James M. Robb Colorado River State Park Fruita Section - Colorado (June 2018)

We have camped in many state parks over the years. Our early visits were using tents. Now we camp in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer.

We have come to expect certain standards from state parks. For example, state parks tend to have a natural feature that shows off one of the state's wonders. Many of these parks are best described as “rugged” and have only water and electrical connections.

Sign  at the campground

There are exceptions and this park is one. 

The natural feature in this park was the river that flowed through it. Contrary to many state parks, this park wasn’t rugged and had paved roads and our site had full hookups.

Rosie in the campground

Another anomaly with this park was its location. Most state parks seem to be located in the country. This park was just off the Interstate. Directions to the park include “turn at the Dairy Queen.” As expected, you heard road noises and passing trains while camping here. 

There was a long hiking/biking trail along the river. Both campers and local people seemed to enjoy this path.

The river

Trail  along the river

The river

Colorado State Parks do a couple of things that annoyed us. For example, you have to pay for a daily pass after paying a premium for your campsite. Another “nickel-and-dime” deal was the shower. For four quarters, you received four minutes of water. The sign in the shower said they charged to encourage water conservation. If water conservation was an issue, they should try turning the water sprinklers off. They appeared to cycle on and off all day. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a pull-thru. Some sites in this park were back-ins
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had water and sewer connections. Not all sites had sewer connections 
• The park had a clean and well maintained bathroom and showers. Bring four quarters if you want a four minute shower 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided three bars of 4G service over our site. This signal worked well for voice and so-so for data
•  Rosie's TV antenna picked up ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. We also saw digital channels Antenna, Escape, Grit, ME-TV and THiS. 

This was a very pleasant park to camp in for a few days. 

Colorado National Monument

The Colorado National Monument

The Colorado National Monument

The Colorado National Monument

Sunset over the campground