Elks Campground

After several days of traveling, we were looking for a place to chill and relax before heading to Denver. We arrived on a Thursday without reservations. No ranger was on duty. We proceeded to find a spot without a 'reserved' tag on the post and set up in site #6 with a lovely view of the lake. Four hours later the camp host came by apologizing and informing us we would have to move. The ranger failed to place the reserved tags on the post that day. "No problem, we understand". The host had me jump in his vehicle as we looked at all the available sites for the weekend in the Elks Campground. Within 30 minutes hubby and I were moved and settled into site #49. Later that evening, the host came by with the most delicious SLAB of BBQ ribs. Over the next 2 hours we chatted over a few beers. Turns out this park almost always has sites available for drop-ins during the week as well as most weekends. It's a popular place with anglers and families. I was surprised to see white Pelicans and other interesting birds along the lakes shoreline. Since there aren't many trees around, there isn't much shade, but the vistas are beautiful. The town of Sterling is about 20 miles away with plenty of shopping including propane. Site #49 was sloped but well spaced from other sites. Our Site had 30amp electric and water spigots scattered throughout the park.

We overnighted here while traveling from Raton, NM to Rapid City, SD. On a Monday night on April 30 we almost had the entire place to ourselves (only one other camper present). So obviously it was very quiet during our stay. It's a beautiful location. There is no water hookup at the individual sites, but there are spigots scattered about for filling. We would love to stay here again sometime.

Clean facilities and grounds.Rangers were helpful and friendly but really gave guests their space! If it was warmer there is a lot to do here! Swimming beach and playground. Stargazing area with benches. Elks Campground felt more like an overflow or separated park. The inlet park seemed more lively and had more atmosphere and closer to playground and swim area.

We stayed one night at North Sterling during a cross country road trip from MN to CA. Although it was a little way off the interstate we felt the few extra miles were well worth it.

Our site, #49, was level and had a great view of the lake. We were hoping to grab site #44 for an even better view but it was booked! We are new to camping with a travel trailer, and felt the sites were very easy to access and “maneuver” into.

The campground was clean and well maintained. It seemed like a popular fishing/boating spot for locals, but since we were just passing through we didn’t look too much into the recreational options. The area we were in was only about 1/4 full on the Monday we were there so it was nice and quiet.

The park rangers came through a couple of times and waved. We flagged them down for a question and they were super friendly and helpful. We had originally reserved a different site but wanted to change. It was very easy to make the change online.

We took a walk down along the beach and found some cool rocks. The sunset over the lake was beautiful. The only negative I can think of was that the fire pit was very close to the picnic table. The tables were chained in place so it couldn’t be moved. Other than that, no
Complaints!

Used this park because of it's proximity to the area we visited. About 10 miles North of Sterling on County Road. Never been there before, so took a leap of faith because of the reviews. NOT a 5 star campground. Reserve America fee, nightly site fee, and Colorado Parks Day Pass totaled $45 for each day. This was for a small, unlevel pull-thru site with just 30 amp service. No Sewer or water. Lake extremely low due to irrigation. Dump station wasn't even level. Overall, just OK for 2 nights. Definitely not worth the money. Almost no cell service for Verizon. 1 bar...sometimes. 10 or 11 airwave tv channels.

We camped here last fall and the water was out so far that we didn’t really feel like we were at a lake. This year, we went nice and early and it was so wonderful! Very clean sites, super nice stare park employees, and the lake was full. If you boat and go early in the year, check with Bill at PJ’s Marina to see if he has any slips available to rent. It makes getting off the lake for the occasional afternoon storms fast and easy! He also carries all kinds of fishing supplies, cold drinks, beer, wine, and things you might have forgotten at home. We got rained on the first two nights so we ventured into Sterling to have dinner. Just a quick drive away we found great Italian food at Sam & Louie’s..good enough to eat there twice! They have takeout too.

Elks Campground is located on the prairie and as such, has little in the way of shade. The park provides very welcome shade structures for the picnic tables at each site. Local visitors state that the area can be quite windy at times, but I didn’t experience more than a light breeze. Electric and water are standard at each site. Most sites are quite level and all were spacious. They’re also widely spaced, providing a sense of openness and privacy. As the campground is adjacent to the lake, there is ample opportunity to enjoy recreational activities such as boating and swimming.

There’s a central building which houses the bathrooms, showers and laundry. Showers are coin operated (quarters); the cost is 75 cents for 3 minutes, $1.50 for 6 minutes. I'm a little disappointed that the showers weren't free, as with most state campgrounds, especially as the cost of the site was a bit higher. The washing machines/dryers are also coin operated and change machines are available. The bathrooms were clean, but only one of the sinks in the women’s restroom was operable.

Overall, I enjoyed my stay at this campground and would return. The sunset was lovely and it was peaceful and quiet at night. Plenty of wildlife and birds - a little bunny visited my site both in the evening and morning. Cell service was adequate with Verizon.

If you have a boat and/or water toys this place is fun. If you are ok with just swimming, it’s fine too. I wouldn’t visit again in August, it was just too darn hot (99°+ every day). Although there is electric, the A/C in our older camper had a hard time keeping up, and because everyone was running theirs too, we had a mini blackout for a couple hours. On the last day there was a huge windstorm which almost demolished our tent and did claim our pop-up canopy. It’s a fine place to visit if you don’t mind dry, desert camping. Now the positives: It was clean, there was a bathroom with flush toilets and free showers. The dump station was also clean, and there were two. This campground was full on the weekend, but not crowded. The sites were spread out and the lake was large enough that we pretty much had a beach cove to ourselves on Saturday and Sunday.

Also, there is a marina to get your daily ice, water, and rent water toys if your budget allows. The site rental was $35/night and there is a $9/day fee upon arrival.

The site was very nice for a 'lake view' above the water - walk down the hill to access the waterfront. I was very surprised at the beauty - lush grass in Mid-June, they had lots of rain (River was overflowing the banks) some mosquitos, and nothing we could not stand.
The site was gravel-level with great access to the shower/bathrooms. Free HOT showers with lots of water pressure and clean restrooms.
Yes, this State Park is about 9 miles from a town however it is very quiet (Except on weekends the campground almost fills up) and there was hardly anyone around.
The park staff were nice and kept this park very clean. I would return maybe not in the HOT months. There were trees scattered however not every site had shade except for the covered picnic area which was welcome. The sunrises and sunsets were beautiful!

We stayed here one night during late June at the Inlet Grove, site 117, with a great view of the lake. The $36 fee per night included electric hookup. Water and restrooms were nearby, showers were available, however the laundry was closed due to covid-19, trash containers and a dump station were also available on site. Each camp site had a covered picnic table and fire ring. The campground Hosts were exceptionally friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our camping experience at this facility and we would return again.