La Vista Campground - Lake Isabel

La Vista Campground is situated in a meadow overlooking the west side of the 40-acre Lake Isabel. It is set along the Frontier Pathways and Historic Byway in the Wet Mountains, along one of the Colorado Birding Trails. Lake Isabel is one of the few lakes in Colorado developed purely for recreation purposes. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the lake attracts many campers who come to hike, canoe, fish and spend time bird watching. St. Charles Creek flows near the campground and offers additional fishing opportunities. Lake Isabel welcomes non-motorized boating and fishing. Brown and brook trout are stocked in the lake and the St. Charles headwaters reap brook trout. Visitors can enjoy hiking, bicycling or motorcycling on either the Snow Slide Trail or the Cisneros Trail. The 15-mile Cisneros Trail, also open to ATV riders, leads to the heart of the Wet Mountains, through forests and open, wildflower speckled valleys. Along the way, the trail connects to St. Charles Trail, which heads to St. Charles Peak. Walk-in tent sites are 15 to 50 yards from the parking spurs. RV sites come with electric hookups, and all sites include a picnic table, campfire ring and access to vault toilets and drinking water. Shady pine and aspen trees are scattered throughout the campground. At 8,600 feet, the area enjoys cool summer days, a welcome relief from the heat in the plains far below. The Pike and San Isabel National Forest includes over a million acres of wilderness and over half of Colorado's mountain peaks that reach above 14,000 feet.