trailer turnaround area.

The Ranger also said that the Forest Service plans to let the beavers do what they will and the road into sites #7 and #8 will soon be flooded. It is already muddy. This will also block access to the Red Cub trail near those two sites.

The road along Beaver Creek (Beaver Creek Road, aka FS 985) has a lot of potholes but isn't washboarded. There are a number of trees limbs hanging over the road that were very close to contacting my trailer which is around 12' tall.

If you end up not finding a site, there is a loop turnaround at the end of the road.

The dump station was well maintained when I used it in 2021. It's fairly easy to get in with larger rigs. The dirt/gravel road at the dump station can make for a miserable experience if the wind is blowing hard.

The fresh water spigot had tremendous pressure. The vent on my fresh water tank couldn't keep up and I had to give it a chance to catch up. Be careful.

I camped here 09/21/2021 through 09/26/2021.

The road in is quite rough for a travel trailer. Parts of the road are not well maintained. It was about an hour drive from Red Rock Road to the first camp site, due to the road condition. For a vehicle not towing anything, figure half that or less, depending on the weather.

The first campground at the southern end of the lake is flatter than the campground at the middle section of lake (to the north). There is a vault toilet at both campgrounds. I stayed at the first campground. The site was somewhat clean, but I found some litter to clean up.

Verizon access was non-existent to just barely there. Even with a cell signal booster, voice conversations were challenging.

Fishing was hit or miss. Shore fishing was better than fishing from a boat. There are Bald Eagles in the area. We watched a young one try to grab fish from the lake and fail twice.

There were two trailers in the campground when I showed up on a Tuesday.

There are more dispersed camp areas north of the lake, but the road beyond the lodge is VERY rough. I would never take my bumper pull toy hauler on that section of the road. Tent campers with high clearance 4x4 vehicles will find some great spots to set up.

Elk Lake Lodge is a short walk north of the second campground. They do take walk-ins for meals, but reservations are recommended. The last day of the season they had to turn away people for lunch due to the number of people. Dinner at the lodge was excellent!

I needed an overnight spot with quick access to I-70. This location fit the bill on that requirement. Why it didn't dawn on me how close it was to highway 191 and the railroad tracks is beyond me.

The camping area is easy to get into and out of as long as there aren't too many people. When I arrived there was only one other camper (a class A motorhome). By dark, there were seven vehicles, including on tent camper.

Don't drive on the green areas in the parking lot. There are cactus in those areas and could present a danger to your tires.

I had zero to 1 bar for Verizon and it wasn't enough to send a text. I walked up one of the nearby hills and had enough signal to get the text through just fine. Be careful walking up the hill as there are more cactus there.

As I was sitting in my trailer I wondered what motor was running. I could hear it and feel it. It took me a while to figure out it was a train going by. 191 is busy and I could here some of the semi trucks going by. If you park a bit further away from 144 the hills may shield you from some of the noise. I was within 40' of 144 so I could take off quickly in the morning without having to drive past other campers.

It was very windy the day I was there. Lots of dust had to be cleaned from inside my trailer.

Next time, I'll either drive further east on 144 or find a different area. I did pick up trash before I left, but it was relatively clean.

The dump stations are on the south side of the rest area building. Two lanes. Potable water is available. It was convenient and clean. Easy off the interstate and easy back on.

The rest area itself has an information desk that is staffed during the day. Lots of brochures for things to do as well as a few maps. The information desk folks are helpful.

The best part of this rest area is the museum. Take the kids inside while the RV is being dumped.

I don't usually stay at commercial campgrounds. Due to most public campgrounds still being closed in April and access to boondocking sites being questionable due to mud, snow and high water I chose to pay the man.

This is a very new RV park. It is open all year. The sites have plenty of room to each side. Slideouts won't be a problem. Each site has hookups, a picnic table and fire ring. The sites are gravel with railroad ties bordering at least one side as I recall. There are no trees tall enough to provide shade.

We were in site #6, located towards the front. Some noise from the highway could be heard, but not enough to be an issue. The water treatment plant isn't far away. I never got a sniff of it. Not an issue should you happen to spot it from the map and think it might stink.

The sites are diagonal. That meant my neighbor wasn't looking across into my windows. The diagonal layout made for an easy parking job.

There are two restrooms at the back of the community building. Both restrooms have very nice tile showers. These are the best restrooms and showers I've seen yet in a commercial campground. Laundry (coin-op) facilities are outside the bathrooms, still in the community building.

We were there in the off season spending daylight hours outside town fishing, so we didn't experience any amenities or programs that the campground may have offered. The community building looked like it would provide a nice area for groups.

Power and water were consistent. My power monitor (30 amp) didn't complain. I used an over-pressure device so I never bothered to look and see what the water pressure actually was. My faucets didn't have a problem.

WiFi was OK. Getting to most websites there were no issues. However, when I had to use VPN the service was flaky and difficult to use. Verizon had a full 4G signal.

The campground has direct access to the Rio Grande River. The shore is a bit cluttered with bushes, so fishing may not be very good. We tried to fish for a while but the river was flowing too fast.

My only complaint is that they stuck me next to another occupied site when well over half the campground was empty. I notified them that I would be coming in well after dark. My neighbor was quiet, I never heard a peep out of them. But I felt bad that they had to hear me backing in and setting up so late.

If you do come in after dark, look for their lighted sign located about 50 yards off the highway. While the sign is easy to see, the driveway entrance is REALLY hard to find in the dark.

If I'm in the area and looking for a campsite with hookups I'll be back to Peacock Meadows.

I don't think there are 5 sites here. I was in site #3 and I didn't see any more sites. At least not any more pull through sites.

I called and made a reservation, no deposit required but they did specify check or cash only. They aren't equipped to take credit cards yet. Check-in was kind of goofy. There's no obvious office and I'm not sure there is one. I called their number and let them know I was checking in. I picked a site, dropped my trailer and went and did other things. The owner came around after a while and checked me in. No big deal.

Site #3 was so close to being level that I was within 1/2". Site #2 needed a board under one side, but it may depend on where you place the trailer within the site. There is plenty of room in each site. I had my side-by-side, trailer and truck all in the site and still had room left for another vehicle.

Because the campground is located less than a block from where CO-14 comes into town at a stop sign, it can be very noisy. The big rig trucks come to a noisy stop and then turn the corner. They get started early too. Site #1 might be less prone to noise than site #3.

The hookups functioned just fine. Water pressure was high enough that had I been connected to the city water port on my trailer I would have used a pressure reducer. One spigot is heated for winter. The other spigot is not.

No fire ring or picnic table, but I didn't need either one so my rating wasn't affected by their absence.