Sunrise Vista Campground

Steamboat Lake State Park is about 40 minutes north of Steamboat Springs right on a lovely alpine lake surrounded by wildflowers. The campground is down the road from the visitor center and I recommend you stop there to reserve a space if you do not have a reservation. We picked a spot then went to the visitor center to find out that they just sold the spot we were in to another camper who insisted we move to the exact same spot right next to us. They told us to go ahead a grab a spot but that turned out to be a bad idea! The campground is easy to navigate but with narrow roads and some sharp turns. I found it easiest to unhook the car and not pull it through the campground.

The sites are a mixed bag. Some looked pretty hard to get into while others were very straight forward. Out spot had 50 amp electrical, but no water. Fill your tank before getting to your site, the spigot on our look was not working and did not have enough pressure to fill a tank so we used a spigot near the dump station. The sites are gravel and some are a bit muddy. Each has a fire ring and a picnic table. Ours looked like it has seen some very messy dinners with hot pots over the years.

There is plenty of hiking right in the park as well as in the surrounding area. The lake is also a migratory stop for sandhill cranes which we never saw, but some other campers did. Boating is allowed on the lake and there is a marina. There are some shops near by for basic supplies and drinks. We were able to get a usable data signal through Verizon on relatively fast 3g as well as cell through AT&T. Other campers said they did not have any cell service, so my experience may have been different?!?

PROS:
Remote and beautiful higher elevation camping
Great hiking
Dog friendly
Good site separation
Great views from most sites
Beautiful!

CONS:
Remote
Possible unstable cell service

This is an amazing area and somehow we scored the very best camping spot. I am pretty sure there isn’t a single site better than S109. Lakeside - up above the lake with beautiful views all around. The ability to launch and moor your boat/kayak just below the camp site. Fly fishing and hiking right out the door.

Each site has power, a fire ring, picnic table and a tent site. Each loop has a set of pit toilets and potable water. Some water spigots are closer to the road than others. We made a few loops to find the easiest access to fill our tanks. The alternative is to go down to the marina dump station and fill with water there.

Dump, showers, and laundry are located at the marina. This loop also had cabins for rent.

If you are trying to be close to Steamboat Springs, this might not be the right campground. The lake is actually 25 minutes away from old town.

We had 2 bars of Verizon and no useable T-Mobile.

This is a popular campground with the locals and reservations are required. We were only able to secure 2 nights on a busy a weekend and had to vacate prior to the holiday. However, I would be willing to fight the masses to be here when the aspens are changing colors. It must be spectacular!

Hint - When entering the park, be sure you know your spot number. There are two entrances to camping and your loop name and campground name may not be the same.

We had a wonderful four nights at Steamboat Lake State Park. While far from downtown Steamboat, the area is beautiful, quiet, and has plenty to keep you entertained. We chose the location after struggling to find campgrounds in Steamboat Springs with cell reception (we work full time from the road). While cell reception was strong, upload and download speeds were weak, even with our booster. We stayed in Yarrow loop at site 103 (electric only). White not right on the water, we had good privacy with trees on one side, with beautiful mountain and lake views all around. Waterfront sites can keep their kayaks, paddle boards, boats, etc. down on the water just below their camp site. We recommend to anyone looking for a beautiful oasis in the mountains.

The KOA in Steamboat was full so we ended up driving the 25 miles out of town to get here, but it was worth it. This is now first come/first serve and you pay at the kiosk for your state park pass - 8.00 and 24.00 a night for electric campsite. There is water available at the end of the loop.. It is peaceful, quiet and beautiful.

We stayed here at the end of June and the wildflowers were abundant and amazing.

AT&T signal was intermittent. Sometimes 2 bars of 3g, sometimes nothing and sometimes 2 bars LTE.

Very nice lake with campgrounds next to it. The campsites are spaced OK and the trees provide additional privacy. Just pot toilets but new bath houses are under construction.

We spent a few days here as a start to a month long trip north on to Canada. Couldn’t have been more pleased with our site and the campground. We had a basic site, 001, Arnica Loop. It would have been nice to have water and electricity, but we needed to test our anew solar system and Starlink. Everything on our side worked great. The campground surrounds the lake, but you’ll need to drive to the beach and boat ramp depending which site you have and water water toys you have. We fished with floats one day and caught a big cutthroat. The next day we paddled on our boards. So nice on those 90+ degree days. They have a marina so there are power boats out there to watch out for. The bath house looked brand new and must have just opened. Showers are free. We had a flat tire on our tow vehicle during the weekend, the camp host was as helpful as he could be. Found out NO tire repair shops were open on weekends in Steamboat. The traveling repairman never called us back. We survived with a donut and got things fixed by Alpine Auto on Monday. Deer were regular guests to our site. Flowers were profuse throughout the campground. Everything was beautiful. Highly recommend to get away from it for a while and enjoy the lake. Felt like old fashioned camping days.

Directly overlooking a flawless cove, this short chain of smaller drive-throughs with adjoining tent pads and grills and electricity (sites 106-109) are about the nicest campsites you can find. Just a couple trees with tall grasses and wildflowers, but very pretty and quiet. Our raft is beached below and we just floated for a few hours before the cloudless sun finally drove us to shade. Excellent cell service on Verizon with our hotspot (and roof mounted MIMO antennas) producing a reliable 40mbps down and 12mbps up. Even my lake-loving Wisconsin spouse was impressed. The sites at the top are not as appealing and more typical and somewhat close together with not that much vegetation between them/

Yesterday we drove the Jeep up Hahn's Peak for a great view of the lake. Lots to do and the Green Chili at the Outpost is excellent. Hahn's Peak Cafe was also great with very reasonable prices. We'll be back.

Great state park, 23 miles outside Steamboat.
Super quite, spacious sites, some with views of the lake.
It was sooo relaxing!
Wind at night time was a pain but we realized it was because our site had no trees for protection but we had a view!
Sunrise Vista has bigger sites and more space between sites. Also views!

Great state park, 23 miles outside Steamboat.
Super quite, spacious sites, some with views of the lake. It was sooo relaxing!
Wind at night time was a pain but we realized it was because our site had no trees for protection but we had a view!
Sunrise Vista has bigger sites and more space between sites. Also views!