Carr​acas Campground

We enjoyed a restful stay at this state park after a couple of busy weeks at another location. The sites by the lake are awesome! Great views and very spacious. We stayed in a full hookup site. We didn't use the bathrooms, but my husband said he went in and they weren't that nice. Since we had full hookups that wasn't a problem. Verizon worked well here. As we were driving into the park I had no Verizon signal, but as soon as we got to the campground, the signal was good. There must be a dead spot on the way in. I think AT&T also worked, but we didn't use it much as AT&T is our backup in case Verizon doesn't work.

We made the reservation six months in advance for Rosa Loop which is the only one with full hook up. Depending on which way you are coming you may have to tow your RV up Wolf Creek Pass, the climb from east to west not so bad, the downside of east to west pretty steep, from west to east the climb is steep with the down side being not as steep, good brakes and an awesome "hoss" of a truck is needed. LaVeta Pass depending on which way you arrive is not as suddenly an upright climb, but slow and steady to the top. We arrived within regulation time, mid afternoon. Campsite is a pull through, with a shade shelter, the pull thru's on this outside loop are gently curved, however each end of your pull thru does touch on your neighbors. Campsite was clean, no trash or dog waste. The inside loop are largely back in's with no shade shelters, while the outside loop has a shade shelter every other site, small trees here and there, it does get hot here. You can bring a shade shelter but the winds may be prohibitive at times, seemingly coming up out of nowhere...so much so that they will actually sound sirens on the lake as a warning...but this is after the winds have started. The sites on Rosa loop are very close together, but no matter it remains a beautiful out of the way place. Be sure you stock up for your stay before you come here, as the nearest town for supplies is Durango...Walmart....that being 40 miles one way little backroads until you are a few miles out Durango. We fish and have a boat, you almost do need a boat to fish the reservoir as the banks are steep, rocky in places. Fishing was excellent, especially for smallies and walleye, a few perch, no large mouths at least not for us, plastic baits were the winner. I do not know if the marina close to the campground rents boats, but there is another marina a little further down that may. Weekdays are fairly quiet, however by Thursday the activity ramps up, as does the noise. I get it people work and want to have fun, but it should not be at the expense of others.....others do not necessarily want to hear your music or television, blaring obnoxiously. If you have a boat you may be able to squeeze it in by your camper or behind it...or in front of it, depending on size...large boats not so much. The camp host last year was good, and pretty well keeps people on the up and up, the rangers do drive through on occasion...pretty rare. Dogs are allowed, and are to be leashed and waste picked up...however not always the case, as on the trails dogs were loose and dog waste was evident. The view from a lake side campsite is beautiful. Chimney Rock is close by, with occasional night time star gazing and tours scheduled.

We heard about this place when staying the Pagosa area the year before. It was good place to relax. The kids loved playing in the lake. We tried to rent a boat, but they were booked out a month. The lake temps were perfect in the middle of June. Our site had good access to the lake (short walk). Wind could blow in at any time (keep awnings in). There was a good convenience/liquor store only a few miles from here. Not much else around, so bring in most supplies. The site we stayed at only had electric. I was able to connect 85' hose to a water spigot to fill up.

ATT and Verizon both worked well at the site. OTA channels worked well in the morning.

There's about 8 miles (round trip) of mostly flat trails. I took my MTB down the trails to Wildlife viewing area.

We stayed here for an entire week and LOVED this place - would return in a heartbeat. Signal was perfect for work (we need enough to conduct video calls for work) and we were lucky enough to get a spot with the lake view. The park itself has multiple hiking/biking options. The staff was extremely friendly - they let us move sites to get the lake view. We didn't do this, but you can also rent a boat for half a day.

Beautiful lake, we had 2 sites above the lake, were able to walk down and embankment and paddle board, kayak, and fish from there. Kids had a blast. Wind kicked up each afternoon and there’s not much shelter from the sun. Bathrooms were clean.

Another nice Colorado State Park. Although it's a little off the beaten path, it's worth the extra drive for the full hook-ups at the Rosa Campground. Unfortunately, a fire ban went into effect one day into our stay. So recommend you bring a gas stove, gas firepit, etc. We were using charcoal and were told we could no longer use charcoal in the developed BBQ pit there at the site. When I looked up the Stage I fire ban info for the county, it said charcoal could still be used in developed campgrounds; however, apparently this wasn't the case here. I never did get an explanation nor were there any detailed signage put up on the buildings. I totally agree with the fire ban for campfires given last year's events; however, typically charcoal grilling has still been allowed to occur in established campgrounds. It does get extremely hot here between noon and 6pm each day, so the AC unit in our travel trailer was definitely needed. Fortunately, it does cool down around dinner time and the nights are wonderful. Navajo Lake is extremely low and there was no easy way to get to lake from the campground (without a long walk). We rented a pontoon boat from the marina and enjoyed a few hours out on the "almost empty" lake. We even saw wild horses way back in one of the coves. Marina is small and does not appear to rent any other type of watercraft. It would be awesome if they offered kayaks, canoes, etc. There was adequate Verizon coverage once you got into campground area. We were able to pick up one OTA channel for most of our stay. The town of Arboles has one restaurant and one convenience store for gas and necessities. There were pesky bugs at dusk, so bring the bug spray and citronella. The spacing between sites was good. There are no shade trees there at the Rosa Campground. Some sites do have the shade shelters. PROS: Half empty during the weeknights; nice shower/restroom/laundry facility, good spacing between sites; view of lake from certain sites; distance to Pagosa Springs and Chimney Rock CONS: Unclear guidance during fire ban; site and surrounding area had some trash, kids chalk writing, etc when we arrived (not cleaned very well between guests)

We had a wonderful stay here. It was very quiet in March, just what we needed. The camphost was very friendly, helpful and kind. You really cannot beat a full hookup with these views! We travel full time with ATT, T-Mobile and Vertizon and all 3 worked well here. I will say this time of year it was incredibly quiet, no more than 3 campers at a time in the entire campground including the very nice camp host. Close enough to Pagosa Springs and Durango to make the drive in and explore. Fresh Market grocery store is only 20 minutes away. Highly recommend sites 132 or 134 for the amazing views unless you have toddlers because there is a drop off. My younger boys at 5 and 9 were fine with it since it is a bit set back from the campsite. My kids also loved seeing the mule deer meander around the campground.

We were here in late May of 2021. This park should be and can be a star. But like some other Colorado State Parks that are in more remote locations it gets neglected. We needed to do laundry and fully expected to use this park to do that, but it was closed. Judging from the number of dead bugs it had been unused for quite some time. Even the sink was shut down. There was no notice of this when we made reservations. If there had been we would have utilized other state park laundries prior to our arrival. This park is a bear active area according to the signs, but the trash dumpsters are not bear proofed. The dumpsters have plastic lids and no latches. Worse, the dumpster was positioned in a way that one of the lids couldn't be closed. This is all very unfortunate as all it takes is some attention and the park would otherwise be 5 stars. There are only a few trails but they are nice, wild roses blooming along some sections. Cell phone service was surprisingly very good. Sites themselves were nicely kept. Late May is a good time to visit. Few bugs, decent temperature. The park does seem focused on boating with camping being secondary. Don't know that we'll be back as Navajo Lake State Park - Pine Campground at the southern end of the reservoir in New Mexico is nicer.