Lodgepole (Jefferson Lake, Fairplay Colorado)

Campsite was very nice. Camp hosts were great! Bathrooms were very clean. Great scenery, hiking and fishing on the creek and at Jefferson Lake

We prefer Aspen for tent camping but the west side of lodgepole has sites in the trees if Aspen isn't available.

We prefer Aspen for tent camping but the west side of lodgepole has sites in the trees if Aspen isn't available.

Nice campground! Definitely will return. Our outer loop tent sites (26 & 27) were perfect, lots of space for the tents way back from the road up the incline. Plenty of shade back there. Parking for 2 vehicles easily in each site. We saw a mother moose and her twin calves in the campground one morning, what a surprise! Very clean vault toilets located every 5-8 campsites. The lake was quite a distance with significant elevation gain from the campground, so we drove. It was beautiful. The beaver ponds were cool too. Excellent camping weather, warm during the day, cold at night.

CONS: Did not know there is an additional fee ($9 per vehicle) on top of camping fees to enter the NF area. Had to return to Jefferson to use the ATM, which was annoying. Never saw anything about that fee online. // Water pump said it was unchlorinated, so we avoided it, didn't know for sure if it was potable. We had brought water so we had no worries. // The "grill" is incorporated into the firepit and its so high up, it takes a rather large fire to cook anything. We had to cook burgers and dogs on the camp stove in a fry pan. Grill was almost useless. Minor inconveniences, and we had backup plans for all of it.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Campsite is at incline, the most level spot to put a tent is tiny and right next to the gravel road, the picnic table and fire ring are further up the incline, be aware, host are asking for a 9$ fee per car to enter.
People at the campsite were loud and negligent of the quiet hours. The lake requires a 5-10min drive.

Nice campground! Definitely will return. Our outer loop tent sites (26 & 27) were perfect, lots of space for the tents way back from the road up the incline. Plenty of shade back there. Parking for 2 vehicles easily in each site. We saw a mother moose and her twin calves in the campground one morning, what a surprise! Very clean vault toilets located every 5-8 campsites. The lake was quite a distance with significant elevation gain from the campground, so we drove. It was beautiful. The beaver ponds were cool too. Excellent camping weather, warm during the day, cold at night.

CONS: Did not know there is an additional fee ($9 per vehicle) on top of camping fees to enter the NF area. Had to return to Jefferson to use the ATM, which was annoying. Never saw anything about that fee online. // Water pump said it was unchlorinated, so we avoided it, didn't know for sure if it was potable. We had brought water so we had no worries. // The "grill" is incorporated into the firepit and its so high up, it takes a rather large fire to cook anything. We had to cook burgers and dogs on the camp stove in a fry pan. Grill was almost useless. Minor inconveniences, and we had backup plans for all of it.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Campsite is at incline, the most level spot to put a tent is tiny and right next to the gravel road, the picnic table and fire ring are further up the incline, be aware, host are asking for a 9$ fee per car to enter.
People at the campsite were loud and negligent of the quiet hours. The lake requires a 5-10min drive.

The campsite was absolutely beautiful!! And private, with the tent pad being tucked in the back. The hiking trails nearby were awesome and Jefferson Lake up the road was fantastic too! Everything about the beauty and recreation part of this location was amazing! What wasn’t great was the camp hosts. And the lack of firewood. The website says you can buy firewood on-site. We tried to do that but were told that “they haven’t brought us any but they were supposed to”. We found some that somebody had left behind, but if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have had any. So don’t count on them having firewood. Bring your own. As far as the camp hosts, well, we arrived around 4pm (checkout time is 12p), and our campsite was still occupied. The people were sleeping in their tent. Their whole camp was still set up. We couldn’t find the camp host anywhere. We waited and looked. And waited and looked some more. We finally tracked the hosts down, who made a few excuses for why our campsite was still occupied. Yes I’m aware that people will try to get away with things, but it’s also the responsibility of the camp host to make sure those sites are clear for the next camper. He finally went and talked to them. We had to wait for the people to break camp and clean up, after we’d spent a bunch of time trying to find the camp host. The whole thing was just frustrating. We’ve never had an experience like this before with campers or with camp hosts. It was a disappointment.

The campsite was absolutely beautiful!! And private, with the tent pad being tucked in the back. The hiking trails nearby were awesome and Jefferson Lake up the road was fantastic too! Everything about the beauty and recreation part of this location was amazing! What wasn’t great was the camp hosts. And the lack of firewood. The website says you can buy firewood on-site. We tried to do that but were told that “they haven’t brought us any but they were supposed to”. We found some that somebody had left behind, but if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have had any. So don’t count on them having firewood. Bring your own. As far as the camp hosts, well, we arrived around 4pm (checkout time is 12p), and our campsite was still occupied. The people were sleeping in their tent. Their whole camp was still set up. We couldn’t find the camp host anywhere. We waited and looked. And waited and looked some more. We finally tracked the hosts down, who made a few excuses for why our campsite was still occupied. Yes I’m aware that people will try to get away with things, but it’s also the responsibility of the camp host to make sure those sites are clear for the next camper. He finally went and talked to them. We had to wait for the people to break camp and clean up, after we’d spent a bunch of time trying to find the camp host. The whole thing was just frustrating. We’ve never had an experience like this before with campers or with camp hosts. It was a disappointment.

Loved that there was wood available for us. Toilets were clean too!