This campground truly is one of the cleanest and well-maintained campgrounds I have ever been to…read more The bathrooms were cleaned once or twice a day(didn't smell!) and the sites were very well maintained. We loved that there was a short little walk to Manitou Lake from the sites(sites in the 40 loop area) and it was absolutely gorgeous. Summers in Colorado come with afternoon rain so be prepared! Bring plenty of tarps and arrive early so you're not setting up in the rain. Tree coverage is pretty good at the sites here but I will say the nearby Spring Meadow campground is a bit denser in terms of trees and provides more shade and protection from the elements(slightly smaller sites though!). The campground is located next to a farm which was quite the surprise. You could hear the cows in the middle of the night so you might want to bring earplugs if you're a light sleeper. My niece loved the cows and overall, it was definitely a great place for kids. Plus, Woodland Park is less than 15 minutes away which was nice if you happen to forget anything. Would definitely come back for the bathrooms alone. Huge shout out to the camp hosts for maintaining the grounds so well. 4 stars only because we had to battle with a lot of ant hills on our sites and the cows kept me up the first night (all things that come with being outdoors) Some sites that I wrote down were 15, 19, the one across from 24. The 40 loop sites are big but high traffic because of the trail to the lake. We stayed at site 24 and it was large enough for three pop up tents, one 15 person tent, one 4 person tent, one 6 person tent, AND a badminton net.

Colorado Campground is a very FAMILY FRIENDLY place to camp. Despite its generic name (don't Google…read more"Colorado Campground" and expect to get specific results), this place is one of the better campsites I've seen. It's within a 1.5 hour drive of Denver, too! High Points: The Short Drive. Like I said, this is a family friendly place, and you don't want to stuff your wee bairn into a car for four hours just to get out of the city and See All The Nature. Kids and long car trips do not mix. The Trees! Beetle kill hasn't hit this part of the state yet, and most of the sites here are graced with at least partial shade. Lodgepole Pines (I think) cover the entire campground. It's awesome. The Little Fishing Lake. A short trail walk off site will land you on the shores of Manitou Lake. Apparently it's stocked with trout. If you didn't bring live bait, you can drive about 7 miles back down the hill to the Loaf n' Jug in Woodland Park. "D'ya want 18 babies or 12 Night Crawlers?" Bike Trails. You can ride a smooth paved one all the way back down to Woodland Park and beyond, if you so choose. There are also several singletracks leading out of the campsite as well. Not-Really-Low, But Things-You-Should-Know Points: Generators Are Allowed. Some of those suckers are noisy, too. It's kind of hard to Enjoy All The Nature when somebody's stupid genny is running full tilt a mere couple yards away. Annoying. No Cooking Grates on the Fire Pits. There's a metal fire ring at every site, but instead of the usual grate you can flip over the top, there's a big metal slab. So, if you're planning to grill right over your campfire, you'd do well to bring one from home. Yes, you can fry on it... like a skillet (and we were able to even boil a big pot of water on that slab), but if you're wanting open-air, open-fire grilling, you're out of luck. Kids, Kids, and more Kids. We brought the shawties, so this was just fine by us! But if you're looking to rage an all-night kegger, you might want to pick another campground. I'm all for raging all-night keggers when the time is right, but this isn't the place for it. I'd say at least 80% of the campsites here were occupied by families with small children. No Swimming. The aforementioned little lake is for fishing and non-motorized boating only. No body contact allowed... And Remember When I Said That Lake Was Stocked With Trout..?? We didn't catch any. Neither did anybody else (we asked). HOWEVER, if you like crawdads, you can catch yourself a bountiful meal. We pulled a crawfish on every catch. Bring your own Old Bay Seasoning. That about covers it! $20/night will get you a nice little break amid All The Nature. OH, one more thing. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESERVE A CAMPSITE HERE ON RESERVEAMERICA.COM. If you go there, it will tell you that you that this is a walkup-only campground--- no reservations allowed. This isn't true. The Camp Host explained to us that ReserveAmerica sucks, and we should never use it, as all the National Park campgrounds have 80% reservable sites, with the remaining 20% left for first-come-first-serve walkups. Lesson learned. Go to Recreation.gov instead.

Wonderful place to stay! easy access to 2 beautiful reservoirs and also pikes peak and cripple…read morecreek co. On site owners are super friendly and take much pride and care in their facility. If you don't have an RV, rent one of their cabins, they're not your typical RV park cabins. Beautifully decorated, bathrooms , kitchenettes, dinettes everything you need.

Back again for a peaceful sleep with the greatest host and hostess ever! I enjoy coming here to…read moreescape the city.

just had our first winter camp out and what a treat! The staff on site started our fire, made sure…read morewe had extra firewood and showed us a few of the hidden majestic sites on this property. It snowed two of the nights we were there. Before our reservation the staff made sure we had the right gear so we were prepared. Stores are 4 miles away for food. This place is so peaceful, I can't wait to see what it is like in the summer. we will definitely be back, we want to take advantage of the water falls, ponds and riding stables near by. thank you for hosting.

The fishing pond was great but that's about it. Lots of restrictions for RV/campers. Priority use…read morefor groups staying at the lodge when it comes to the pool and mini golf. The spigot broke when i was filling up my fresh water and consequently it flooded my tank and it took the gentleman camping next to us to help get the spigot back on and shut the water off. We were both soaked. Maintenance showed up after about 5 minutes after I called. They really didn't do anything so I didn't dare use it again. After another camper went out of his way to explain Colorados fire stages to me, (I'm from Colorado Springs) and how Golden Bell does like "rif raf", that's when i decided I'd had enough of being treated like a second class citizen and made the decision to leave 2 days early. I called the front office and left a message that we had left early and they could go ahead and open the space. I did it as a courtesy to the business because I am an honest person and not going to be greedy over a few dollars ($40). I got a call the next day from GB and was told I would not be getting the $40 refunded due to policy. I never asked for a refund. Such an insulting experience. I hope Golden Bell and the church of the Nazareth do something generous with that $40. Im Catholic and believe in Jesus Christ. I pray the rosary every day. I will add GB to my prayers

Golden Bell Camp is amazing. Pike Peak is a great view of much of the property. The zip line is…read morelike 900 ft across a lake and super fun! a huge heated pool. Laser tag, black light activities. The food is cooked by real chefs and is amazingly great. especially for a camp! The office staff is very friendly and helpful, with tons of ideas. Your stay at Golden Bell will be a lifetime memory. Have fun! God Bless.

Great place with fantastic hosts. Games in the office and other things to make your camping…read moreexperience great. Clean restroom shower area with added touches. Will return.

Great small campground with all the comforts and basics you need! No big amenities but it was a…read moregreat home base while we visited family all day. They offer full hookups, big sites for our 39 ft fifth wheel, bbq grills, corn hole and a couple swings. The stars were beautiful each night too! Friendly staff and cute little store. I would definitely recommend it and hope to return again.

Beautiful campground. This is dry camping- no hookups, and they do have public restrooms. There are…read morenot a lot of campsites which is really nice because you are not on top of each other. You have a good set of grass, trees, and space in between which gives you a nice piece of privacy! The views.....spectacular....just beautiful! The nightly rates are cheap! There is hiking nearby, and lots of space to just relax. The site host is very nice and checked in to make sure we had everything we needed and to make sure the roads are clear from vehicles for other guests.

This is our favorite camping spot. Absolutely enchanted and the hosts are joyful and helpful. Only…read moreone request... New picnic tables please! They are borderline dangerous.

The cabin was lovely, the perfect amount of room for us. It was secluded, but not so far from town…read morethat it was hard to grab groceries. Its less than an hour to most attractions in the area and honestly just hanging out at the cabin was plenty! The wood burning stove really made the whole cabin feel homey and warm, and we got to spend a ton of time in the hot tub! The bed and blankets were very comfortable and the kitchen was well stocked with supplies. It was the best birthday trip I had ever taken and we will be coming back for sure!

First, check their website out. These cabins are not in Colorado springs they are in Green mountain…read morefalls which is about 15 minutes west of Manitou springs. I stayed five nights in The rustic cabin. And it was lovely, very down-to-earth small cabin. Would be really perfect for two people. all the amenities you would need. Bring food you're set. Small deck on one side wi Itth some really comfortable patio chairs and there was sun on it most of the day. around the other side there's a big picnic table and a barbecue. There are two cabins on each side but no one was home. It's at the end of a dead-end road so it's nice and quiet. A deer and a fox walked past the cabin. I know I'll be staying there again. Note: very steep wooden stairs you need to go down to get to the cabin.

There are two distinct ways to reach the top of Pikes Peak, which sits 14,115 feet above sea level…read moreaccording to the monument we dutifully took a group photo in front of. You can drive yourself up a winding ribbon of mountain asphalt while wondering if the human coming around the hairpin turn possesses basic driving skills. Or you can board a train and let a red Swiss-built mechanical crawler drag you up the side of a giant rock. We chose the later. We boarded the Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway at the base depot in Manitou Springs as part of an organized tour group. This spared us from the depot parking lot, which appeared to be a complicated test of human patience that you pay a premium to experience. The boarding process is orderly because seats are seemingly assigned by a computer algorithm. I say this, because no human would assign seats in such a manner unless they deeply enjoyed practical jokes. Our half of the train car was packed tightly while leaving the far end three-quarters empty. Spreading the riders out more evenly would seem like an obvious improvement. The seats themselves are molded high-density plastic that any rider of underfunded public transit will instantly recognize, arranged in rows facing one another. This configuration forces passengers to stare directly into each other's eyes while their legs interlock like puzzle pieces. At six-foot-three, I was deeply grateful for an aisle seat. Two of my companions, both under five-foot-six, sat across from one another and found themselves in an arrangement that surrendered all known concepts of personal space. The climb takes about one hour and fifteen minutes along nine miles of track. Our guide provided historical facts, geological context, and a steady stream of terrible dad jokes. They informed us we were on the right track, which was technically accurate. Outside the windows, the aspen trees gave way to evergreen timberline, which eventually dissolved into barren rock, sky, and absolute silence. At the summit, the atmosphere becomes thin and cold. We had just come from a week of intense heat, yet tiny snowflakes were drifting through the air in July. My lungs, accustomed to normal atmospheric pressure, spent the first ten minutes attempting to negotiate a trade agreement with the mountain air. Eventually, my nervous system adjusted. The summit visitor center feels modern, warm, and smells delightfully of their famous high-altitude freshly fried donuts. On the journey back down, the universe provided a magnificent surprise. A rainbow appeared in the canyon directly at eye-level. Every human in our car stopped talking at the exact same moment and simply stared through the glass. No digital camera could properly capture it. Some moments refuse to be translated into pixels. I would choose the Cog Railway over driving up the peak without hesitation. You must simply pack warm layers, prepare for the altitude, and accept that your knees will spend two hours making close friends with a stranger. The mountain is magnificent. The seating configuration is not.

My second time here. Love it…read more Great time riding the rails. Your guide was excellent and gave a lot of info. The railway station was clean and well organized. Pro tips: bring a sweatshirt, sun glasses, and give yourself at least twenty minutes to park. They leave on time and don't care that you're running to catch the train. Our train left someone behind.