Overview
Spruce Group Campground, located in the Lake Isabel Recreation Area, is a great place to bring groups for picnicking and camping on the scenic Lake Isabel. The campground accommodates 50 guests for day-use and 40 guests for overnight camping. Some RVs can fit in the paved parking area for added convenience.
Lake Isabel is one of the few lakes in Colorado developed purely for recreation purposes. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the lake attracts campers who enjoy hiking, canoeing, fishing and watching for wildlife. St. Charles Creek flows near the campground and offers additional opportunities for fishing.
Recreation
Lake Isabel welcomes non-motorized boating and fishing. Brown and brook trout are stocked in the lake and the St. Charles headwaters reap brook trout.
Visitors can enjoy hiking, bicycling or motorcycling on either the Snow Slide Trail or Cisneros Trail. The 15-mile Cisneros Trail, also open to ATV riders, leads to the heart of the Wet Mountains, through forests and open, wildflower speckled valleys. Along the way, the trail connects to St. Charles Trail, which heads to St. Charles Peak.
Facilities
Spruce has a picnic shelter that seats 25 to 30 people, plus a horseshoe pit and volleyball court. Two 3-foot wide grills are onsite and individual sites have campfire rings.
Drinking water is provided via a hand pump and an accessible double vault toilet is in the campground. There are no defined tent pads.
The road through the group site is paved, and a parking area fits a limited number of RVs.
Natural Features
The St. Charles Creek runs next to the campground, and dense spruce trees surround the site. The shoreline of Lake Isabel meets the rocky slopes of the Wet Mountains at an elevation of 8,600 feet.
The Pike and San Isabel National Forest includes over a million acres of wilderness and over half of Colorado's mountain peaks that reach above 14,000 feet.
Nearby Attractions
The Frontier Pathways Scenic Byway is a great route to explore and shoot photos.
The description, directions and fees are the Forest Service’s own words, from its record on Recreation.gov.
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
Road
Primitive Road
Road
Primitive Road
Trail
Roads open to all Vehicles, Yearlong
Roads open to all Vehicles, Seasonal
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Yearlong
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Seasonal
Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails open to all vehicles, Yearlong
Trails open to all vehicles, Seasonal
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Yearlong
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Seasonal
Trails open to motorcycles, Yearlong
Trails open to motorcycles, Seasonal
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" in Width, Yearlong
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" or Less in Width, Seasonal
Wilderness Area
Wilderness Study Area