West Fork Campground

We stayed in site 12, which is a pull through. The entire campsite is nice and there is a decent amount of space between you and your neighbor. Tried some trout fishing in the river, but no luck. All in all, it's a clean, well maintained campsite. The pit toilets were cleaned everyday by the staff. The only downside of the campsite is getting to it. The road from the highway has so many rough spots. You will need to do about 3 mph getting to it, otherwise plan on a front alignment for your tow vehicle. I'm really surprised the forest service doesn't maintain this road any better than it is. We would definitely stay at this campground again. Nights were cool to sleep with no air-conditioning, but it was rather hot during the day. Nice flat spaces for the most part for your camper. Also, the whole campground is fairly flat so it's easy walking if you want to take a stroll around your loop. One more thing. We have Verizon and it was totally dead reception. My phone was constantly searching for a signal, but couldn't find one. Finally turned it off.

We did two nights of boondocking here. Most sites were reserved through Rec.gov, but there were a few first come first serve options. I'm super glad we pulled in early enough for site 19. It was on the outside ring, last in the row, and a nice amount of space. Views of mountains around are beautiful at sunset and you're close enough to Pagosa Springs to explore a little.

Road in was a little bumpy, but not too complicated. We saw 15 footers like ours, 20+ large RVs and tents, so it was a good mix. Pit toilets were clean. Sites have no water or electric, but water is available on the campgrounds. There is no reception in the area.

Without a reservation, we turned in off the highway and came upon this really cool campground. There were three or so unreserved camping sites, maybe 15 total. We grabbed one and had a terrific time. Great hiking, with dog. Picnic table, fire pit with no restrictions, Host was helpful. Typical amenities - vault, well, 30 amps. They even had space for fishermen to park; didn't see any fish. Views were inspiring. This ranks with my absolute favorite campgrounds.

This campground is secluded. Most spots have coverage from trees as the campground is wooded. There are a few spots that don’t have tree coverage if you are looking for solar energy (site 12 is one of them). The San Juan River runs through the campground and many sites have the sounds of the river flowing. None of the sites have a river view though. We are in a 38 foot fifth wheel and many of the sites did not look big enough to accommodate our size. If you are uncomfortable maneuvering in tight spaces, this is not the campground for you.

The sites are standard non-electric, there are no services. There is potable water available (not enough to fill your rig, but enough for filling jugs), and the bathrooms are cleaned three times a day. The vault toilets (near site 12) filled up pretty quickly in our four days at the campground (and you could tell from the stench), but although full, they were the cleanest vault bathrooms we’ve been to). The camp host even folds over the toilet paper so you feel like you are in a hotel!

There is not a dump station at the campground. We would absolutely stay here again. It’s quiet, secluded, and absolutely off-grid. Proximity to the river, to hiking (Rainbow Trail is gorgeous), to anything in this part of southern Colorado is great.

Regarding cell service, we had none (really, it was a text received randomly here and there, but not enough to rely on at all).

Site 12 specific information: Access is pull through, albeit with some maneuvering for our 38 foot rig and truck. Vault toilets are right by this site and you can walk to the river directly behind the site through a large wooded area.