About Difficult Campground
Number of accommodations: 47
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Sites & Availability
47 Sites Available
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Reviews (441)
What Guests Are Saying
Difficult Campground is praised for its beautiful setting, with well-spaced, private sites nestled among trees, and proximity to Aspen and nearby trails. Campers enjoyed clean facilities and friendly hosts who were attentive and helpful. While some sites may be less desirable, overall, visitors found it a peaceful and enjoyable experience, with opportunities for wildlife sightings and easy access to outdoor activities.
What Guests Are Saying
Difficult Campground is praised for its beautiful setting, with well-spaced, private sites nestled among trees, and proximity to Aspen and nearby trails. Campers enjoyed clean facilities and friendly hosts who were attentive and helpful. While some sites may be less desirable, overall, visitors found it a peaceful and enjoyable experience, with opportunities for wildlife sightings and easy access to outdoor activities.
Review Summary
ROBERT D
VerifiedAugust 14, 2024 • Stayed at: 004, Loop: DIFF
Great location from Aspen. The sites are well arranged and lots of trees between them.
Jeny L
VerifiedAugust 12, 2024 • Stayed at: 011, Loop: DIFF
👍🏼
Thomas B
VerifiedAugust 11, 2024 • Stayed at: 045, Loop: DIFF
Convenient campsite near Aspen, the grottos, Maroon Bells and other trails. Our site 45 was private with lots of trees and shrubs and a small creek to drown out other campers, generators, etc. Open sky to see the stars late night.
The site itself was pretty small. A van or small rv would work. The tent space is right next to the fire ring though. Fortunately we brought a fire pit, so we could skip the fire.
Otherwise we would have had to set up our tent in the driveway space.
George R
VerifiedAugust 8, 2024 • Stayed at: 003, Loop: DIFF
Difficult Campground 4 miles east of Aspen, CO does not have cell service, situated as it is where the Roaring Fork River valley narrows down amid towering peaks on either side. But, consequently very scenic, with numerous trails to hike, the river close by to paddle board, and Aspen itself to bike to and back.
Campsite #3, where I stayed this time was not my first choice. I got hung up in the reservation process, though I was ''Johnny on the spot' careful to try to get first line for site 30. I seem to have typed #3 by mistake. And given the cancellation fee to change campsites, I choose to stick with what I got.
Campsite #3 has virtually no useable shade, and was very hot, especially in my tent reaching 95 degrees F by 10 am in the morning. Outside the tent much cooler of course. People with a campsite can use the nicely shaded Day Use area without the $8 fee charged to people who only want to park and hike the surrounding trails from there.
My second morning (of 5), I saw that an 'army' of ants, carrying little white bundles (food or eggs?) with them, had invaded the space outside my tent. I did not photograph or video them, more anxious to get some vinegar in town to spray and shew them away; which worked pretty well. But the next morning, I decided to move my tent a couple of yards away from their path, after all their territory. Easily done, and I never saw them again. Or even a tell-tale ant hill anywhere.
A couple of times, other campers crossed my campsite through the woods from the nearest vault toilet building. The toilet room nearest my campsite was spotless. . And the hosts had the door lock fixed I think the very next day.
Best plus for this campsite? Right at the entrance to the campground, across from the Day Use area, and convenient by car, truck, or RV. That, and the overall serenity of this location in the heart of the Rockies.
kate t
VerifiedAugust 7, 2024 • Stayed at: 020, Loop: DIFF
twin lakes, maroon bells
Jeff K
VerifiedAugust 6, 2024 • Stayed at: 030, Loop: DIFF
The campground was great and the facilities super clean! And, the camp host Tyler was AWESOME!! He was super friendly, helpful, and made us feel very welcome.
Matthew W
VerifiedJuly 24, 2024 • Stayed at: 012, Loop: DIFF
Very enjoyable campground. The location is great as it offers easy access to Maroon Bells, Aspen, and any of the other surrounding activities.
The Difficult Trail is a nice convenient walk, although there's not really great river access for fishing, despite how close the campground is to the Roaring Fork. there is one river access spot right after you cross the bridge for the Difficult Trail, but it's a pretty tight spot and the flow is too high for any real fishing.
Volt toilets were about as expected. About average and what we'd expect at other National Forest campgrounds.
One unique feature that we really liked was the fact that they're tends to be trees and brush between the campground sites. Even though the sites are fairly close together, we found we had a lot of visual privacy due to the screening of the Aspen trees and other growth on the sides of each campsite.
We would definitely return again here and enjoyed our stay at Difficult.
James R
VerifiedJuly 23, 2024 • Stayed at: 006, Loop: DIFF
This is the best campground in Colorado. The staff does a great job of keeping the vault toilets clean and maintaining the campsites.
Mark D
VerifiedJuly 23, 2024 • Stayed at: 014, Loop: DIFF
This campground is absolutely beautiful. And well taken care of.
Jim R
VerifiedJuly 22, 2024 • Stayed at: 044, Loop: DIFF
Nice spot. Close to the river. Lots of toilets and water spigots. Close proximity to Aspen for groceries, restaurants, etc.
Location Difficult Campground
Address:
665 Difficult Campground Rd
Aspen, CO, 81611
United States
665 Difficult Campground Rd. Aspen CO 816511
Take Highway 82 for 5 miles southeast of Aspen, Colorado. Look for USFS
Difficult Campground sign on the right, past Mile Marker 45.
Latitude & Longitude: 39.1417 / -106.771
Elevation: 2494 feet
Policies & Rules
| Category | About |
|---|---|
| General |
Dogs must be always on leash within the two sites and anywhere in this area.Campers must occupy the site the first night at a campsite. This prevents booking the site for Fri-Sun and showing up on Saturday.Campers may leave the site for 24 hours and must occupy the site otherwise. This allows a camper to say go for an overnight backpack trip in the woods for one night and come back to their campsite the next day. |
| General |
All food, beverage and trash must be always attended by an adult, this requires someone within 100 feet of the attractants. Otherwise, all attractants shall be stored in a locked vehicle/camper or food lockers.Those camping must adhere to the food storage rule as well and store all attractants in a locked vehicle unless attending the food, garbage, etc. |
| General |
All garbage shall be removed from the site and deposited in the appropriate receptacle by check out time. |
| General |
Off Highway Vehicle Use in not allowed at group or any other site in campground |
| General |
Check in time is 2:00pm and Check out time is 11:00amIt is imperative that you are clear from the site at 11:00am on your check out day so the host can come prepare the site for the next event. Please don't be the group that makes the incoming group have to wait. |
| General |
Fires are restricted to the metal fire rings or pedestal grill, no other open burning is allowed. |
| General |
Tent camping is allowed on flat, gravel areas shown inside the designated area. |
| General |
RV's and campers must be parked on the hardened gravel surface. |
| General |
RV's and campers cannot hook up to water via the spigots, spigot is for self-fill jugs only. |
| General |
Check with the Ranger District or American Land and Leisure prior to our event to investigate fire restrictions.In the event of fire restrictions, you may only be able to use propane cooking facilities. |
| General |
Quite hours are from 10pm to 6am, please respect other visitors to the area and the neighboring campsites. Sound travels in the mountains, don't be that rowdy party that disturbs others. |
| General |
VENDOR AND EVENT REQUIREMENTS Renters of these sites may hire vendors to support their use such as catering, flowers, music, ceremony efficient, photography, chair rental, etc. These vendors are not required to obtain a separate permit to provide these services. However, the party who rented Windy Point via Recreation.gov is responsible for all actions and/or damage taken by the vendors. The vendor must follow all site rules. All vendors shall adhere to check-in/out times for set up and especially retrieval of their equipment. In event the vendor does not retrieve their equipment, the renter is responsible to remove the equipment by noon on checkout day. |
| General |
Vendor Requirements-Commercial Filming and Still Photography: purpose is for a pre-paid film/photography service to document the event only. The products are only available to the client who reserved the group site and their guests. No re-sale is allowed. -Food and Drink Catering: purpose is for a prep-paid food/beverage service provided by the client who booked the group site for the sole service to their guests of the event. No other service shall be offered to other recreation visitors. -Music: Music shall be 80 decibels or less as to not disturb other forest users. Music and the overall event shall adhere to the posted quite hours of 10pm to 6am, the event must shut down between those hours. -Chair and Seating: Additional pre-paid seating may be provided by the client who booked the event site. All seating shall be placed on hardened surfaces. Even numbers shall meet posted site limitations.-Event Tents: Appropriately sized tents shall only be placed on/over gravel, hardened areas such as the parking area, concrete pad, or gravel gathering area at Forest Loop. No tents allowed on grass, in the woods etc.-Flowers and other decorations: A pre-paid vendor hired by the client who booked the group site is allowable. All decorations shall be removed immediately post event and not be allowed to bow away or be strewn about the site. Decorations shall bot be affixed to natural features such as trees, rocks, or other vegetation. -Release or throwing of animals, vegetation, or any other materials: Ariel release of any/all items such as but not limited to doves, other birds, butterflies, balloons, rice, petals, flowers, fireworks, reveal features, or any other item is prohibited. These users are not considered nominal and are prohibited. This is a natural environment, and all celebratory its shall reflect the setting. |
| General |
Customer Service Contact 801-226-3564 or Help.WhiteRiver.Aspen@AmericanLL.com |
