Lodgepole (Jefferson Lake, Fairplay Colorado)

This was our first season camping in a national forest campground and had a great experience. The camp hosts were friendly and did a great job maintaining the campground facilities. Jefferson Lake was beautiful and not busy. There is dispersed camping off road 809 right before the entrance to the series of campgrounds and the lake which also leads to some moderately challenging off-roading if you brought a 4x4.

Fairplay is about a half hour from camp and Breckinridge is about an hour. Nearest gas station is about 18 miles so be prepared.

This was our first season camping in a national forest campground and had a great experience. The camp hosts were friendly and did a great job maintaining the campground facilities. Jefferson Lake was beautiful and not busy. There is dispersed camping off road 809 right before the entrance to the series of campgrounds and the lake which also leads to some moderately challenging off-roading if you brought a 4x4.

Fairplay is about a half hour from camp and Breckinridge is about an hour. Nearest gas station is about 18 miles so be prepared.

clean, nice hosts

clean, nice hosts

The campground hosts stopped by to say hello and were very helpful and accomodating. The bathrooms were incredibly clean and believe it or not.........even smelled good.

The campground hosts stopped by to say hello and were very helpful and accomodating. The bathrooms were incredibly clean and believe it or not.........even smelled good.

Clean bathrooms and well maintained camping sites

Clean bathrooms and well maintained camping sites

This campground requires a local area day pass - the normal "America the Beautiful" annual parks pass does not cover access to the campground for the 2022 season. A local area day pass costs $8 cash or check.

There are a handful of campgrounds in this area, and Lodgepole has mature lodgepole pine trees throughout the campground. The campground is well maintained, and busy throughout summer weekends. Every site was taken during our weekend trip in July. The camp hosts do a great job taking care of the campground, and frequently staffing the entry gate. One warning - there was a brief torrential downpour during the evening, and while we we were prepared for rain we were not prepared for the rivers of water running through many of the camp sites. We stayed at site 28, and there were ankle deep streams of water from multiple directions. Other than that - a great campground, great hosts, and good experience.

This campground requires a local area day pass - the normal "America the Beautiful" annual parks pass does not cover access to the campground for the 2022 season. A local area day pass costs $8 cash or check.

There are a handful of campgrounds in this area, and Lodgepole has mature lodgepole pine trees throughout the campground. The campground is well maintained, and busy throughout summer weekends. Every site was taken during our weekend trip in July. The camp hosts do a great job taking care of the campground, and frequently staffing the entry gate. One warning - there was a brief torrential downpour during the evening, and while we we were prepared for rain we were not prepared for the rivers of water running through many of the camp sites. We stayed at site 28, and there were ankle deep streams of water from multiple directions. Other than that - a great campground, great hosts, and good experience.