Barr Camp — Hotel in Four Corners States

We didn't quite make the summit, and my socks and shoes were frozen. The one place I had in mind that would eventually serve as our safe haven that cold Friday night was Bart Camp. We had made it our goal to summit pikes peak and came up short 1 mile as we heard the cog rail train departing. But we knew long before that trekking through the snow while attempting the final ascent that we would inevitably fall short. We called search and rescue as temps had dipped into the 20s, and the sun had started to fall. We got a message from S&R saying that due to road closures, no one would be able to meet us at the summit. Immediately, we started our decent and without much panic knew as long as we didn't injure ourselves on the descent, we could at least make it to Barr Camp and regather ourselves, find warmth, and figure out what went wrong. We hit darkness about a mile away from camp. Luckily, our phones had decent lighting we could use to prevent us from stumbling over rocks and our feet. We finally saw the recognizable wooden beams that mark the perimeter of the camp and were warmly greeted (outside) by friendly gentleman who ran and maintained the camp that night. He promptly handed us mugs of hot chocolate and tea and told us we should sit by the already lit fire. We happily obliged. The sense of relief and hospitality that greeted us from our many hours of stress and angst was like being given a warm blanket on a frigid night. After an hour of recuperating and even celebrating the birthday of one of the travelers (Joshua if you're reading this happy birthday and thanks again for the blueberry muffins and your guys' company Hope you had safe travels back to Houston!) Our legs were weary, toes are still frostnip, but that night could have been a whole lot worse and I can look back on that night with some fondness that plenty of good, caring people exist and that's enough for me to continue putting one foot in front of the other with...

Planned a trip to stay here a couple years ago and extra for the spaghetti dinner, on the hike up, about a mile from the campsite, it started to hail and rain on us and all our camping gear/clothes. We still pushed to get to the campsite though because we were very hungry and was hoping we could at least get a hot meal, but once we showed up, about 5 minutes after the dinner was supposed to be served, we were told that they put the food up and that there were none left over (didn’t save our plates and I guess threw away). We were told we were lucky that they even opened the door and that most times they would have just left the late comers stranded, keep in mind this is shortly after 7pm. They said all they had to eat was overpriced bags of chips and candy, nothing nutritious, and wouldn’t even allow us to boil water for the overpriced ramen they had. So we were forced to buy the chips, then we had to pay extra for an overhang so we could get out of the cold wind(reminder we are soaked after being hailed on) because they refused to let us get warm in the cabin and only other option was to pay $100+ for another cabin with no source of heat. The people who run the place acted annoyed from the minute we showed up and showed no sympathy. Also would not refund us for the spaghetti dinners they ate or threw away. On top of all that the other campers already knew what happened early the next morning so I guess it was a joke amongst everyone. Planning another trip to Colorado next month and will definitely not be considering this place. Never leave reviews but after all this time it has bothered me and came to mind planning this next trip. Anyways, you’re better off camping...

Barr Camp is a great base camp for summiting Pikes Peak or as hike-in destination in itself. We loved the caretakers hospitality and camaraderie with fellow hikers. It’s a great hike-in camp.

It’s the perfect stop over for summiting Pikes Peak if the weather holds for you. It’s 6+ miles in, which isn’t that far if you are used to long days, but the whole hike to the top, if you take it in one go, stopping at the camp on the way back, is about 8,000 in elevation gain and 18 miles, which is quite something, especially if you aren’t acclimatized to the altitude. It would be ideal to break it up over three days if you can and take it all in—one day to hike in, one to summit, and one to hike out. Slow down and enjoy the delicious meals, the company of fellow travelers, and hospitality of the wonderful caretakers. The parking voucher (mail-in rebate making it $10 for your whole stay—in 2025) is much appreciated. The tiny parking lot fills up very fast, so be prepared. People use it to hike the incline, so spots will open up, but you may have to wait quite some time. We loved our stay and hope to...