Turtle Rock Campground

This place is beautiful. Easy to get to. Has cell service and wonderful for mountain biking. It also has a host that definitely is not dog friendly. He says he has been bitten multiple times and honestly, I get why the dogs did it. I know he thinks he’s doing the right thing but he’s over the top. But hey, if you don’t have any dogs this place might be for you. I doubt I’ll ever come back.

Nice views and still close to town. Toilet didn't have toilet paper one night, so I would bring your own. Some sites are kinda close to each other, but everyone was respectful and I had no issues. Would stay there again in an instant.

Stayed at campsite 11, Sept. 8-9 and loved the location further from most other sites and pushed back to the edge of the wilderness with less traffic. The max parking in that spot was only 2 cars and the camp host was VERY strict about not having more. The camping has picnic tables, fire pits with grills, and 2 vault toilets. The views were beautiful and the night sky was great for stargazing!

Pulled up on a Friday afternoon not knowing there were multiple festivals going on in Buena Vista but there were a few spots left.  The Camp host helped me find a site that ended up being a Group site but said its first come first served.  The outer sites were nicely spaced from your neighbor.  Site 8 is large and you have lots of room to move around and great views!  Bathrooms were clean and close to our site.  The Camp host is very nice and helpful but is very strict on following the rules- especially keeping your dog leashed at ALL times, even when laying down at your camp site.  He will check.

My AT&T service was not good throughout the entire town.

Beautiful spot- quiet neighbors. picnic tables at some sites. We were able to set up our tent a hundred feet or so from the pull in and get great views of mountains and stars.

Awesome campground with many primitive sites.  Views amazing.  Highly recommend camping here, as the landscape is more desert and in the forested places misquitoes are TERRIBLE this summer (2023), no misquitoes at turtle rock!  Stargazing is amazing, lots of currant plants,  and NO COST!  Yes!

Stayed here for a quick night when traveling. Got the last so it. Had Att service. Porta potties provided and weren't too dirty

We rolled in around 7 pm in our Class B and had a lovely greeting by the host, and were informed of several available sites. We stayed at site 7 which was beautiful, set back, and felt very private. Pit toilets available as well, concrete picnic tables and fire rings with grill grate on every site. Thrilled we found this great little gem on the Fourth of July no less!

Great BLM campground only a few minutes outside of Buena Vista. It’s a dirt/gravel road up with lots of potholes and some large rocks. We made it up fine in our 2WD low clearance car.

Turtle Rock is the perfect spot for those looking for an experience in-between full facilities camping and dispersed. There are pull-in spots with fire pits and tables, there is a bathroom a ways down toward the beginning of the road, but everything else is primitive. The campground host, Don, introduced himself and was incredibly accommodating and hopped in to help me pitch my tent when it had started raining and offered up spots to get water, dump trash, etc. I could not have imagined a better experience at this “dispersed” site. Just 10 minutes from town and has everything you could need.

This campground ROCKS literally most epic dispersed campsite I’ve been to. I mean this place had a fire ring, pit toilets, and a picnic table. Plus I think there was a camp host(?) or at least a volunteer who came up and checked on us and who was super nice. And it’s free!? And so unbelievably gorgeous!?? Great place to spend a couple nights with friends while tackling some fourteeners.

Great location close to town and close to many 14ers and hikes, white water rafting, and many other things. Buena Vista is beautiful.

The grounds themselves are hard to find without Google maps but once you get there depending on the camp site the view is breathtaking! We had a camp site 15 & 16 which was glorious. Lots of hiking, rock climbing, and the Arkansas river is hiking distance away which was helpful for cooling off when it's scorching outside. I highly recommend this place!

This place is great! Fire pits at every site, concrete picnic tables, and plenty of room! There’s pit toilets near the center of the campground. It fills up fast on the weekends, but it’s pretty quiet during the week. 14 day maximum stay, but it’s totally free. No hookups, and no trash service.

I checked out Turtle Rock as a possible camping location and the road was very steep and rutted with few places to turn around.  I have a class b Promaster and had trouble finding a turn around spot. I ended up camping at Elephant Rock which was and easier and less stressful drive to get there.  Nice campground for smaller and possibly a 4x4 vehicle.

Spent a couple nights here while I was passing through. Easy to access and plenty of sites. Quite a few people at the campground. There is a bathroom but no shower - I don’t know why the app says there is. There is a nice trail for hiking and mountain biking called Vitamin B that is accessible from the campsite. About 6 miles out and back. I had it pretty much to myself while I was hiking until the end there was a group of 3 bikers. Intense biking - those boulders are huge. The river isn’t far either. And I had decent TMobile service.

Late afternoon on a Monday; totally full. Not really for travel trailers or Class C. Many tent sites, very few for TT or RVs. Further up the (very rough and rutted) road (375) there are many dispersed camp sites, most tent friendly and not many for RVs. (I wasn't quite 1-vehicle length off the road.) Definitely dirt bike and ATV paradise. I spent 1-night in a 25' Class C.

This spot is not  really a hidden gem, but will def. give you some good views of the Collegiate Peaks. The road might be a little rough on the way up but if you are careful any car can make it. The recently added solid toilets, no running water. However the Arkansas river is a 5 min. drive down the road. I highly recommend this site! There is plenty of hiking around. I believe there are about 20 sites with fire rings that were recently added aswell. However it's all BLM land.

Just Stayed 3 nights with 8 friends at a great site here. Amazing views and sunsets out here. Fun to hike around the rocks, climb up turtle rock and explore the land. Found some nice deer parts scattered about. Watch out for grasshopper. BuenA Vista is great town. We did ATV rentals one day and rafted the royal gorge. Love the sites. New camp fore rings with grills attached. And a pretty cleAn bathroom/ outhouse (no flushing / water)

This campground has some beautiful spots. We camped here prior to Covid and really enjoyed a spot with a view. However, we came back this year and found the crowd a little different. Seemed to be a lot of passer throughs and transient type people. We had been camping for a couple days when a chair was stolen off our campsite. Kind of left a bad taste for leaving the campsite after that. We camp a lot and that was a first for us. It also seems to become party central on Friday nights now. We had a larger group of people come in blaring music and talking loud but to their regard they all disappeared from the campground around 11. So it’s free, it’s pretty, just watch out. Bring your own water. There is one vault toilet. There were fire restrictions in place while we were there so make sure you have an alternate source for cooking and/or warmth. I heard rumor while there they might start charging a small fee in the future, to establish some rules and upgrade some amenities. Might be worth it for such a nice spot.

If you get there early enough you can snatch the spot that faces the Colligiate Peaks. All marked areas, but can get crowded if you get there late. Or you'll have just a campsite with no views really. Lots of places ro climb if that's your thing, some hiking near the campsite but not much. This place really has great views. You can climb the top od turtle Rock and catch a beautiful sunset OR sunrise. There is a porta-potty at the entrance but you're better off digging a hole. Below is the Arkansas River you can't walk but you can drive to the bottom and take a dip. Pack in and pack out. Obey fire bands, forestry dept passes by often.

This place is so easy to get to and is very close to the city of Buena Vista. Any type of car can make it to the campsites and there are bathroom facilities available. The trees are just the right size to provide shade and hang hammocks. There is a rock climbing trail and beautiful views of the peaks near by for some daytime entertainment. One note is that most of the spots are walk in rather than drive in, slightly more annoying for the roof top tents.

If not staying at least check out the landscape. Great way to wake up. Decent amount of spots, think I recall a community bathroom.

after reading the reviews and spending the day in salida, we tried our luck looking for a spot here around 5pm on a saturday in mid august. while the signs say only camp in numbered spots, we found that some of the sites were sprawling and ambiguous as to which numbered site the space belonged to. we ended up setting up in a beautiful spot overlooking the valley at/near site 15. before deciding on that spot, we did drive up past the cluster of numbered spots to see what else was available, per the reviews. while we didn’t find anything open, the views were incredible along the way. definitely advise having 4WD - our camper van struggled.

highly recommend this spot - the colors of the rocks and sky and landscape will take your breath away.

Rough trip up the hill, well worth the work. If you stay be sure to explore in all directions. Very quiet at night with some late arrivals and some early risers. Vault toilets were very clean and the rest of the grounds seemed well kept and respected.

This was our first dispersed camping experience in a campervan and we couldn't have chosen a better site. Over 50 sites available, some grouped together, others you can just drive in and have plenty of privacy. There are even public vault toilets available. Stunning views of the surrounding mountains and close to BV and the Arkansas River.

This campground is a nice place to stay not far from the Fractions and Numbers sections of the amazing whitewater on the Arkansas River near BV. It gets pretty busy on weekends. There is more dispersed camping going further up the road if needed or desired. There is also some great rock climbing very close to the campground.

S I liked everything about this campsite, it was clean, spaced out so no one was too crowded, and a beautiful area. What I DIDNT like was that I was accused of being here for more than 2 weeks while I have only been here for 8 days. And then was told I wasnt allowed to camp at free sites unless I had proof of a physical address in Colorado. I'm from Michigan and was vacationing here. Can someone explain to me HOW that makes sense? I rented out a place at my boss's house before I came to this campsite and she told me that doesnt count. Sorry for the long rant, just doesn't make sense to me.

**Campground Review **

I initially found this campground while searching on The Dyrt for a place to camp near Buena Vista for a weekend. I camped here in May with a group of friends as we spent the weekend rafting near Buena Vista on the Arkansas River. 

The road leading up to the campground isn’t paved but doesn’t require any technical or 4x4 driving. However, if you pass the campground and continue down the road (as we initially did) the road gets much rougher and requires high clearance and 4x4. We also saw some sweet dispersed camping sites along the road past the Turtle Rock Campground which could be useful if the campground itself is ever filled up. 

Overall, I was quite impressed with this campground. It is simple but well maintained and met all of our needs. Each site has a fire pit and ample space for group camping. Our group consisted of 4 tents and 4 vehicles, our site had plenty of space for parking and for all of tents to be quite well spaced out. Most of the sites also offer trees for shade which will be nice in the warmer months. The views from this campground are incredible, seriously some of the best in the state. We climbed up Turtle Rock itself (a bit of scramble so use caution!) for the sunset one night and the views were top notch. I will definitely stay here again whenever I am in the area. 

**Product Review **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I sometimes have the opportunity to review products that I use while camping. On this trip I got to test out an ICEMULE Cooler, specifically the ICEMULE Pro Large (23L). This trip seemed like a great opportunity to test a cooler because Colorado was finally warming up enough for us to want some cold beer while camping and rafting! By the end of the trip, everyone from our group was jealous of my awesome cooler and wanted to buy their own! 

This backpack cooler is seriously awesome, it has a massive capacity and easily held enough a day’s worth of food and drinks for 6 people on the river. With all of that weight, I was a bit skeptical about the comfort level when using it as a backpack. I was really impressed about how ergonomically the straps and breathable back panel felt. This is such an efficient way to carry your cold goods while out on an adventure. We were also able to just strap it right onto our raft and had no worries about a heavy cooler flying out on the rapids. Furthermore, I had no fear of the cooler getting destroyed while being tossed around the boat or scraping on the rocky ground because the material is really durable. It really seems like a product that is going to last a lifetime.  

So with any cooler, the real question is, will it keep my drinks cold? Heck. Yeah. After two days, I still had ice in the cooler and not a single warm beer was consumed on our trip. For being so lightweight, I was shocked with how well insulated this cooler is. There is also a really cool (no pun intended) valve which allows you to add air into the insulation layer to increase the insulating power! Then when finished using the cooler, you can open the valve to release all of the air and roll up the bag into a super compact size. This is one of my favorite features, because the cooler really takes up no space or weight for efficient storage. I’m excited to pack it along on some backpacking trips this summer as well! 

In the end, I think this is one of my favorite new pieces of gear. Since getting the cooler I have used it at least once a week; I’ve used it for camping, rafting, skiing, tailgating and even carried it while riding horses on a trail ride! I don’t think I will ever go back to a standard hard-shelled cooler after getting my ICEMULE. You really can’t beat the durability, carrying comfort, insulation and compact storage design.

Great campground with a lot of space at each site. Great views of mountains and rock formations.

Free and easy to get to from Buena Vista