This is our first time to Chambers Lake Campground. The roads are paved, campers/RVs are not permitted to fill their tanks (bring your own water), and the sites along the lake have beautiful views.
Our site overlooks an inlet to the lake, however, the lake is very low. We explored the inlet area, and found bear, moose, coyote, elk, and dear tracks. We spotted Ospreys flying overhead and Yellow-rumped Warblers twitting around our site. Nutcrackers and Stellar Jays where abundant looking for something to nab, and the Rufous Humming birds were at the feeder non-stop. Every night I could hear something walking around the Airstream, but our camera only took pictures of dear walking through.
Before sunset, we drove down a nearby dirt road, CR 103, and discovered that there is a lot of boondocking along the road. We came across an Osprey nest with two birds resting. As we drove further, we came across a big campsite called Tunnel Campground— it was in the middle of nowhere. .25 miles up the road there is a large trail head called West Branch Trail. We know nothing about this trail, so we will have to look it up once home. The parking lot was large, and half full during the week, so it must be a well known backpacking trail. This is also where the Laramie-Poudre Tunnel begins.
On Friday we followed CR 103 to the trail head for Lost Lake. We hiked the trail to Lost Lake and Laramie Lake along a 4-wheel drive road. This is a great walk that is approximately 1.1 miles in. As soon as we made it to the West side of Laramie Lake Na noticed two Golden Eagles flying over head. As we settled in to catch some Tiger Trout Na spotted a calf and cow Moose across the lake! 😀 The winds were very strong, so we fished when we could, and watched the Moose grazing on the grasses the rest of the time. Eventually something spooked the Moose and they ran off into the woods.
After coming back to our site we decided to walk across the lake, since the mud looked to be drying a bit more. We were able to find the hiking trail on the other side of the lake and took it back to the campsite. It did not seem to be well cared for— there are a lot of down trees along the trail which is a shame.
Across from the campground is a beautiful lake called Barnes Meadow Reservoir. You can access it by parking on 14, and then walk in from the road. It looks like a nice lake for belly boating, if the wind were to die down. It also has some camping areas across the lake, accessible by canoe.
We visited the State Forest State Park to check on the Moose Festival, as well as the park’s three campgrounds. North Michigan Campground was not for us— there is no privacy and it is VERY dusty. The sites do, however sit on the North Michigan Reservoir. The Crags Campground is for tent camping and is close to the trail for Lake Agnes. Ranger Lakes Campground was our favorite and seemed to have a lot of trails around it. I think it would be a great place for a family to enjoy easy trails and fun lakes to play around. Ranger Lakes are just a short walk away from the campground, and we could see fish from the shore.
If you have stayed at the Bockman Campground, let us know what you thought of the sites and the campground overall.
From there, we ended up in Walden, just in time for lunch, a delicious hamburger from Rock Side Cafe. Returning to the campground, we stopped at the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, and watched the hawks fly by.
By the end of the day, we hiked up Big South Trail and fly fished the Poudre River. The trail is narrow and is in a steep canyon. There are some access areas along the trail, and we could hop along the large stones that were in the water. There are a lot of down trees blocking the paths near the river, so be prepared to navigate around them and get scratched up. The Brook Trout that Natasha caught were beautiful!
Natasha was able to take some gorgeous star pictures, but we could not see the Milky Way due to wildfire smoke in the area.
Here are the pictures of the deer that passed through our campsite. 🙂
When: Summer, 2015
Elevation: 9,200 ft
Reservation: Chambers Lake Campground
Site: Level, no water, non-electric, no dump station
Thanks for another great post. The photos are beautiful. This is in the area I want to return to when we get our AS and the information is much appreciated. I hope I can be as active when I get to altitude as you two (FL native). You sure packed a lot into this trip! Thanks for sharing.
Richard
Richard, I was thinking the same thing when I wrote this post up: Wow, we sure did a lot during this trip! No wonder I need a vacation from my vacations.
I’m sure once you are in CO, just take your time for the first few days. Drink lots of water– that is the most important thing to do in hight altitude.
Happy adventures to you! 🙂
Sara
Hi Sara….what a great post! I came across it as I was trip planning for this coming summer (2017). I don’t have an RV, but my kids and I get out tent camping as much as we can all summer. What site were you at while at Chambers Lake? Also, what time of the summer were you there? Thanks for any insight you can provide. I’ve bookmarked your blog to use as information for our trip!
Greetings! It sounds like you are planning a great adventure! The area around Chambers Lake has so much to offer– we are actually going back there this year 🙂 All of the sites at Chambers seemed like good sites. I would avoid the loops, those sites where to close together. If you want to be off of the beaten path, try going to Tunnel Campground. We thought Ranger Lakes Campground would be great place to stay if you have younger kids. The trails where easy to walk, and took you to beautiful ponds/lakes. Our trip was durning late July.
Have a great year of camping!
Sara