CHALK CREEK CAMPGROUND, NATHROP, COLORADO

Our Opinion: Recommended, if you are willing to pay the price.

Date of Stay: July 27 through July 30, 2008

Weather During Stay: Typical high mountain summer weather: highs to the mid 80’s, lows to the mid 40’s, with clouds and occasional rain in the afternoon/evening. Wonderful.

Site Description: Our site, 27A (bottom photo), was huge, with a great view out the front window. Roads and sites are gravel. Lots of variety in the sites. Plenty of trash barrels.

The park has two levels - big rig friendly sites on the top level, with 30/50 amp FHU, level, wide, long (third photo). The lower level has lots of tent sites, a playground, and a couple of dozen electric-only sites - all under huge shade trees on the bank of Chalk Creek (second photo).

There also are 3 nice cottages with fabulous views (top photo), nice bathhouses, laundry, and a pleasant office with a small store (they sell ice cream, t-shirts and RV supplies).

Rate: With taxes and no discounts, we paid $38.75/night - much more than our usual, but it seemed reasonable for such a nice place at the peak of the summer vacation season.

Phone/radio/TV: Verizon phones worked well, but the aircard was very slow. However, the park has blazing fast, free WiFi. No cable TV, but no obstacles on the upper level sites for satellite RV dishes. Local NPR on 89.9.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: Elevation is 7750’. Upper level is flat and open, with good views of trees and mountains; lower level is forested with creek views.

Lighting/Noise: Quiet at night; lighting is unobtrusive.

Favorite Sites: Though our site was long, level, and wide, it was in the middle of the action. Next time, we would ask for a site from 1A to 8A.

Hiking/Walking: The park is large and the walking pleasant, but you need to drive to get in a long walk/hike. There are great hikes very nearby.

Comments: If you want to stay in a campground in this area (Buena Vista/Nathrop/Salida) in the summer, you need a reservation - it is a beautiful and popular area. We met friends here, on their recommendation. Very nice, well managed park, with a high tariff in keeping with the time of year and location.

SNOWY PEAKS RV PARK, BUENA VISTA, COLORADO

Our Opinion: Neutral. We have stayed here twice, and like it - but there are other nice commercial parks in the area, too.

Date of Stay: July 21 through 26, 2008

Weather During Stay: Typical summer weather in the high Rockies - warm days when the sun is out, frequent stormy clouds in the afternoon, and some rain. Cool nights.

Site Description: Because we wanted to extend our stay here beyond the one night we had planned, we had two different sites. Both were long and level, with neighbors very nearby on both sides. Site 81 was a 50 amp FHU with cable, facing directly west. Site 95 was a 30 amp E/W site (no sewer or cable TV) with nice shade, facing north.

Roads and sites are gravel. The 100-site park is well maintained, with pretty patches of lawn and flower gardens, plenty of trash containers, a nice office with small store, lots of park activities, friendly staff. As commercial parks go, this has a lot going for it, but the sites are very narrow. Neighbors chatting outside sound as though they are in our living room.

Rate: We paid $33/night for site 81, the 50 amp FHU. Site 95, the 30 amp E/W, was $26/night. We really appreciated the staff working to squeeze us in over the busy Fri/Sat time period after our plans changed. This park participates in Passport America, but not during the peak summer season.

Phone/radio/TV: Good cell signal for the phones. The aircard worked quite well, mostly on Broadband. Wi Fi is available (free, I believe) but we didn't use it. Some TV stations on antenna, but we used the satellite dish. Local NPR on 89.9.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: This is a flat, nicely landscaped commercial park at 8,100’ elevation. Views of nearby neighbors, trees, and distant 14,000+ foot peaks.

Lighting/Noise: Site 95 was darker and quieter at night than our first site; neither had obtrusive night lighting. We slept with the windows open and were not bothered by any traffic noise.

Favorite Sites: Not a lot of difference in the sites, other than the utilities and orientation. Pull-throughs are long side-by-sides, with the utilities between rigs, very close to each other, so we preferred the back-ins.

Hiking/Walking: Not much around the park - just the loops. We drive a few miles to a park on the east side of Buena Vista, right on the Arkansas River, where trails abound. Great hiking in the mountains in the immediate area, too.

Comments: We appreciated how friendly and helpful the staff is here. The park is very well maintained. If the sites were half again as wide, I would highly recommend this park. However, we intend to return to Buena Vista in a week, and made a reservation at another of the commercial parks - less expensive with sites twice the size of the sites at Snowy Peaks.

JEFFERSON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, GOLDEN, COLORADO

Our Opinion: Recommend. This is an easy stopover spot when passing through the Denver metro area. No shade, though.

Date of Stay: July 19th and 20th, 2008

Weather During Stay: HOT. Near or at 100 both days with lows in the 60’s.

Site Description: We were in Site 2, a long, dirt and gravel site that sloped from back to front see middle photo). Sites at the fairgrounds have E and W only, not FHU, but there is a dump station on site (though difficult to maneuver into and it is kept locked). All sites but 3 are 30 amp only, and in full sun, so not good for a hot day (top photo)! Sites 1 through 6 are set apart from the main group of RV sites, closer to the entrance. Here, three boxes service 6 sites, each box with a 50 amp outlet and a 30 amp outlet - so 3 of the 6 sites get to use 50 amp at any one time. We were one of them, which is why we put up with the sloping site. Great restrooms with private, combination lock, showers are available.

Rate: $20/night includes use of the dump and bathhouse.

Phone/radio/TV: This is a metro area. Verizon phones worked great, aircard worked great, TV antenna pulled in local stations. NPR of 90.1. Nothing to obstruct TV satellite dish.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: Jefferson County Fairgrounds is very roomy, with rodeo rings and lots of horse-related stuff going on. Enter off a frontage road along a busy freeway. Views are of other rigs, large expanses of mowed lawn and picnic tables, cars rushing along in the distance, interesting mesas, distant city lights. Somewhat rolling terrain. Elevation is 5,900’, a bit above Denver.

Lighting/Noise: Traffic noise is noticeable at night with the windows open; took awhile to fall asleep but didn't wake us up. Lighting was not intrusive.

Favorite Sites: Any of the 3 50 amp sites in summer, but we would take a standard 30 amp in the more level section if the weather had not been so hot.

Hiking/Walking: One loop around the fairgrounds is over a mile and makes a pleasant walk.

Comments: Call ahead to availability and to get the phone number for the on-site maintenance person who has to come to unlock your power and water when you arrive. We have stayed here several times when we are stopping in Denver only long enough to have service work done or stock up. It must be becoming more well known and used, as there are now two campground hosts on site. Costco, Safeway, Whole Foods and all the standard stores are within a short driving distance. Golden is a cute town with a good Farmer’s Market on Saturday (or is it Sunday?). There often are interesting activities going on at the fairgrounds.

CITY SLICKERS RV PARK, TORRINGTON, WY

Our Opinion: Neutral. Here, you get what you pay for - and what we valued was 50 amps of electricity on a very hot day.

Date of Stay: July 18, 2008

Weather During Stay: HOT.

Site Description: Reasonably sized 50 amp FHU. Level, gravel (the really big kind) pull-through. No table, no trees, no grass, no amenities other than bathrooms - pay a $2 key deposit and you can use ‘em.

Rate: $16.25 per night.

Phone/radio/TV: Good Verizon signal; aircard on Broadband. Local NPR on 89.9. No cable TV. Nothing to block TV satellite. We didn’t put up the TV antenna.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: Flat gravel parking lot at 4,100’ on the outskirts of town. Views are of “edge of town” businesses, a row of houses, and other rigs.

Lighting/Noise: A train in the distance didn’t bother us. Typical residential and RV neighbor noise. Lighting was not intrusive.

Favorite Sites: We are in site 13. No favorites; all 22 sites are similar.

Hiking/Walking: We didn’t do any, but you would be able to walk along a sidewalk into town or to the river.

Comments: We stayed here one night 1 of a 3-leg road trip. We picked Torrington based on the distance we wanted to drive. We also had a tire leak repaired at a neighboring business, Olsen’s Tires. We didn’t need amenities, didn’t want to pay for any. The place worked fine for us.

WHISTLER GULCH RV PARK, DEADWOOD, SD

Our Opinion: Neutral. We won’t return, but it is OK if you really want to be in Deadwood. It would work well, though, for tent campers or smaller rigs - or people with kids.

Date of Stay: July 14 through 16, 2008

Weather During Stay: Very warm days, cool nights, occasional rain.

Site Description: 50 amp FHU gravel pull-through, long and very narrow in a row of similar sites. Not very level. Peeling picnic table. When we had neighbors, their awning extended into our site. While in bed in the morning, we could hear the conversation of our neighbors while they were STILL INSIDE. As I write, I can hear their TV and their dog playing with a squeaky toy.

Rate: Usual rate is $36/night. With 15% off for being Escapees and tax added, we spent $33/night. Too much.

Phone/radio/TV: Verizon phones have 2 bars. Aircard has 1 bar, but works, and reasonably quickly. No local NPR that I could find. No cable TV; antenna got two snowy stations. No obstructions for TV satellite antennas, though. WiFi available at no additional charge.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: This is a very sloped campground in a narrow gulch at 4700’. Views are of your very nearby neighbors and close, treeless hillsides.

Lighting/Noise: No road noise, and night lighting is not a problem if you pick your site carefully (not next to one of the numerous tall “streetlights”).

Favorite Sites: We were in 28, similar to the other pull-throughs. No favorites here; they are all WAY TOO NARROW and not sufficiently level. Plenty long, though.

Hiking/Walking: We chose this park because of the great walking. Walk to town (Deadwood) or head the other direction on the Mickelson trail, a wonderful 100+ miles trail on an abandoned RR grade. Excellent walking.

Comments: We came for the proximity to the town (a short walk or shuttle ride), but found it didn’t outweigh the tight, tight sites. We won’t return. BUT, when in Deadwood, have a great lunch, or dinner on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, at Deadwood Thymes Café Bistro on Sherman Street (closed Monday). Outstanding. Next time we want to stay in the northern Black Hills, we will stay at the city park in Spearfish. If you travel in a smaller rig, there are some wider, level, much prettier sites up at the high end of the campground and some interesting mining remains.