Blue Mountain

Blue Mountain Campground sits between Eleven Mile Canyon with the South Platte River to the north and the peak of Blue Mountain to the south, creating an impressive location for recreation and diverse scenery. The campground is primitive and quiet, creating a peaceful outdoor experience for guests. Hiking, biking, rock climbing in the canyon and trout fishing in the river are popular pastimes. Hard Rock Interpretive Trail, accessible from the campground, is a 1-mile self-guided interpretive trail that leads to an impressive overlook of Eleven Mile Canyon. The trail explores the diverse life of the region and offers a chance to see plenty of wildlife and take photos of the sweeping views. Rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout can be caught from the South Platte River, and benches and picnic areas along the river allow anglers to relax in comfort waiting for a fish to bite. Blue Mountain offers more than 20 reservable campsites. Parking aprons are dirt and gravel, there are two vault toilets, and drinking water comes from a water pump. Each site comes with a picnic table, campfire ring and enough space to park two vehicles. The campground, at 8,200 feet, sits on a hill a half-mile from the South Platte River. Campsites are nicely spaced on a single loop among scattered ponderosa pine. The 3,405-acre Eleven Mile Reservoir feeds into the South Platte River that carves through Eleven Mile Canyon. Nearby, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the richest and most diverse fossil deposits in the world. Petrified redwood stumps up to 14 feet wide and thousands of detailed fossils of insects and plants reveal the story of a very different, prehistoric Colorado.