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
All sites are booked for your selected dates. Try showing all sites to see booked options, create an alert to be notified when something opens up, or adjust your dates.
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
Daniel B
VerifiedMay 31, 2022 • Stayed at: 8, Loop: Main Loop
It was great.
Daniel B
VerifiedMay 31, 2022 • Stayed at: 8, Loop: Main Loop
It was great.
Michael W
VerifiedMay 4, 2022 • Stayed at: 12, Loop: Main Loop
Beautiful scenery, quiet, and absolutely stunning!
Michael W
VerifiedMay 4, 2022 • Stayed at: 12, Loop: Main Loop
Beautiful scenery, quiet, and absolutely stunning!
Coleen E
VerifiedApril 30, 2022 • Stayed at: 2, Loop: Main Loop
Penitente Canyon Campground is a good place for mountain bikers and climbers to stay. We enjoyed the hiking loop through the canyon. Was disturbing to see the graffiti on the walls, new since our last visit. Also, I'd encourage people with dogs to clean up their poop. We carried out about five pounds of dog poop just from the canyon. Camping along the road to the Canyon is extra dusty as vehicles with vehicles driving by at higher than necessary speeds kick up that dust.
Coleen E
VerifiedApril 30, 2022 • Stayed at: 2, Loop: Main Loop
Penitente Canyon Campground is a good place for mountain bikers and climbers to stay. We enjoyed the hiking loop through the canyon. Was disturbing to see the graffiti on the walls, new since our last visit. Also, I'd encourage people with dogs to clean up their poop. We carried out about five pounds of dog poop just from the canyon. Camping along the road to the Canyon is extra dusty as vehicles with vehicles driving by at higher than necessary speeds kick up that dust.
Allison M
VerifiedApril 29, 2022 • Stayed at: Group Site 2, Loop: Main Loop
We had reserved a spot a few days before our trip. When we got there someone had taken our spot. After trying to decide what to do, we noticed that they did not have a camp host, so we parked there since we paid for a spot. At least 4 other campers came to complain to us that someone took their spot. We told them ours was taken also, and we were not the camp host that we just parked there. They should not do reservations online if no one will be there to enforce it. Many people parked without paying and took paying customer spots. I contacted BLM, but of course they did not care. They only cared that I parked in the camp host spot that I did not reserve.
Allison M
VerifiedApril 29, 2022 • Stayed at: Group Site 2, Loop: Main Loop
We had reserved a spot a few days before our trip. When we got there someone had taken our spot. After trying to decide what to do, we noticed that they did not have a camp host, so we parked there since we paid for a spot. At least 4 other campers came to complain to us that someone took their spot. We told them ours was taken also, and we were not the camp host that we just parked there. They should not do reservations online if no one will be there to enforce it. Many people parked without paying and took paying customer spots. I contacted BLM, but of course they did not care. They only cared that I parked in the camp host spot that I did not reserve.
Ellen H
VerifiedApril 23, 2022 • Stayed at: 9, Loop: Main Loop
Your switch to an online reservation system is so lame. We have camped here for years and this was a total surprise after driving all the way to get there. Service is bad so getting online to make a tedious reservation is risky. The best sites were reserved yet no one showed up. Please go back to the self-reserve system. Please. So many campgrounds don’t have cell service and I heard from friends camping at other locations that the same issue happened to them - Tom’s of reserved sites where no one showed up.
Ellen H
VerifiedApril 23, 2022 • Stayed at: 9, Loop: Main Loop
Your switch to an online reservation system is so lame. We have camped here for years and this was a total surprise after driving all the way to get there. Service is bad so getting online to make a tedious reservation is risky. The best sites were reserved yet no one showed up. Please go back to the self-reserve system. Please. So many campgrounds don’t have cell service and I heard from friends camping at other locations that the same issue happened to them - Tom’s of reserved sites where no one showed up.
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
