Cold Springs - Arapaho Roosevelt Nf (CO)

Site was clean and proper reservation was attached to the post and was easy to find and confirm.

Site was clean and proper reservation was attached to the post and was easy to find and confirm.

Cold Springs is about 5 miles from Black Hawk and very close to both entrances to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. This would be a good place to stay if one cannot get a reservation at Reverend's Ridge in GGCSP. The road inside is acceptable, there are some narrow spots but easy enough to negotiate around trees. "Pull through" sites are in fact NOT pull throughs as one would expect. They are nothing more than road indentations for the first 5 sites, suitable for tent campers or pop ups. A couple more like that throughout the campground. The remaining sites are back in sites. If you're bigger than about 30 feet, you will find it a tight fit for most of the sites. That said, I was able to get my 28ft trailer into a very nice site, that was elevated, and the table/fire/tent pad on a lower level. Had to park my tow vehicle at an angle to get off the roadway. Tent pad was quite large, would be an excellent site for tent campers, popups or a smaller trailer. Bear box also on site. Elevation of ~9300 feet. Verizon cell service. One thing to be aware of. It is NOT quiet at this campground. Due to the close proximity to CO 119, you will hear lots of road noise. Some of the sites are extremely close to the roadway so if you're reserving a site, check out Google Earth for site location. The campground itself was very clean, there was a host on site who made the usual rounds and the Gilpin County Sheriff's Office patrolled in the campground. We camped at Arapahoe-Roosevelt/Cold Springs in a Travel Trailer.

The fire ring was not cleaned out. So we hard trouble starting a fire. And ashes kept blowing everywhere. Was not relaxing.

Cold Springs is about 5 miles from Black Hawk and very close to both entrances to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. This would be a good place to stay if one cannot get a reservation at Reverend's Ridge in GGCSP. The road inside is acceptable, there are some narrow spots but easy enough to negotiate around trees. "Pull through" sites are in fact NOT pull throughs as one would expect. They are nothing more than road indentations for the first 5 sites, suitable for tent campers or pop ups. A couple more like that throughout the campground. The remaining sites are back in sites. If you're bigger than about 30 feet, you will find it a tight fit for most of the sites. That said, I was able to get my 28ft trailer into a very nice site, that was elevated, and the table/fire/tent pad on a lower level. Had to park my tow vehicle at an angle to get off the roadway. Tent pad was quite large, would be an excellent site for tent campers, popups or a smaller trailer. Bear box also on site. Elevation of ~9300 feet. Verizon cell service. One thing to be aware of. It is NOT quiet at this campground. Due to the close proximity to CO 119, you will hear lots of road noise. Some of the sites are extremely close to the roadway so if you're reserving a site, check out Google Earth for site location. The campground itself was very clean, there was a host on site who made the usual rounds and the Gilpin County Sheriff's Office patrolled in the campground. We camped at Arapahoe-Roosevelt/Cold Springs in a Travel Trailer.

The fire ring was not cleaned out. So we hard trouble starting a fire. And ashes kept blowing everywhere. Was not relaxing.

Very big, nice campsites. My grandson enjoyed the playground.

Very big, nice campsites. My grandson enjoyed the playground.

Great spot! Be prepared for altitude!!! Campground and restrooms clean. Quiet setting in a beautiful area. Nice general store only minutes away, with fuel!

Site #20 is terrible and the rest of the campground isn't much better. When I arrived at the site, I was surprised to find that sites 20-22 are actually two sites combined into three. The campers in site 21 had their stuff (including their dog) sprawled into site 20, and it wasn't clear where one site ends and another starts. You cannot get to site 20 without walking through site 21, and all three sites share a parking spot. This is not at all clear from the photo description or map on recreation.gov. It's quite deceiving. We went looking for the camp host hoping they could help clear up the confusion, but they were nowhere to be found on a Tuesday afternoon. We left and found a walk-in site at Kelly Dahl campground instead.

In addition to the poorly spaced sites, the campground is right next to the highway. This is the worst national forest campground I've ever visited.