St. Vrain State Park Campground

In so many ways, St. Vrain State Park is an excellent campground, particularly for such a populated area. This is probably the best camping option in the Boulder/Longmont area without driving up into the nearby mountains. The facilities are excellent, and the campground has taken full advantage of the large amount of space around the lakes to make the sites large and separated. Having a section for full hookups is a great bonus for RV campers who want that convenience. Overall, this is probably a more pleasant campground for those with RVs than for those with a tent.

The campground consists of several loops that are scattered around several lakes in the park. The loops vary from as few as five sites to as many as 20. The section with full hookups (sites 42 through 87) is generally more open and less shaded than the electric-only section, which has some very large, mature trees for shade and a bit more privacy. A majority of the sites are waterfront or have a water view, and some are really quite scenic with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop. All of the sites seem to have picnic shelters, and water spigots are plentiful in the electric-only section. The biggest negative, and one of the only negatives, is the loud and unrelenting freeway noise coming from I-25. Because the freeway is elevated a bit, this makes the noise worse than it might have been otherwise. At least the electric hook-ups at all the sites means there are no generators to add to the mix.

The park offers fishing in several ponds, walking trails, excellent bird watching, kayaking or canoeing, coin showers and ADA-accessible fishing and camping. Nearby Longmont and Boulder have all the amenities and services of the city, and Rocky Mountain National Park is less than an hour's drive away.