Carpios Ridge Campground

We stopped here for one night (on our way to a Rio Grande National Forest campground). The site was clean and level and I had a great view of the lake. Nice clean restrooms and laundry facilities too. But you had to pay for showers, which were also nice and clean. My site was a little difficult to back into because it was on a curve. A larger RV may have not been able to back into the site. There was also a fee to enter the park - the cost of the campsite did not include the entry fee. We enjoyed the evening sky and also were within walking distance (from my campsite) to geocaches.

This is our 2nd campground to stay at with our motorhome. We arrived at night and could barely see a thing with no moon to help us. Fortunately we managed to find a spot and parked for the evening.
Most sites only have electric but there are water spigots sprinkled around the campground. It was so dark we couldn't find the night pay station but figured out the next day it is on the outside of the visitor's center. We bought a park pass for $70 which pays for itself even though we will only be in Colorado for two weeks. We were able to also squeeze my Mazda 3 into the parking spot. Some are paved spots and some are not. Across from site 32 is a cool cliff side view of the lake. Other spots like #47 and #48 overlooked the lake but were taken. We also liked spot #6 with full hookups and spot #12 which was a pull through with a lakeview. We like our spot because it is a little chilly so sitting right out in the sunshine has been great.
We have dealt with some heavy winds while here but it seems to be calming down. We had decent cellular service and the bathrooms and laundry area were clean, doors are open all night but all lights are out at 10 pm and it is pitch black! They have maybe 2-3 washers and dryers and coin operated showers. We are self contained so we showered in the rig, I might do a load of laundry unless I get brave and try testing out our washer and dryer for the first time. We went to Safeway in Trinidad for groceries, not too exciting. Hoping to check out the local Co-op and other things in town like I love sugar sweet shop, Books and more, Archery and Tackle shop and the Farmers market on Saturday if that is still going on.

We stayed here in July of 2016, and found to be a well maintained, but somewhat busy state park Our stay spanned both the weekend and weekdays so we got to see the park during both times. Weekends are packed which meant a lot of families, small children, dogs, noise, and some late-night parties. Come Monday the campground empties out and becomes peaceful and quiet. There's no real shade at any of the campsites and few of the sites are level, but we had a great view of the lake below and stayed cool enough during the hottest parts of the afternoon with our AC running.

The bathroom & shower facilities are super clean. Just make sure that you bring some quarters with you for the shower as it's coin operated. That there is a laundry room on site was an unexpected and welcome surprise for us.

It seems like fishing and boating are the main activities here, though there is also deer hunting in part of the park (if you're into that). We were fortunate in that we had two hiking trails accessible directly from our site - one short (1 mile scenic loop), and another longer (4-8 mile more rigorous trail).

Given the steady 4G internet connection, we spent a few days alternately getting work done and going for hikes/ bike rides/ and fishing in the evenings.

"I don't like this at all," was my wife's reaction as we drove to the South Campground, affixed to the opposite side of the impoundment created by this "state park that's based around a dam" oxymoron in my book. I agreed, as the dam is a bit ugly but lets not get all mother nature here, I mean, it's just a state park meant to preserve the natural landscape...

Anyway, we hoofed it up to Carpios Ridge hoping we could snag a walk in spot on a Thursday night, which we did.

"We've got a couple of spots left for the night, a few of them are partial shade," they were even marked as such on the map. Partial shade is a relative term, so assuming you don't need solar because you've got an electric hookup here, it's kind of just you and the blazing sun. Great for working on that mountain tan!

Nothing was available for the weekend, and it's one of those, "Yeah we know it's raining and so half of these sites are going to go unused...but unless someone calls and specifically cancelled," which hasn't happened since Moses first discovered Trinidad in the late 1320s, "we can't give away their space."

Cell service works better here than in town, and Trinidad is a peculiar little place that doesn't have much going on and that sort of lends to its run down charm. There are places to eat and whatnot of course.

As another reviewer mentioned, it's dark here at night, especially with no moon, which is wonderful...but the Olympic stadium quality bathroom building may leave you blinded and unable to remember how to get back to your spot, so flashlights or not forgetting your modern day smartphone may be in order.

Given the decent cell service, spot-free coin op showers and that they've even got a laundromat on site, I could see this being a great place to post up and get a little of that "on the internet work" that people are doing these days wrapped up.

"That lake is gorgeous," my six year old said as we were driving away. I considered killing his buzz with a lesson on dams, but instead we just pointed her for the national forest to see what snagging a site on a summertime weekend would be like in Colorado...

Everything about this park was clean and well-maintained. I was very impressed with the investment into and design of the overall park.

The park offers a very clean bathroom facility and coin operated showers. There is also a laundry room available. Also, there is a volleyball court, kids' playground, and an amphitheater.

There were a number of easy trails available for casual walking to see the lake and surrounding area.

Don't forget to take a drive to Cuchara. It's a nice little mountain community in easy driving distance from the park.

We stayed here from 8-15 July 2018 and it was hot, hot, hot. As other reviewers have said shade is pretty sparse here and site 4 is definitely lacking in any natural shade. While site 4 lacks shade, it does have full hookups, a gravel pad, steel fire ring and a picnic table.

Site 4 is a back-in site and the nose of your rig will be facing North, so the rig itself will end up being your best source of shade in the afternoons as the sun moves into the western sky.

With our 25 foot rig we were level on the pad without any jacks or pads. A longer rig would have a tough time because there is a pronounced grade from the access road down to the relatively small and level portion of the pad.

Site 4 is near the visitor’s center and is one of the farthest from the lake. The campground sits on a ridge above the lake and some of the campsites are fairly close to the edge overlooking the lake and provide some very nice views just a few steps away from the campsites. Several of these sites overlooking the lake offer better privacy and shade than what our site offered. We decided that if we found ourselves back here we would try to get either site 45 or 34.

The bathrooms offered coin operated showers and there is also a laundry room in the same facility which offers coin operated laundry machines. We did not use either.

It is a pretty easy bike ride into the town of Trinidad, but the hill is a bit steep on the way back so you will want to consider that if hill climbing is not your thing. The town is pretty sleepy but does have a Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings during the summer.

There are several hiking trails and we enjoyed hiking through the park in the mornings and evenings when the temperatures were cooler.

There is no lake access from Carpios Ridge to put watercraft into the lake, however there are some foot trails you can use to hike down to the lake to get some fishing in from the shoreline. We had pretty good luck using night crawlers and caught several small to medium sized bass.

Both Verizon and ATT cell service are blazing fast up here with Verizon offering slightly better download speeds.

We were able to pull in the local Fox channel with our OTA antenna to watch the World Cup semi-final and final games.

All in all, we had a good time and decided that if we came back, it would likely be in the fall or early spring when we could enjoy more privacy and cooler temperatures.

Coming from Texas, we’ve been very impressed by the Colorado state parks. Trinidad SP was very clean and well maintained. We used the coin laundry as well as the dish washing station. The playground was great for the kids. There is not much shade, but fortunately it wasn’t too hot while we were there and there was a nice breeze. Site 12 was a large pull through that felt more private than the others (some seemed very close to each other with very little privacy). The park also had some nice and easy hiking paths that the whole family liked. We just stopped for 1 night on our way back to Texas, but would have liked to stay another. They have a nice looking amphitheater for programs on the weekend.

This was a great place to stop overnight because it allowed me to go into town and buy groceries and fuel then get a good night sleep. The park was quiet and well maintained. They have bathrooms for men, women and family. Just out of curiosity I looked in the family and it was much nicer than the men's room. I was able to get T-Mobile LTE in parts of the park but in many locations it was spotty.

Loved the experience of one of our first state parks. We had electric only and it worked out well. Right across from small laundry and showers. Showers were roomy and clean (.50 for 3 minutes, .75 for 4 1/2). We had a very nice pull through that was very roomy with table and fire pit although no fires were allowed. Sites level and easy to get into.

Just a few minutes into town with shops and grocery stores. The lake is just a few minutes down the road although some sites overlook it.

Sites vary quite a bit in size, ease of access and ease of leveling. Loop roads are narrow with some steep drop offs. OK for tents and small to mid size units. We saw a large unit really have to maneuver just to get around the corners without going in a culvert. Most sites have little to no shade. Electric came in handy for that reason on an unseasonably warm day. A few sites on the edge of the ridge have some shade and a partial water view. No lake access from campground. No road noise and the bathrooms were clean. Nice and dark at night made for some amazing star gazing. Showers took quarters. We’d stay again for an overnight.