Green Ridge Campground—Colorado
Arapaho National Recreation Area—USFS
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Campsite ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Facilities ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
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There are no hookups at this campground, but if you are prepared to camp slightly off grid, the location more than compensates any inconvenience.
The campground borders on Rocky Mountain National Park and the nearby town of Grand Lake has some plenty of dining options, a laundromat, gas station and some limited shopping. For major shopping or repairs, the larger town of Granby is about 20 minutes from Green Ridge. There are also extensive hiking trails and fishing in the or Colorado River accessible adjacent to the campground.
There is a water fill and dump station about a mile from the campground. I stayed a full week, so dumped my auxiliary tank there mid week without problem and added additional water using my 6-gallon can. There are few trees, so my solar worked well and I never needed my generator. At 8400 feet, it is cool enough (particularly at night) so an air conditioner is unnecessary.
There are both flush and vault toilets, but no showers. The facilities are dated, but clean and everything was serviceable. The sites are gravel and fairly level. All sites have a tent pad, so can accommodate an additional shelter. There is a camp host on each of the two loops and they were obviously doing their jobs throughout my stay.
I will say that there are more ground squirrels than I have ever seen, but they are more a curiosity than a nuisance. Of course this is a bear country and there are signs warning of one that is active in the campground, but it was not a problem during my stay.
One other note regarding cell service. The A loop gets the best reception. I had one or two bars, but at the back of the B loop there was no reception. It is possible to walk up on the causeway (literally a 2 or 3-minute walk) and get three bars of Verizon. An elevated cell booster will get excellent reception even from the back of the B loop.
I would absolutely stay here again.
Additional Information:
Page link: https://bit.ly/4auk59B
Reservation link: https://bit.ly/3B7sGwD
Fee: $19 to $25
Discounts: senior/interagency pass
Number of sites: 77
Max length: 35'
Hookup: no
Dump station: yes
Potable water: yes
Other amenities: vault toilets
Cell service: Verizon (3), AT&T (3), T-Mobile (2)