Elk Creek Campground
October 2026
About
Overview
Elk Creek Campground is on the north shore of Blue Mesa Reservoir. The lake is Colorado's largest body of water with 96 miles of shoreline and the largest Kokanee Salmon fishery in the United States.
Elk Creek Campground is located off of US HWY 50 -15 miles west of Gunnison Co. at Mile Marker 142.
The campground is part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, which was named after a Ute Indian chief of the mid-19th century.
The Elk Creek area is a hub for water based activities year round.
Recreation
Anglers delight in catching salmon and rainbow trout, while water sports fans find excitement in windsurfing and water skiing.
Swimming is permitted throughout the 20-mile long reservoir and birders can find bald eagles here year round.
Facilities
Campfire programs are in full swing during the summer months.
Cell phone service is limited. Electric hookups are in Loop D for both 30 and 50 amps.
Elk Creek, Lake Fork and Iola boat ramps are OPEN for the season.
Natural Features
At an altitude of 7,540 feet, Elk Creek is surrounded by a vast expanse of sagebrush. Trees are minimal because the reservoir gets less than 12 inches of rain a year.
Curecanti National Recreation Area is sandwiched between the towns of Montrose and Gunnison, Colorado. It spans three reservoirs, named for corresponding dams on the Gunnison River. These include the Crystal Reservoir, Morrow Point Reservoir and Blue Mesa.
Nearby Attractions
Visit the Cimarron Rail Exhibit to see railcars and the last remaining railroad trestle on the Black Canyon of the Gunnison route.
Amenities
Phone: 970-641-2337
Is ELK CREEK CAMPGROUND fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches ELK CREEK CAMPGROUND in Gunnison, CO for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching ELK CREEK CAMPGROUND for cancellations is the paid part.