Chatfield State Park serves RV travelers who want easy access to both water and trail time in the foothills south of Littleton. Set where the South Platte River leaves the mountains at Waterton Canyon, the park spans 5,381 acres with 32.8 miles of trails and wide lake views toward the neighboring foothills and Platte River valley. The campground layout is practical for rigs: 197 sites across four campgrounds include electrical hookups at every site, with many offering full hookups (water, sewer and electric). Ten reservable group sites add options for rallies or multi‑rig trips. On the water side, north and south boat ramps support boating and water‑skiing, and an electric vehicle charging station sits at the swim beach for tow vehicles that need a top‑off. On land, paved and natural‑surface routes suit biking, hiking, and horseback riding, and the park’s extensive birdlife (345 recorded species) makes early mornings rewarding. Practical notes: park hours run 5 a.m.–10 p.m.; daily vehicle entrance fees apply in addition to camping. All Colorado state park camping is by reservation with a six‑month booking window and a 14‑days‑in‑28 limit. For GPS, use the posted street addresses rather than “Chatfield State Park” to avoid misrouting.
1 Review on “Chatfield State Park”
This is a wooooonderful state park. We’ve now stayed here three times, all in Loop B. We’ve stayed in sites B52, B67, and B71. You really can’t go wrong with any of the sites here. (Although there were a lot of ants when we stayed in B71.) The park is huge. It takes 10 – 12 minutes to drive from the main entrance to the B Loop entrance. All the sites we’ve seen are very spacious pull throughs that include picnic benches and fire rings. Most sites also have a tent pad. Beautiful views of the foothills and reservoir. There is a 12 mile trail around the perimeter of the reservoir, which is great for running and biking. Very pretty scenery. Nine miles of that is a concrete pathway, and the three miles over the dam are gravel. Lots of deer and rabbits. One evening after a heavy rain, we saw a ton of frogs along the pathway. The bathrooms and showers are a little on the “meh” side and since we had full hookups, we didn’t use them much. There are vault toilets all over the park—we rarely used them, but handy if you’re on a long excursion in the park. We loved that they have laundry here! The machines require you to download an app, which isn’t my first preference, but it’s better than requiring quarters. (My first choice is the ability to use a credit card directly.) Note that the laundry room in Loop C is MUCH nice than in Loop B, and includes a large table for folding clothes. The park is inside the city of Littleton, so you have a ton of access to grocery stores, restaurants, and an Amazon locker—which was super handy for ordering online.
This is definitely one of our all time favorite places to stay and we’ll likely continue making annual visits.