Ansel Watrous Campground

Clean restrooms and very nice hosts. You are camping right on the river. Wave to the river rafters as they go by.This is our favorite campground along the Poudre River.

Beautiful camping, level sites and very clean. The location by the river is very nice and all sights have river access. No services, boondock camping, but water is available. The only minor downside is how close the road is; in most cases you cannot hear traffic, but the occasional loud motorcycle or large truck - it dies down completely at night. The river sounds drown out most of the other noise...very relaxing

Lower Ansel Watrous campground in Poudre Canyon, 22 miles or so west of Fort Collins, CO. It is a very popular campground. The confirmation email stated that the lower loop "is not accessible to trailers longer than 20 feet, due to a hairpin switchback near the campground entrance." This is not true. I had no issue at all getting my 25' trailer into the campground and parked. Cleanest vault toilet bathroom I've ever been in. It even smelled good. Kinda creepy saying that, but it was. The campground looks good and it is pretty but we left early, didn't even spend one night there (we had a two night reservation). It's right off Highway 14, so there is motor traffic noise, but that wasn't what made us leave. It was buggy, but that wasn't what made us leave. There was no potable water available simply because the authorities have not monitored or filled out the proper paper work (the violation was in 2018 and the posted letter states they might fix the issue by 2023) but that wasn't why we left. It was the numerous non-campers driving through the campground scoping it out and a drugged out zombie couple from California "camping" out of their compact car next to us. When they asked for change I decided it was just a bit too much. I knew I wouldn't sleep well and home was only three hours away. With no cell service my gut feelings told me to leave, so we did. How this happens is that some of the camping sites were first come first serve and not reservable. So, it attracts vagrants. This might only be a problem for the lower campground which is smaller, isolated from the main or upper Watrous and more directly off the highway and has no host site to monitor things.

This is a beautiful site, in a canyon steps from the Poudre Rivere. There are many (I’ll bet 20-30 rafts per day) white water rafters that float by which is fun to watch (that might be a negative for some). Site 1 has a nice buffer of space between the site and the camp host. It’s also a short drive to Fort Collins. Site was clean and level. Vault toilet was clean.
Here are the negatives:
Zero cell signal (at least with T Mobile but I doubt any service provider has coverage).
There is considerable road noise, especially motorcycles, but it’s not bad at night as the sound of the river drowns it out.
There are quite a few people who drive down through the camp ground to look.
We didn’t know it was an issue until we left and got an email later that day but there was a deadly flash flood and the campground had to be evacuated with campers leaving there belongings behind. Luckily for us, we had left the site earlier that morning.

This campground is directly on the river (Cache la Poudre) on Poudre Canyon Road. The area is lovely and the views of the river and surroundings are great from the campground. Although the road is close, it wasn't too noisy.
We had site 17 which is too close to its neighbor - there are others that are nicer - but it was directly on the water which is nice.

This was our first tent camping in 30 years. Went at the end of April and the weather was ok for that time of year. Lots of wind the first day but settled down after that. Space was clean and ready when we arrived but the water was out. Didn't find out until we arrived. Hosts were pleasant and take pride in their campground.

It's along side a highway but didn't hear much traffic noise. Lots of white noise from the river along side our side. Only downside was the target shooters nearby.

Fun trip close to the city.

Beautiful location on the river. Close to Fort Collins and The Mish! Great hiking, loved watching the rafters shoot down the river! Easily got our 25 foot airstream into the site and campground. The hairpin turn listed in the description was no issue. Hike Hewlett Gulch trail just down the road. Had a few beers and saw a free band at Mishawaka Amphitheater. If you drive into Fort Collins get some coffee at Harbringer and chocolate at Nuance, both in Old Town.