BLM · McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area · Grand Junction, CO

Knowles Overlook Campground

First-come, first-servedFrom $20 per night

More like this: first-come in Colorado

Knowles Overlook Campground
Photo from the area. Missvain (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
1fire
active
Slough Canyon · 50 mi away · 4,774 acres
Interagency incident data as of 2026-10-16
Incident details ↓

Amenities & rules

Fees$20 per night or see fees on Recreation.gov page

Individual sites vary. Confirm on Recreation.gov or with the managing office.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Knowles Overlook Campground20°30°40°50°60°70°80°January: 1.07 inches of precipitation, 9.5 inches of snowFebruary: 1.24 inches of precipitation, 11.4 inches of snowMarch: 1.41 inches of precipitation, 9.6 inches of snowApril: 1.39 inches of precipitation, 4.3 inches of snowMay: 1.30 inches of precipitation, 0.6 inches of snowJune: 0.67 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJuly: 0.88 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 1.05 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 1.57 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowOctober: 1.64 inches of precipitation, 1.5 inches of snowNovember: 1.29 inches of precipitation, 7.0 inches of snowDecember: 1.22 inches of precipitation, 15.2 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 25.2°F averageFebruary: 29.7°F averageMarch: 38.3°F averageApril: 45.2°F averageMay: 54.6°F averageJune: 64.9°F averageJuly: 71.4°F averageAugust: 68.8°F averageSeptember: 59.9°F averageOctober: 46.9°F averageNovember: 35.4°F averageDecember: 25.2°F average0 in5 in10 in15 in20 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Glade Park 17W, 13 miles from the campground at 6,323 feet, station USC00053307 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 15 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 59 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Getting there

High clearance is recommended and nothing over 35 feet. From Grand Junction, CO travel west on I-70 and take exit 2 towards Rabbit Valley. Take a left over the interstate and travel straight into McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. Take a right at the first intersection and a left at the second intersection.

Nearest townGrand Junction, Colorado
Coordinates39.1360° N, 109.0300° W · Directions ↗

Fire nearby

  • Wildfire
    Slough Canyon

    50 mi from the campground · 4,774 acres · 80% contained

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

Supplies & services

Dump stationDump station ↗15.8 mi
Outdoor gearBass Pro Shops ↗23.1 mi
RV sales & serviceCentennial RV ↗23.2 mi

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

Limited data for this unit

No site-by-site records in the Recreation.gov record. What is here comes from the agency's own listing. The rest lives there.

Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the record fills in.

Explore

Worth a stop

Public land it sits in

On Wilderness Atlas →

This campground sits inside Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, which overlaps McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.

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.

On the National Register nearby

On Register Atlas →

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 Knowles Overlook Campground?

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

Source: How first-come camping works

How much does it cost to camp at Knowles Overlook Campground?

$20 per night or see fees on Recreation.gov page

Is there cell service at Knowles Overlook Campground?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE at the campground point. Terrain changes that from one site to the next.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

What is the nearest town to Knowles Overlook Campground?

Grand Junction, Colorado.

Source: Getting there

What if Knowles Overlook Campground is full?

The nearest public campgrounds are Jouflas Campground (2.9 mi, first-come), Rabbit Valley (3.6 mi), and Westwater Campground (Ranger Station) (5.1 mi, partly first-come).

Source: Campgrounds nearby