Featured amenities
Pet Friendly
About Penitente Canyon Campground
Number of accommodations: 17
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Campground Amenities
Most popular amenities
Pet friendly
Pets and Policies
- Pet friendly
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Rates, Sites & Availability
17 Sites Available
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Site Details
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17 Sites Available
No available sites
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Reviews (228)
What Guests Are Saying
Penitente Canyon Campground offers a clean and well-maintained environment with friendly camp hosts and excellent access to beautiful hiking and biking trails. Many campers appreciate the spacious sites, amenities like clean toilets, and the unique rock formations in the area. However, some negative feedback highlights issues with the camp hosts' behavior and poor cell phone reception, suggesting that visitors may want to make reservations in advance.
What Guests Are Saying
Penitente Canyon Campground offers a clean and well-maintained environment with friendly camp hosts and excellent access to beautiful hiking and biking trails. Many campers appreciate the spacious sites, amenities like clean toilets, and the unique rock formations in the area. However, some negative feedback highlights issues with the camp hosts' behavior and poor cell phone reception, suggesting that visitors may want to make reservations in advance.
Review Summary
Emily C
VerifiedJuly 27, 2024 • Stayed at: 10, Loop: Main Loop
Great location. Trails could be better marked, I did get lost. But the amenities were great and the pit toilets didn't smell too bad.
Emily C
VerifiedJuly 27, 2024 • Stayed at: 10, Loop: Main Loop
Great location. Trails could be better marked, I did get lost. But the amenities were great and the pit toilets didn't smell too bad.
Phillip B
VerifiedJuly 26, 2024 • Stayed at: 4, Loop: Main Loop
Camping areas were spotless. Other visitors were respectful. The area is gorgeous.
Phillip B
VerifiedJuly 26, 2024 • Stayed at: 4, Loop: Main Loop
Camping areas were spotless. Other visitors were respectful. The area is gorgeous.
Bradley B
VerifiedJuly 24, 2024 • Stayed at: 14, Loop: Main Loop
Remote, very quiet, amazing night sky. Campsites are fairly open, a few with some shade. Only pit toilets.
Bradley B
VerifiedJuly 24, 2024 • Stayed at: 14, Loop: Main Loop
Remote, very quiet, amazing night sky. Campsites are fairly open, a few with some shade. Only pit toilets.
Susan R
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: 7, Loop: Main Loop
We arrived to find that our reserved campsite #7 had a large, very heavy concrete picnic table located in the center of the designated trailer parking area, leaving no space to park our 16 ft trailer on the site. The picnic table was not shown in the online photos of the site during the reservation process. We drove miles out of the park until we managed to pick up a weak internet signal and reserved another site. The internet signal didn't last long enough to cancel the existing reservation. A phone call to recreation.gov to cancel the existing reservation resulted in being put on hold until the call was dropped due to the weak cell signal. This is a nice park, but the issue encountered with the originally reserved campsite, and the effort required to change sites was a very frustrating start to our camping trip.
Susan R
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: 7, Loop: Main Loop
We arrived to find that our reserved campsite #7 had a large, very heavy concrete picnic table located in the center of the designated trailer parking area, leaving no space to park our 16 ft trailer on the site. The picnic table was not shown in the online photos of the site during the reservation process. We drove miles out of the park until we managed to pick up a weak internet signal and reserved another site. The internet signal didn't last long enough to cancel the existing reservation. A phone call to recreation.gov to cancel the existing reservation resulted in being put on hold until the call was dropped due to the weak cell signal. This is a nice park, but the issue encountered with the originally reserved campsite, and the effort required to change sites was a very frustrating start to our camping trip.
Karen H
VerifiedJuly 10, 2024 • Stayed at: 14, Loop: Main Loop
The canyon is beautiful and the campground is very spacious.
Karen H
VerifiedJuly 10, 2024 • Stayed at: 14, Loop: Main Loop
The canyon is beautiful and the campground is very spacious.
Location Penitente Canyon Campground
Address:
Blm San Luis Valley Field Office
Monte Vista, CO, 81144
United States
From U.S. 285, turn west onto Saguache County Road G. After 6 miles you will pass the La Garita Trading Post. Go another 0.5 miles to a Y intersection; take the left fork (County Road 38A). The entrance to the recreation area is another 0.5 miles, on your right. Elevation = 7,930 ft.
The campground is accessible via U.S. Highway 285, which is approximately 6.5 miles away.
Latitude & Longitude: 37.8418 / -106.28
Elevation: 2413 feet
Policies & Rules
Pets
- Pets must always be kept under control.
Nearby Campgrounds
Last updated: June 4, 2026
