Chambers Lake

Recreation.gov sent out a notice that lake levels were "low." Try pretty much the lake is now a pond. Needless to say there was no kayaking or paddleboarding and for full price camping it was not worth it. The sites were nice but without water in the lake there was not much to do.

Like others, we were very disappointed to find the lake unexpectedly drained. However, this presented a unique and memorable opportunity to explore a dry lakebed. The mud was mostly solid enough to walk on, and the experience was surreal.

If you have small watercraft, or want to fish, there is another lake (Barnes Meadow Reservoir) with roadside parking 1/4 mile east on Highway 14. Easy to miss because you can only see the dam from the road, but you can walk in next to the spillway. Lovely paddleboarding there - saw a moose!

The camp host didn't proactively introduce himself but was very friendly when approached. The pit toilets smelled worse than most, but that's not his fault - he does mop them out.

One little perk - tons of free firewood stacked for the taking next to the boat launch parking lot, if you're willing to split it yourself.

This was a lemonade out of lemons camping trip. Minus the lake, the campground itself is still really nice with plenty of big shade trees. We"ll be back!

The lake was EMPTY. Boo. We have had wonderful times here before.

We go annually to Chambers, but this year the lake was drained for a dam repair, and no one was given any notice. Our site looked over the mud, and no one could reasonably get anything on the water. A notice of the lake being drained mid-July would have been extremely helpful.
Not sure if there is a new camp host/manager this year, but the bathrooms were the worst we’ve seen them, all the signage about bears, regulations, wildlife, etc. had been removed from the bulletin boards at outhouses, and it was a very unfriendly environment all around! Reconsider any trips to Chambers anytime soon!

The one star is due to the lake being drained and now a giant wet mud pit. Would’ve been nice to have been alerted to this prior to our arrival.
The host kept the bathrooms immaculate and well stocked. Just super bummed on the empty lake.

Knowing the time of year the lake is dry world be good to know. It was a great spot to camp. Great amenities wonderful spot with plenty of hiking nearby

Chambers Lake campground was good. Bathrooms were clean. Host was friendly. Unfortunately, the actual lake had been drained and was not useable during our stay.

Lake was really low when we were there in early July, but there are many other fishing options in the area. Wildflowers were very nice.

Was so excited for our family camping trip to Chambers Lake, and ready to enjoy paddle boarding with the grandkids. Alas, we arrived on Wednesday, July 16th only to find the lake was being drained for work on the dam.

Understand that maintenance needs to be done, but to have no notice about the condition of the lake on the campground website is unconscionable. And, lake-related activities are the main reason to choose this campground. Shame on you, US Forest Service, for not notifying anyone about this, including Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), who had shown up with a boat to do a fish study.

We ended up shortening our camping trip from 5 nights to 2.

Toilets were clean but foul smelling. Zero shade on our site, and lots of burn area around to look at. Also, the lake was so low it was just mud in a lot of places! Overall "ok" experience.