Price
$29 - $30/night
Booking
Walk-in Only
Sites
7 campsites
Season
Year-round
Cell
Unknown
Pets
Check Policy
Price
$29 - $30/night
Booking
Walk-in Only
Sites
7 campsites
Season
Year-round
Cell
Unknown
Pets
Check Policy
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Learn more about alerts →Horse Thief
48.1314, -103.2376
We'll monitor this campground and alert you the moment sites become available.
Free to start · paid plans add 2-min scans
256,000+ sites monitored · Email alerts to start; SMS and in-app with an account
Learn more about alerts →Horsepacking parties heading into the Flat Tops will find everything they need: full corrals at every site, trailer spurs long enough for a serious rig, potable water, a dump station, and trailheads for routes like the Chinese Wall and Trappers Lake trails a short ride away.
No horses, no stay. The sites are designated stock users only, so tent campers, car campers, and mountain bikers are out. Biking and mechanized gear are explicitly banned on every trail in this wilderness area.
Official information for Horse Thief from the federal Recreation.gov facility record. View official page →
The Horse Thief Campground, located at Trappers Lake in the White River National Forest, offers a natural setting for stock users adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness. The campsites are set aside for stock users only, with corrals, long spurs for large trailers, and an RV Dump just up the road. The Flat Tops Wilderness area provides miles of riding within this historic wilderness area. Trappers Lake is in the wilderness, so motorized, mechanized, and any kind of wheeled cart is prohibited; this goes for bikes and game carts on the trails as well.
Trappers Lake is known as the Cradle of Wilderness. At approximately 302 surface acres, the lake contains a strain of native cutthroat trout and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife operates a spawn collection station at the Cabin Creek inlet during May and June. Trappers Lake lies completely within the Flat Tops Wilderness; motorized boats and wheeled carts for boat transport are prohibited.
Horse Thief Campground (Elevation 9,700ft) has 7 single first-come first-serve sites with corrals that accommodate campers with livestock only. There are long spurs to accommodate large trailers (max length 60ft). The campground is equipped with picnic tables, fire grates, vault toilets, trash disposal, bear boxes, and potable water. Limited shade is available so shade shelters are recommended. An RV dump station within the TL Campground complex. Electrical hook-ups are not available.
The Horse Thief Campground at Trappers Lake is located adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness, offering a natural environment with many pothole lakes, surrounding glacier carved mountains, and access to trails and wilderness areas. Wildlife frequent the area and moose, elk, deer, marmots, pine marten, and an abundance of birds may be seen.
Fishing Access: Trappers Lake, Little Trappers Lake, Wall Lake, Fraser Creek, Lake of the Woods
Trail Access: Little Trappers Trail #1814, Carhart Trail #1815, Trappers Lake Trail #1816, Wall Lake
Trail #1818, Island Lakes Trail #1842, Chinese Wall Trail #1803, Deer Lake Trail #2021, South Derby
Trail #1857, Himes Peak Trail #1877
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
<p>From Meeker, take Colorado Highway 13 east for 1 mile, then turn right on Rio Blanco County Road 8 and follow this for 39 miles to Trappers Lake Road #205. Turn south on Trappers Lake Road #205, and continue for 10 miles turn right at the bridge near Trappers Lake Lodge. Horse Thief Campground is approximately 1 mile further on the right.</p>
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Best season: summer. Summer offers the most reliable access and weather at Horsethief — expect daytime highs around 50–70°F and chilly nights often 25–40°F at the 9,700 ft elevation, with the window of snow-free trails and roads generally from mid-June through September. Hiking into the Flat Tops Wilderness and trout fishing on Trappers Lake are at their peak, and the campground's corrals and long spurs are ideal for stock users and horsepacking trips. Expect the busiest periods on holiday weekends and summer nights Peak months: July, August, September, June Avoid: November, December, January, February
Listed best season: summer; reliable access and milder temps (50–70°F) at 9,700 ft.
Horsethief Campground provides amenities for stock users including corrals, long spurs for large trailers (max length 60 ft), picnic tables, fire grates, vault toilets, trash disposal with bear boxes, and potable water. An RV dump station is available within the Trappers Lake Campground complex; electrical hookups are explicitly not available. The site consists of seven single first-come, first-serve sites reserved for campers with livestock only.
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