“suitable for larger sized RVs”
Overview
North Canyon Campground is situated next to Vallecito Reservoir in southwestern Colorado. Visitors enjoy the area for its beautiful scenery and wide range of recreational activities, including boating, fishing and hiking. Recreation
Vallecito Reservoir is a very popular fishing lake, with anglers casting for German brown trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, kokanee salmon and northern pike.
The lake offers great boating, water skiing and canoeing opportunities. Boat rentals and fishing licenses are available at various locations around the lake.
A variety of hiking and horseback riding trails are found in the area. The North Canyon Trail begins across the road from the campground and leads through ponderosa pine and aspen forests. A short side trail leads to a scenic overlook of the lake.
East Creek Trail begins a quarter-mile northeast of the campground, on Forest Road 852. It provides access to a lightly used, scenic drainage where fly-fisherman cast for brook trout. Both trails are popular with horseback riders, however, horses are not allowed in the campground. Facilities
Vallecito Reservoir is a very popular fishing lake, with anglers casting for German brown trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, kokanee salmon and northern pike.
The lake offers great boating, water skiing and canoeing opportunities. Boat rentals and fishing licenses are available at various locations around the lake.
A variety of hiking and horseback riding trails are found in the area. The North Canyon Trail begins across the road from the campground and leads through ponderosa pine and aspen forests. A short side trail leads to a scenic overlook of the lake.
East Creek Trail begins a quarter-mile northeast of the campground, on Forest Road 852. It provides access to a lightly used, scenic drainage where fly-fisherman cast for brook trout. Both trails are popular with horseback riders, however, horses are not allowed in the campground. Natural Features
Vallecito, which is Spanish for "little valley," sits at an elevation of 7,900 feet. Scattered ponderosa pines tower over the open campground, offering limited shade. A thick understory provides privacy between sites, many of which have partial lake views. Thickets of willow separate the camping area from the lakeshore. High peaks of the San Juans are visible to the northwest of the campground. Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations
Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee.
A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite.
Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.
No-Shows
A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.
No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.
Refunds
Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended.
Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay.
For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive.
In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
Reviews of North Canyon Campground
4 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on June 18, 2022Reviews
Vallecito Reservoir is a beautiful mountain lake in southwestern Colorado. We stayed one night here; a bit pricey for a USFS campground, but strangely, $3 cheaper than the identically-featured campground next door. We had a fairly isolated site near the entrance, which turned out to be good because there were some big, loud groups down closer to the water. However, it was a Saturday night; the next day the campground emptied, and I suspect it's beautifully quiet midweek.
The campground has basic National Forest amenities: pit toilets, water, and trash service.
Be aware that FR852, right near the campground, has free dispersed camping (if that's your thing). We moved up there for the rest of our stay at Vallecito. There's also a really nice hiking trail a short distance up 852.
Nightly Rate: $16.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 2
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Biggest challenge at this site was getting our 34 footer down to it. Once we were there it was a beautiful spot however the next site is pretty close so if it had been occupied it might not have been as nice.
Nightly Rate: $16.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 007
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
My memory is a little fuzzy as it is now late September, 2019, and we were there in late June. In the future, my reviews will be more timely. We were with our 9 year old twin grandchildren on their annual two week school vacation trip in our 35' Pace Arrow motor home. The road to the campsite from Bayfield is paved except for the last 2 miles past the dam. The campgrounds are reasonably marked, but you need to be watching. The entrance and road down to our campsite was a little tight for a 35' coach, with a turn out at our site #10 to allow us to back in with the door toward the lake. The site was beautifully wooded, level, quiet and had a great view of the lake. The site included a firepit and was near the toilet and trash bins. The kids had a blast building a campfire every night and cooking dogs & S'mores, while the grandparents recovered! The campground hosts were most gracious and we were able to use our Golden Age National Park cards to cut our fees by 50%. I could have easily stayed longer, but the other set of grandparents had a trip planned with the kids!
Nightly Rate: $10.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 10
Stayed here in mid June 2022 for a week with the family in our travel trailer. Very nice a quiet mid week. Weekend is like most places, all kinds of people.......The lake is fabulous. Fishing is great if you know what you doing =) Daily fresh caught Kokanee Salmon was great !
Overall very good place to stay. Would definitely return.
Nightly Rate: $22.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 16
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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North Canyon Campground
Hours
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Check In
- 2:00 PM
- Check Out
- 12:00 PM
- Max Length
- 21
- Season End
- Sept.
- Affiliation
- National forest
- Sites Count
- 12
- Season Start
- May
- Last Nightly Rate
- 22.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 10.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 35.0
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Sites
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Laundry
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Propane
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Showers
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Big Rigs
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Boondock
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Firewood
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Fifty Amp
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Tent Sites
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Cabin Sites
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Full Hookup
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Dump Station
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Mobile Homes
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Public Water
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Pull Through
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Water Hookup
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Potable Water
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Age Restricted
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Rec Facilities
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Dispersed Sites
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Open Seasonally
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Permit Required
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Group Tent Sites
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Fulltime Residents
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Standard Tent Sites
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Pull Through RV Sites
Campground, Restrooms
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