Zapata Falls Campground

Had reservations for site 18.
Checked in and went back to site and found it washed out and unusable.
Asked camp host if I could change to an unreserved site. He was real nice but could not make the change it had to be done online or phone. Called and was told since I checked in already they could not do anything, goodbye.
I had to book the other site and pay again.

Great campground that is very well maintained!

One of the most beautiful campgrounds I've been to! Absolutely loved the sunset and star-watching (you can see the milky way!). It does get cold at night so bring layers!!

We stayed in site 11 and the experience was very nice, clean and organized

Amazing views!

Beautiful views. We took the short hike up to the falls, really wish I had brought water shoes but did the walk to falls in the water barefooted. It was beautiful. I nice short drive in the morning to the Great Sand Dunes and able to get in before the crowds. Will definitely comeback with the grandkids!

Super nice campground

Great views! Don was a friendly and helpful caretaker/host. Remember to BYO water.

The good: The road to the campsite was in great repair. The site itself was clean and though much of it was on a hill, there was plenty of room to set up our tent on mostly flat ground, a good table, and space to set up a shade tarp. The hike to Zapata Falls itself was easily reachable from the campsite (maybe a 1 mile walk to the trailhead and half a mile to the falls) and is *well* worth the trip! The host was great, driving by at least twice a day, available if we wanted anything but not bothering us at all. Several lizards and birds came to visit and we even saw some bats in the evening. We couldn't really check out the stars since we went during a nearly full moon and managed to time our visit with a severe thunderstorm for our second night, but this is a dark skies site and it seems like the stars would likely be amazing. The views of the valley were great from many points around the campsite and campground. Seemingly most campsites were under enough scrub trees to have some decent shade (though you might find yourself chasing said shade throughout the day as the trees are short and somewhat sparse at this altitude). The site was clean everywhere, quiet hours were well-observed, and we overall had a very nice stay.

The not so great: The flies. Oh my gosh, the flies. From about 2pm to 6pm the flies were terrible (this was in early July). They weren't biting flies, thankfully, but they were everywhere. Even outside those hours, cooking and eating was best done quickly and attentively if you didn't want flies all over your food.

The "just be aware": As mentioned, we also managed to get a severe thunderstorm (including minor hail) while we were up there, a general risk to be aware of at higher altitudes. Also, being up on the hill (I assume) the wind was quite noticeable at certain points during our stay. Be sure you've got things put away or tied down well.

The campsite we registered for wasn't available, but fortunately another campsite was. The bathrooms are clean and smell nice, even though they are just pit toilets. This campground has beautiful views of the valley, but many of the sites are pretty tight. Quiet environment.