A gray 4x4 Sprinter with a roof rack on a two-track through a wildflower meadow, cloud sitting on the mountains behind.

Forest Service campground

Guanella Pass

Forest Service campground in Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG, Clear Creek County, Colorado. About 10,900 feet. 5.7 miles from Silver Plume.

Managed by
Forest Service Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests Pawnee NG
Elevation
About 10,900 ft As the Forest Service states
Sites
17 9 standard non-electric, 7 tent only non-electric, 1 rv non-electric
Longest rig
45 ft The longest vehicle any site is listed for
Hookups
None listed
Reservations
Recreation.gov

Overview

Guanella Pass Campground is located about 7 miles south of Georgetown on the South Fork of Clear Creek on the Guanella Pass Scenic Byway. Located at an elevation of 10,900 feet on the Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest, visitors to the campground can also enjoy hiking and fishing in the area.

The Guanella Pass Scenic and Historic Byway follows an old wagon route that linked the mining towns of Georgetown and Grant, Colorado.

Recreation

Visitors can go trout fishing on the South Fork of Clear Creek. Silver Dollar Lake is nearby, but cannot be reached by car. Instead, the Silver Dollar Lake Trail leads hikers above treeline to the scenic lake.

Facilities

The campground is split into two loops by the county road and South Clear Creek. There are 18 sites in the campground. Eleven are suitable for RV camping and seven are more suitable for tents. Large RVs are not recommended on the byway. Most of the sites are in the open with some tent sites located among some spruce trees. Each site has a tent pad, picnic table, fire ring and charcoal grill. The roads through the campground are gravel. This facility provides hand pumps with potable water, vault toilets and trash dumpsters.

Natural Features

The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland sit along the foothills and Rockies of Colorado. The forests and grassland cover 1.5 million acres and extend north to the Wyoming border, south to Mount Evans and west across the Continental Divide.

The area includes mountains, lakes and five scenic byways, designated by Congress for their scenery, wildlife or history, including the highest road in North America. Mount Evans Road, also known as Colorado Highway 5, allows visitors to drive from 10,500' to 14,130' above sea level in just 14 miles.

Nearby Attractions

Visitors enjoy touring historic Georgetown, a former mining town of about 1,000 residents. Additional ghost towns dot the region.

The description, directions and fees are the Forest Service’s own words, from its record on Recreation.gov.

What people do here

  • camping
  • fishing
  • hiking
  • scenic drive

The land around Guanella Pass

The ringed pin is this campground; the others are its nearest neighbours. Switch on forest roads or BLM routes to see the way in.

Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.

Map layers

Layers
Base map
Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • US Forest Service (USFS)
  • National Park Service (NPS)
  • US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
  • Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
  • Department Of Defense (DOD)
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
  • Other Federal
  • State
  • Local
  • Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
  • Alaska Native Allotment

Federal campgrounds, by agency

  • Forest Service
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • National Park Service
  • Army Corps of Engineers
  • Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife and others

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

  • State land
  • County and city land
  • Regional agency or district
  • Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Source: Recreation Information Database (Recreation.gov), record updated September 2, 2026. Elevation from the USGS 3D Elevation Program. Seasons, fees, water and fire rules change; the managing office has the final word.