U.S. Forest Service · Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG · Colorado

Sleeping Elephant Campground

This campground is located adjacent to Highway 14 in an open ponderosa pine setting near its namesake, Sleeping Elephant Mountain. The mountain and the inherent sleeping elephant is visible from the campground. The Cache la Poudre River is nearby but it is mostly on private land within the immediate vicinity. There are 15 sites each with a picnic table and fire pit. This is an older facility and will not accommodate larger RVs. Popular activities in the area include fishing, hiking and scenic driving.

Closed for the seasonFirst-come, first-served

More like this: first-come in Colorado

Sleeping Elephant Campground
Photo from the area. Phonetic484848 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
1fire
active
Magic Feather Broadcast Rx (prescribed burn) · 13 mi away
Interagency incident data as of 2026-10-16
Incident details ↓

Season & status

StatusClosed for the season. Forest Service sites close for the season; check the official page for the reopening date.
ForestArapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG
FeesCheck our campground table for fee information. Fees are discounted 25% when water is off. Interagency Senior, Interagency Access, Golden Age and Golden Access passes provide cardholders half price for basic campground fees.
RulesA single site may hold up to eight people. Tents must fit on the pads provided. RVs, trailers or other vehicles must fit on the parking spur because driving or parking off road is not permitted. The parking length ranges from 15 to 30 feet.

Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG recreation page ↗

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Sleeping Elephant Campground20°30°40°50°60°70°January: 0.47 inches of precipitation, 6.4 inches of snowFebruary: 0.50 inches of precipitation, 7.9 inches of snowMarch: 0.91 inches of precipitation, 13.0 inches of snowApril: 1.52 inches of precipitation, 15.7 inches of snowMay: 1.72 inches of precipitation, 5.5 inches of snowJune: 1.39 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJuly: 1.63 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 1.43 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 1.36 inches of precipitation, 1.7 inches of snowOctober: 1.05 inches of precipitation, 6.7 inches of snowNovember: 0.69 inches of precipitation, 8.2 inches of snowDecember: 0.50 inches of precipitation, 8.1 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 25.6°F averageFebruary: 25.4°F averageMarch: 32.1°F averageApril: 37.0°F averageMay: 45.9°F averageJune: 56.0°F averageJuly: 62.7°F averageAugust: 61.1°F averageSeptember: 53.7°F averageOctober: 42.5°F averageNovember: 32.6°F averageDecember: 25.3°F average0 in5 in10 in15 in20 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Rustic 9Wsw, 4 miles from the campground at 7,700 feet, station USC00057296 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 13 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 73 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Getting there

Drive 10 miles north of Fort Collins on U.S. Highway 287.Turn left (west) onto Highway 14 and proceed 43 miles to the campground.

Coordinates40.6825° N, 105.7727° W · Directions ↗

Fire nearby

  • Prescribed
    Magic Feather Broadcast Rx

    13 mi from the campground

Distance is to the reported incident point, not the fire edge. Call the managing office before you drive.

Supplies & services

Outdoor gearKirks Mountain Adventures ↗24.9 mi
Dump stationDump station ↗26.1 mi
RV sales & serviceManhattan RV & Trailer ↗41.4 mi

Locations © OpenStreetMap contributors. Call ahead; hours change seasonally.

Explore

Trails nearby

Forest Service trail data →

Trail and trailhead records are the Forest Service's. Distances are straight-line to the nearer trail end. Trail conditions are not tracked here.

Public land it sits in

On Wilderness Atlas →

Comanche Peak Wilderness begins about 3 miles away, and it is the closest of these.

Each unit is published as a centre point and an acreage rather than a boundary, so this section stands it in for a circle of the same area. Whether a campground is inside, and how far it is from one it is outside, are both approximate.

Guidebooks for Colorado

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Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

Do I need a reservation at Sleeping Elephant Campground?

No. Sleeping Elephant Campground is first-come, first-served. Sites are taken on arrival and paid at the fee station.

Source: Forest Service

How much does it cost to camp at Sleeping Elephant Campground?

Check our campground table for fee information. Fees are discounted 25% when water is off. Interagency Senior, Interagency Access, Golden Age and Golden Access passes provide cardholders half price for basic campground fees.

Source: Forest Service

Is Sleeping Elephant Campground open right now?

Closed for the season as of Oct 16, 2026.

Source: Forest Service status

What if Sleeping Elephant Campground is full?

The nearest public campgrounds are Big Bend Campground (3.1 mi, first-come), Big South Campground (3.9 mi, first-come), and Tunnel Campground (4.4 mi, first-come).

Source: Campgrounds nearby