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Timber Creek Campground
Ten miles north of Grand Lake Entrance, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
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#4 of 7 campsites in Rocky Mountain National Park
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Location
Ten miles north of Grand Lake Entrance, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Getting there
Car recommended
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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Denver Intl Airport
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So isolated and quiet here. No power or water hookups plus no showers. Firewood is provided for a cost. If you need a shower Elk Creek Campground in Grand Lake let us shower for a donation to their charity. Beautiful clean showers much appreciated. Campground has a creek running through it. So peaceful and amazing views of the stars at night. 1 negative you are a long drive over the trail ridge road from the amenities in Estes Park.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip: Get showers at Elk Creek in Grand Lake
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We got real lucky to get a spot here, all campgrounds were showing full on the internet, when we arrived we noticed that like many other parks, there is limited staff and campgrounds open. The host said they were closing the next day and he felt bad he had to turn away many campers as he cannot take credit cards or cash for campsites. He seemed really frustrated by this.
The campground was not full at all, they just don't want to rent the spaces due to closing and lack of staff.
The campground is very quiet with beautiful views, it's in a nice location.
We had a nice campsite and enjoyed the evening.
The campground was not full at all, they just don't want to rent the spaces due to closing and lack of staff.
The campground is very quiet with beautiful views, it's in a nice location.
We had a nice campsite and enjoyed the evening.
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Date of stay: September 2022
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RMNP is breathtaking. This campground, Timber Creek, has obviously had its turn with the pine beetle. Still there are advantages to staying here. All sites are first come - first served and there are many sites. The campground roads are paved as are the campsite parking spots which keeps everything clean. There are campfire programs covering many subjects each evening. We attended one about moose in the park. It was very well done and very informative. On our way out of the campground we even spotted a bull moose in a nearby wetlands area! Awesome! We had visits from elk on 3 separate occasions right in the campground! If there is a downside to this campground it is that the parking spots - even the spots for the walk-in tent camping sites - are very small. There are not a lot of sites that will accomodate an RV bigger than 28 - 30 feet and a sign at the campground entrance says so. There are not a lot of sites that are easy to get level in. Some of the amenities of this campground included an RV dump station, lighted bathrooms, flush toilets, and a dishwashing area for tent campers so that gray water does not end up on the ground. If you are a senior citizen and have a senior pass your entrance to the park is free and camping fees are half-price. We rode our bikes to the Holzwarth (sp?) Historic Site which was very interesting and a step back into the past. It was about 1.5 miles round trip. Leaving the campground and driving up the hill and over Trail Ridge Road cannot adequately be described in words. This magnificent drive (or bike ride if you are extremely fit and ambitious) deserves a visit. It's breathtaking. Truly.
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Date of stay: July 2012
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Cleanliness
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
At first glance, this campground appears to be a hot, open field, in what used to be a nicely wooded creekside campground. We were thrilled to find sites open on a Friday afternoon in RMNP. Timber Creek campground is on the west side of the park and does not take reservations, so it is not as heavily trafficed as Morraine Park and Glacier Basin campgrounds. It does seem to fill most nights, but not until late in the day. Many of the campers seem to be staying for just the night.
The pine beetles have killed all the trees in the campground, so there is nothing but stumps left, except at a few sites on the outside edges of the campground. But there are some wonderful surprises about this campground! Breath taking stars every night!
Ok, now the the details...
Bathrooms: Clean with flush toliets and handsoap. NO showers, and the closet option was a motel in Grand Lake (and the motel's shower is next to their indoor swimming pool and was a little "ick" - but the price of the shower includes use of the dated, poorly maintained pool). The bathrooms are a little far from some of the sites, but I loved the older log cabin style bathrooms!
Reservations: They do not take reservations. I think you can get a site easily most nights. Come in the morning for a chance at a creek side site, come by afternoon for a weekend site, and by early evening for a weeknight site.
Sites: Camp sites are close together with no privacy. The creek side and walk-in sites are the best. There is little to no shade. If you are gone after breakfast and don't come back until dinner, I think you will be ok. If you plan to spend time during the day at your site bring a free-standing tarp for shade. They will not let you tie your tent or tarps to the few trees they have left. Also - no clothes lines. The campground runs right alongside the road as well, but traffic at night was light, but I would still avoid the roadside sites. If you come late in the day, your site will be small and in the middle of the field - but it is still a campsite, in a popular national park, without a reservation, so you can't be too picky. The campground is in a beautiful valley, so every site has great views of the mountains.
Wildlife: This is the greatest part about this campground! If you stay a night or two, you are almost guarenteed animal sightings. Moose and elk are seen almost nightly in this campground. There is a female moose with twins who is seen alongside/in the creek eatting her supper many nights. If you keep your distance the park rangers will let you sit, watch and take as many photos as you like. We also saw a family of elk snacking on grass right in someone's campsite.
Bear: Black bear have not been seen in this campground for 2 years, but they remain very strict about bear precautions. Keep your food in your car or bear box at all times.Never leave your garbage out and never put food in your tent. There are bear boxes, but only a few - and they sit in the hot sun, so I would suggest using these only for dishes/pots during the day. Keep your campstove and cooler in your car if you can. We found that most people did not use the boxes, so we often had the space to ourselves. They also have the bear proof garbages.
Location: I really like the west side location of this campground. This is the quiter side of the park. Grand Lake is the closest town, and it is really cute. Stop at Grand Lake Lodge for a great view and have a coffee on one of the porch swings with one of the best views in the state. Not much for grocery stores in town - the is a Circle K convience store and a small corner grocery when you first arrive in town - they each have the same amount of items. The drive is about 20 min's from the campground.
Campfires: There are fire pits at every site, but they were very full of ashes when we were there. You are not allowed to gather wood, so you must buy your firewood from the campground or in town. Expect to pay around $5 a bundle. Bring only local wood - the pine beetle issue is huge!
Park Rangers: The rangers are very friendly and helpful at Timber Creek - they seem to be happier than the rangers on the east side of the park. Quick with advice and trail maps. They host a fun, educational campfire program every night. The campground hosts and rangers are strict about the rules.
Bottom line: This campground is hot during the day, but we fell in love with it anyway!
The pine beetles have killed all the trees in the campground, so there is nothing but stumps left, except at a few sites on the outside edges of the campground. But there are some wonderful surprises about this campground! Breath taking stars every night!
Ok, now the the details...
Bathrooms: Clean with flush toliets and handsoap. NO showers, and the closet option was a motel in Grand Lake (and the motel's shower is next to their indoor swimming pool and was a little "ick" - but the price of the shower includes use of the dated, poorly maintained pool). The bathrooms are a little far from some of the sites, but I loved the older log cabin style bathrooms!
Reservations: They do not take reservations. I think you can get a site easily most nights. Come in the morning for a chance at a creek side site, come by afternoon for a weekend site, and by early evening for a weeknight site.
Sites: Camp sites are close together with no privacy. The creek side and walk-in sites are the best. There is little to no shade. If you are gone after breakfast and don't come back until dinner, I think you will be ok. If you plan to spend time during the day at your site bring a free-standing tarp for shade. They will not let you tie your tent or tarps to the few trees they have left. Also - no clothes lines. The campground runs right alongside the road as well, but traffic at night was light, but I would still avoid the roadside sites. If you come late in the day, your site will be small and in the middle of the field - but it is still a campsite, in a popular national park, without a reservation, so you can't be too picky. The campground is in a beautiful valley, so every site has great views of the mountains.
Wildlife: This is the greatest part about this campground! If you stay a night or two, you are almost guarenteed animal sightings. Moose and elk are seen almost nightly in this campground. There is a female moose with twins who is seen alongside/in the creek eatting her supper many nights. If you keep your distance the park rangers will let you sit, watch and take as many photos as you like. We also saw a family of elk snacking on grass right in someone's campsite.
Bear: Black bear have not been seen in this campground for 2 years, but they remain very strict about bear precautions. Keep your food in your car or bear box at all times.Never leave your garbage out and never put food in your tent. There are bear boxes, but only a few - and they sit in the hot sun, so I would suggest using these only for dishes/pots during the day. Keep your campstove and cooler in your car if you can. We found that most people did not use the boxes, so we often had the space to ourselves. They also have the bear proof garbages.
Location: I really like the west side location of this campground. This is the quiter side of the park. Grand Lake is the closest town, and it is really cute. Stop at Grand Lake Lodge for a great view and have a coffee on one of the porch swings with one of the best views in the state. Not much for grocery stores in town - the is a Circle K convience store and a small corner grocery when you first arrive in town - they each have the same amount of items. The drive is about 20 min's from the campground.
Campfires: There are fire pits at every site, but they were very full of ashes when we were there. You are not allowed to gather wood, so you must buy your firewood from the campground or in town. Expect to pay around $5 a bundle. Bring only local wood - the pine beetle issue is huge!
Park Rangers: The rangers are very friendly and helpful at Timber Creek - they seem to be happier than the rangers on the east side of the park. Quick with advice and trail maps. They host a fun, educational campfire program every night. The campground hosts and rangers are strict about the rules.
Bottom line: This campground is hot during the day, but we fell in love with it anyway!
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Date of stay: July 2011Trip type: Travelled with family
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip: Come in the morning for a creek side site.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you want to be constantly watched and harassed then this is the campground for you. Their wannabe park ranger volunteer Donnie Balance does nothing but run around in her golf cart looking for campground violators!!! No generators except certain times; dogs on leashes; and watch those elk - they travel at 35 mph don't ya know!!! And that isn't all. But this stuff goes on constantly as the woman burns the rubber on those campground roads. Obviously the worst offenders are we retired folk because that was the main population of campers there last week. Apparently we need a great deal of constant watching for any potential infraction of the rules, and by God that is Ms. Balance's job and she will get you!!! All kidding aside, the harassment was unbearable and we packed up and left not even staying the last night we paid for. Went to a private campground up the road and it was wonderful.
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Date of stay: September 2014Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Because of the pine bark beetle infesting the lodgepole pines that once dominated Timber Creek Campground, the Park Service had to remove almost all of the trees--all dead or dying--to prevent them from falling on people and vehicles as hazard trees. So the campground is wide open. No privacy when you are outside...but I did not find this to be a bad thing. The elk come wandering through the campground in the night and at sunrise. And you can hear the bull elk bugling throughout the valley during the fall rutting season. The campground doesn't fill completely so you can almost always get a campsite at Rocky Mountain National Park even without a reservation. The west side of the park (where Timber Creek is located) is far less crowded than the east side (near Estes Park). There is a fine visitor center just before the west entrance stations. And the town of Grand Lake just south of the park is a great little town with everything you need but without the crowds of Estes Park. Great hiking trails on the west side, too. The day I arrived, there was a moose in the river just to the west of the campsites (that's the Colorado River, folks, which has its headwaters just up the mountain from the campground), though she was gone by the time I finished setting up my camp. Even without the trees, this is still my first choice for camping at Rocky!
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Date of stay: September 2014Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kampergirl gave a great review and I agree with about everything she said.
We had no problem getting a site as there were few people in the park mid week. The park did fill up on the weekend though even in September.
Yes, the park is very bare, but the views, wildlife, and helpful staff more than made up for it. It wasn't overly warm when we were there so we didn't mind the lack of shade. Since it's in a valley the scenery is spectacular-360 views of mountains. The park is next to the Colorado River (although it's more of a creek here) and it's fun to wander around down by the water. My husband was kicking himself for not bringing his fly rod. You couldn't beat the views in the morning and watching the sun come up over the mountains. Breathtaking. And the wildlife! We woke up and watched a bull elk and his ladies wander through our campsite. They walked a little ways away and we watched them as we ate our breakfast. We heard them bugling every night. We also saw a bull moose and a female with babies. They weren't in the campground but close by in the valley.
The bathrooms were clean and functional. Flush toilets and cold running water. They are a little retro but definitely adequate. The park rangers were nice and helpful. Like Kampergirl said, as long as you keep your distance they allow lots of picture taking and provide education. We also enjoyed the ranger program giving at night right in the campground.
Overall, the park had a different feel than Moraine on the east side of the park, but I would say we enjoyed it just as much.
We had no problem getting a site as there were few people in the park mid week. The park did fill up on the weekend though even in September.
Yes, the park is very bare, but the views, wildlife, and helpful staff more than made up for it. It wasn't overly warm when we were there so we didn't mind the lack of shade. Since it's in a valley the scenery is spectacular-360 views of mountains. The park is next to the Colorado River (although it's more of a creek here) and it's fun to wander around down by the water. My husband was kicking himself for not bringing his fly rod. You couldn't beat the views in the morning and watching the sun come up over the mountains. Breathtaking. And the wildlife! We woke up and watched a bull elk and his ladies wander through our campsite. They walked a little ways away and we watched them as we ate our breakfast. We heard them bugling every night. We also saw a bull moose and a female with babies. They weren't in the campground but close by in the valley.
The bathrooms were clean and functional. Flush toilets and cold running water. They are a little retro but definitely adequate. The park rangers were nice and helpful. Like Kampergirl said, as long as you keep your distance they allow lots of picture taking and provide education. We also enjoyed the ranger program giving at night right in the campground.
Overall, the park had a different feel than Moraine on the east side of the park, but I would say we enjoyed it just as much.
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Date of stay: September 2011Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
So this is the campground on "the other side" of the park. IMHO the extra effort means a quieter night to enjoy the stars. Totally worth the trip ... but fair warning Trail Ridge Road over the top a white-knuckler drive if you don't love heights and cliff driving. This is a totally no-reservations campground, so get there early if you want a spot. They had to take out the beetle-kill trees so there is no shade anymore. The latrines are great, and we saw a moose cow and calf in the marshes to the west of the site. Closest provisions are in Grand Lake about 20 minutes away.
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Date of stay: August 2017Trip type: Travelled with friends
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed one night at Timber Creek over Fathers Day weekend 2015 with my husband and another couple. Even though the entrance board to the park said the campground was filled, it was not, there were TONS of open spots. Trees have been removed due to beetle kill but the campground was still nice and had good scenery. Bathrooms were clean with flushing toilets and running water (what a treat). All spaces had firepits, picnic tables and a tent pad. Try to get a spot along the edge where there are some small trees left to create some shade. Campground hosts were fine and the rangers didn't really bother us, just drove around making sure people were giving the wildlife space and not leaving out food.
The West side of the park tends to be less crowded and a lot cooler (it was a very hot weekend) than the east side. The campground sits in a valley where the Elk and Moose love to hang out along the Colorado River. We had Elk in the campground the entire time we were there and early in the morning there were about 100 hanging around. Also saw a Moose walking the edge of the campground in the willow bushes (he didn't bother us--everyone gave him his space).
The West side of the park tends to be less crowded and a lot cooler (it was a very hot weekend) than the east side. The campground sits in a valley where the Elk and Moose love to hang out along the Colorado River. We had Elk in the campground the entire time we were there and early in the morning there were about 100 hanging around. Also saw a Moose walking the edge of the campground in the willow bushes (he didn't bother us--everyone gave him his space).
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Date of stay: June 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I really enjoyed this campground! Though there were no trees I loved the open to see all the wildlife that came through. Herds of elk came through a few times in early morning or evening and listening to the sounds they make was great. I got to see a momma moose and it's baby wonder through the edge of the campground. I meant to stay only one or two nights since I already had a tent set up at another campground, but I enjoyed this one so much better I ended up staying here several nights. The campground host were really nice! Bathrooms were kept clean and I already knew their were no showers so I wasn't surprised (but I had my other campground for that). I was able to park my car at the camping spot on the edge of the campground, so I would get good views of the wildlife and even though the campground in on the main road traffic slowed down to nothing in the evenings and night time so there was little car noise. Firewood is expensive for the amount you get so I only had a fire a couple of nights. I enjoyed the western part of RMNP since there were fewer people who visit this side.
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Date of stay: July 2013Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
generally, we would see people packing up and leaving about 10-11am, some earlier, some later. We left about 10am. So if you definitely want a site, get there at noon and drive around till someone leaves. And as always, the middle of the week is a lot easier than fridays or the weekend.
"Campsite 76 is the Best! Take a photo of your posted reservation slip to prove you reserved the site."Read full review
"We had #72 which was right on the creek. #71 or #73 (next to us) was further in from the road and a little more private."Read full review
"Don't forget to pack a warm sleeping bag, cause nights can get pretty cold up here."Read full review
LOCATION
United StatesColoradoRocky Mountain National Park
NUMBER OF ROOMS
100
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Frequently Asked Questions about Timber Creek Campground
Which popular attractions are close to Timber Creek Campground?
Nearby attractions include Brownfield's (2.3 km), The Taffy Shop (2.7 km), and Kirks Flyshop & Mountain Adventures (2.4 km).
What are some restaurants close to Timber Creek Campground?
Conveniently located restaurants include Cinnamon's Bakery, Donut Haus, and Kind Coffee.
Are pets allowed at Timber Creek Campground?
Yes, pets are typically allowed, but it's always best to call ahead to confirm.
Are there any historical sites close to Timber Creek Campground?
Many travellers enjoy visiting The Birch Ruins (2.3 km).