North Rim Campground — Hotel in Montrose

We just left the North Rim Campground at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. There are only 13 sites and it is first come, first served. We arrived by about 3:00 pm on a Friday afternoon in July and there were 3 sites left, probably because the area is so remote (dirt road to get there and not even a gas station store within 30 min). There wasn't a tent pad, but there was a flat space big enough for our 6 person tent. The ground in our site was soft and springy, very comfortable. There was a fire pit and a picnic table provided at each site. There is potable water from a spigot, but since they have to bring the water in by truck it is best to use it sparingly. The campground has pit toilets rather than flush for that reason. It was a quiet campground and many of the campsites had shade from pine trees. What I liked best about the campground was that the Chasm View Trailhead is right in the campground and you can walk out to the first viewpoint in less than 5 minutes and have extraordinary views of the canyon. We walked the trail 3-4 times and saw the canyon at sunset and dawn. The ranger station is also walking distance from the campground and the trailhead out to Exclamation Point. The hike out to the Point was an easy 1.5 miles with almost no elevation gain, though there were a few times that there was loose gravel with a nice drop off nearby to keep it interesting. Every viewpoint we visited along the North Rim was beautiful with epic cliff top views and offered different perspectives of the canyon. The views from Exclamation Point were equally impressive, but there were no guardrails which my daughters found very upsetting since the drop offs were abrupt and precipitous. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and loved being so close to the canyon. Both of the photos are from the...

The North Rim of the canyon itself is amazing- this review is for the campground.||||My husband and I decided to stay at the North Rim campground after reading the reviews about how much more private and less crowded it was than the South Rim campground. We were so disappointed at how close all the sites were! ||||We arrived around lunch time on a Friday and settled on site #12. Site 13 is probably the most private, but was taken. The grounds are so tiny that you can see about 8 of the 13 sites (from site 12) from where you are. I am used to pit toilets from camping and hiking, but this was by far the worst. The smell permeated the entire campground, and the inside was pretty dirty. We constantly had a fire going and welcomed the smoke just to block out the smell.||||The other reviews for these sites being spacious (in depth) is true, but they are still very close to everyone. When I was reading someone's review for the "Gestapo Ranger" I laughed, but it was true! We had brought our own wood, but he was convinced we had gathered it, and went on and on about not gathering wood- even after we told him we brought our own!!! The ranger probably does deal with a lot of annoying people, and it is good he is passionate about the land, but please don't put a damper on our vacation by taking your frustrations out on us.||||In sum, I would recommend seeing the canyon from the South Rim, and camping along the river at the East...

This campground is right on the north rim, I could walk down to see the view from my site in a matter of minutes. The ranger station is right down the road, and all the rangers are very helpful and friendly. The chasm view trail is right next to the campsite and is really beautiful. There are guides for visitors that give a lot of interesting information on the canyon. There is a trailhead right next to the ranger station with a great hike up to see "Exclamation Point" that provides a great view. I think the main downsides to this campsite is that the sites are very close together and there isn't a lot of privacy, and staying there is quite pricey. It's $16 a night plus an entrance fee of $30 unless you have a national parks pass or a senior pass. If you're staying for more than a couple days it might be worth it, but otherwise it can get expensive for camping. Nonetheless, I loved...