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Chalk Lake Campground

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Things To Do

With numerous hiking trails, two popular fourteeners, a ghost town, and a hot springs, the Chalk Creek Canyon is an extremely popular summer getaway in the Arkansas River Valley. This is one of four heavily used campgrounds along the road. There are toilets but no drinking water and the camping fee is $20 per night. The campground is in a narrow canyon with fishing access to Chalk Creek. Nearby Chalk Lake is routinely stocked with rainbow trout from the Chalk Cliffs fish hatchery and makes a great excursion from this campground. There is no camping allowed at the lake.

Pro Tips

  • This and the other campgrounds in Chalk Creek Canyon usually fill by Friday on summer weekends, so make reservations in advance.
  • If all four campground are full, continue past the ghost town of St. Elmo on County Road 267 or the Hancock townsite 5 miles south on Forest Road 295.
  • This campground is a good staging area for hikes up fourteeners Mount Antero (south of the road) or Mount Princeton (north of the road.) With a high-clearance vehicle hikers can drive above 11,000 feet on both mountains.
  • Recommended season(s): Mid-May – early September.

    —R. Scott Rappold



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