Camping near Montrose, Colorado

Camping near Montrose at a glance

Public campgrounds

9 (5 National Forest, 4 National Park Service)

Getting a site

6 reservable and 2 first-come

Cost

2 free; lowest posted fee at Beaver Lake: "Single Site: $14 per night"

Distance from Montrose

11 miles (Black Canyon Of The Gunnison South Rim Campground) to 28 miles (Columbine) in a straight line; 3 within 15 miles

Elevation

6,536 ft (East Portal Campground) to 9,578 ft (Iron Springs), 9 of 9 on record

Season

2 seasonal with posted dates

Campsites

178 across the 6 campgrounds that state a count

RVs

2 take RVs; hookups at Black Canyon Of The Gunnison South Rim Campground; longest stated RV length 65 ft (Black Canyon Of The Gunnison South Rim Campground)

Drinking water

3 of 9

Distances are straight-line miles from Montrose's point in the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2025), not driving distances. Every other fact comes from each campground's own sourced record, linked from its page.

More campgrounds within 30 miles of Montrose

• Cottonwood Grove Campground, 21 miles from Montrose in a straight line , BLM ; listed under camping near Delta.
• Lake Fork Campground, 29 miles from Montrose in a straight line , National Park Service , reservable ; listed under camping near Gunnison.
• Ponderosa Campground, 30 miles from Montrose in a straight line , National Park Service , reservable (Site: $20 per night); listed under camping near Gunnison.
• Soap Creek, 30 miles from Montrose in a straight line , National Forest , reservable (Single Site: $18 per night); listed under camping near Gunnison.

Things to do near Montrose

Public land and water within 30 miles of Montrose, the public land its campgrounds sit in, and landmarks at those campgrounds, nearest first.

• Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness, a wilderness area whose mapped point is 9.8 miles from Montrose; its permit and camping rules and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, 2 of the 9 campgrounds here sit inside this National Park Service unit, the nearest Black Canyon Of The Gunnison South Rim Campground at 11 miles from Montrose; publiclandsdb.com has its entrance fees, current alerts and fire restrictions, and boundary.
• Gunnison Gorge Wilderness, a wilderness area whose mapped point is 14 miles from Montrose; its permit and camping rules and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Ridgway Reservoir water level, a reservoir whose mapped point is 17 miles from Montrose; current water level on reservoirfinder.com.
• Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, a BLM unit whose mapped point is 17 miles from Montrose; its camping rule, field office, and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Ridgway Reservoir fishing, a fishing water whose mapped point is 17 miles from Montrose; stocking record and species on fishypedia.com.
• Ridgway State Park, a state park whose mapped point is 19 miles from Montrose; its hours, entrance fee, and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Sweitzer Lake State Park, a state park whose mapped point is 19 miles from Montrose; its hours, entrance fee, and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, 5 of the 9 campgrounds here sit inside this national forest, the nearest Iron Springs at 20 miles from Montrose; publiclandsdb.com has its dispersed-camping rule, ranger offices, and boundary.
• Crawford Reservoir fishing, a fishing water whose mapped point is 20 miles from Montrose; stocking record and species on fishypedia.com.

Supplies and emergencies near Montrose

Groceries

• Safeway supermarket · 0.3 miles · (970) 249-8822 · Hours Mo-Fr 06:00-22:00; Sa 06:00-22:00; Su 06:00-22:00
• Stinker convenience store · 0.5 miles
• City Market supermarket · 1.2 miles

Fuel

• Safeway fuel station · 0.4 miles
• Sinclair fuel station · 0.5 miles
• Stop N Save fuel station · 0.7 miles

RV dump station

• Cedar Creek RV Park RV park · 1.2 miles · (970) 249-3884
• The Campers Hub RV park · 3.5 miles

Pharmacy

• Hartman Brothers pharmacy · 1.2 miles

Laundromat

• SOUTHSIDE Laundry laundromat · 0.5 miles
• Sudsy Duds Inc laundromat · 22 miles · (970) 874-7732

Not mapped in OpenStreetMap within 25 miles of Montrose: propane, potable water fill, and ice. Stores, fuel, propane, dump stations, water fill, laundromats, and pharmacies are the nearest few mapped within 25 miles, straight-line, © OpenStreetMap contributors (data as of 2026-10-01; this extract under the ODbL). Hours are as mapped; call ahead.