Southside - Lake Isabel

Summary

Southside Campground offers a unique and scenic experience in the Wet Mountains by Lake Isabel. The 40-acre lake is stocked with trout and nearby St. Charles Creek offers additional fishing opportunities, as well as hiking, biking, motorcycling or ATV riding trails. Amenities include campfire grills, vault toilets, drinking water and picnic tables. Visitors can also enjoy paddle boating and nearby restaurants, groceries, and golf courses.

Overview

Southside Campground is a small RV facility situated in the Wet Mountains by Lake Isabel. The popular recreation area offers a selection of hiking trails and great fishing and paddle boating on Lake Isabel.

Lake Isabel was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s, for the purpose of recreation.The 40-acre lake is stocked with trout and the nearby St. Charles Creek offers additional fishing opportunities.

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 and 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

The campground is designed for RVs less than 30 feet in length, with no large slide-outs and require no hook-ups. Roads are paved. The facility is not ideal for tent camping, but tent camping is permitted. All sites are pull-through; backing is not required.

RV hookups are not available. Amenities include campfire grills, vault toilets, drinking water and picnic tables.

Natural Features

Aspen and ponderosa pine help shade the campground. Lake Isabel impresses visitors with a shoreline that meets the rocky base of the surrounding 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

A nearby lodge provides paddle and rowboat rentals, groceries and a restaurant. Golf courses are about 15 minutes away.

Charges & Cancellations

Cancellations

Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. 

A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite.

Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.

No-Shows

A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.

No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.  

Refunds

Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended.

Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay.

For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. 

In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.