Zapata Falls Campground

Clean campground with beautiful views

Love this campground!! it was quiet and you could talk to people or be on your own. Only thing that would make it better is if there was water in the bathrooms to be able to wash up.

Beautiful views.

Fun spot with views of the peaks and sunset at either side of the campsite. Our site was good for two small kids, but there are others that have more a cliff type feeling that would be great for older families, couples, solo travelers. There were bats at night which was cool, but they might have been after the large (thumb size) flying beetles that also camp out at night! Haha lots of fun, quiet, short drive down the road to the sand dunes.

Zapata Falls was a lovely campground. We had site 23 which for the windy rainy weather we were having, tucked us dow off the top of a hill. Our 28’ motorhome had no issues navigating the dirt roads and we saw larger rigs as well. The pinyon pines were beautiful and this year was a harvest year for them! The pit toilets were clean. There didn’t seem to be a host, but it definitely wasn’t needed. It was straightforward and everyone knew what to do. The falls itself was an added bonus to see and you had good access to sand dunes NP where much more hiking could be had.

Great view, even during the dry season!

Stayed in site 20. The site itself had a scramble up an 8 foot eroded hill to get to the tent and picnic area. The views of the area were nice, with some scrub behind the site. But the path up to the site really needs to be repaired, it looks like erosion has taken its toll on this site over the past couple of years and it makes each run between the vehicle and the campsite interesting to say the least.

I was disappointed, there was no onsite payment pipe available. So I "got" to give an extra $8 through recreation.gov for a reservation fee because it was the only payment method. This even though I was showing up at the site, not really "reserving" one. Thanks for the sneak fee. If BLM actually got this money and not a third party contractor I'd feel better about it. But the campground obviously needs work. I am not happy with this outsourcing of fees. There was no real reason to use recreation.gov and padding the campsite fee.

Incredible views with ample privacy at the campsite.

gorgeous location with well spaced grounds that allow most sites a view of the valley below. perfect spot to watch the sun set.

I really enjoyed my stay at Zapata Falls Campground. The NPS campground inside Great Sand Dunes was fully reserved. Zapata Falls Campground made for a great location close to the Great Sand Dunes with a short 20 minute drive. Hike available to the actual Zapata Falls for those with some time to spare.