Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground at Ridgway State Park, Colorado: A Review
Thinking of staying at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground on your next visit to Ridgway State Park? Check out my complete review below to see if this park in Ridgway, Colorado, would be right for your family!
While visiting western Colorado, we camped here for several nights, which allowed us to fully explore this state-run campground.
Located within the park’s northern entrance, the campground is one of the three camping spaces within Ridgway State Park.
Below, you’ll find the full review of our camping experience here, including our individual campsite review, photos of the park’s amenities, and how it compared to other campgrounds we’ve visited.
My family enjoying a beautiful evening at our campsite in Ridgway State Park
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Camping in Ridgway, Colorado: What to Consider
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Ridgway State Park is located just north of Ridgway, Colorado, on Highway 550.
This beautiful corner of Colorado offers many reasons why you’d want to camp here, including cute mountain towns like Ouray, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and Million Dollar Highway.
Yet, because there’s essential just 2 roads coming into Ridgway, this little town has far fewer visitors that you’d expect for a place teeming with hiking options, crystal clear lakes, and incredible mountain vistas.
You have to intend on getting to Ridgway, and that’s part of the charm.
As a side note: I would HIGHLY avoid coming into Ridgway, Ridgway State Park, and Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground from the south on Colorado 550.
While Million Dollar Highway is gorgeous, driving it while pulling a travel trailer is something I never want to repeat again.
From Montrose to the north to Ouray to the south, this area has a good number of campgrounds offering a wide variety of amenities (and some dispersed camping without any at all!).
However, it would be hard to beat everything that Ridgway State Park’s campgrounds have to offer, which is why we ultimately used it as our home base in southwest Colorado.
>> See the best things to do at Ridgway State Park! <<
Other Camping Options Nearby
I know that people look for many different things in a campground, and, therefore, there’s never going to be a one-size-fits-all option.
However, I have to stay that Ridgway State Park’s camping, in general, offers nearly about everything you could want from hike-in tent camping to full hook-up RV camping. There are even a couple of yurts if you want to go glamping!
As I mentioned earlier, Ridgway State Park has 3 different camping areas: Pa-Co-Chu-Puk, Elk Ridge, and Dakota Terraces.
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground is accessed via an entrance of its own that shares the same name, and its to the north of the main park entrance. Elk Ridge and Dakota Terraces campgrounds are both in the main entrance to the park, Dutch Charlie.
Did you know? The Dutch Charlie section of the park is named after a pioneer who ran a combination boarding house, blacksmith shop, and livery barn here. His businesses once stood where the swim beach now is near the marina!
(There’s a third entrance to the park, Dallas Creek, to the south, but it only offers access to the park’s reservoir and no camping.)
Let’s take a look at the other 2 camping areas inside Ridgway State Park first.
Elk Ridge Campground at Ridgway State Park
Elk Ridge campground is the largest of the 3 at Ridgway, with 107 tent and RV sites across 2 loops (D and E). It has 3 bath houses, walk-in tent sites, raised tent decks, and full hook-ups.
Dakota Terraces Campground at Ridgway State Park
This is the second largest camping area in the park with 79 sites across 3 loops (A, B, and C). 3 of these sites, 10, 12, and 14 have yurts on them. If you chose to stay in the yurts, grab my yurt camping list!
Dakota Terraces sites all have electric hook-ups, and there are 2 bath houses shared between the 3 loops.
Ouray KOA
Of course these aren’t the only campgrounds near Ridgway. We also considered the Ouray KOA for our time in this area as it has a pool and other kid-friendly amenities.
We are no strangers to KOA campgrounds, having stayed in them across the US, including the Cherokee NC KOA and the Anderson SC KOA.
But, in this situation, the choice between the smaller lots at the Ouray KOA and the huge lots at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground in Ridgway State Park was an easy choice.
The Ouray KOA might be a good choice if you’re only planning to explore around Ouray and the Million Dollar Highway, but I liked that Ridgway State Park was more centrally located between Montrose, Telluride, and Ouray.
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground Review
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground has been in operation since July 1994, though you won’t be able to tell that it’s over 30 years old thanks to the incredible upkeep of this park.
The opening of this section of the park marked the completion of Ridgway State Park, which had begun with the opening of the Dutch Charlie section in 1989 and the Dallas Creek section in 1992.
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk means “Cow Creek” in the Ute Indian language, and you’ll find many things named Cow Creek around this area for that reason (Cow Creek Valley, for example).
We camped at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground for 6 nights in between visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park and our next stop at Moab, Utah. We were pulling our 22’ travel trailer and all of the campgrounds we stayed at had to accommodate that and our F150 truck.
Welcome to the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk section of Ridgway State Park!
Check In Process
After white-knuckling our way up Million Dollar Highway, we could not have been more relieved to see the fee station for the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk section of Ridgway State Park.
The man running the fee station that day was incredibly helpful, walking us through the park’s maps, the campground’s amenities, and everything we’d need for a good stay. It was one the most thorough and friendly campground orientations we’ve gotten!
Unlike many of the other campgrounds we’ve visited, I didn’t even need to get out of my truck to check-in. You simply drive through as if you’re a day visitor, show the attendant your confirmation sheet, and pay the daily park fee for the time you’ll be there.
I will note that it is weird that you can’t pay the daily fee online at the same time that you’re booking the site. You’ll have to wait until you get to the fee station to pay. They take cash or card onsite.
They also take same-day reservations if there is room available. I made our reservations online about 5 months before our stay—this was just one of 12 stops on a 2 month road trip!—and there were plenty of sites still available then.
During our stay in early June, the majority of the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground was full. We were there nearly a week, and during that time, there were some sites that were freed up, but most of the empty sites in the morning were taken by the time night fell.
Calling ahead or looking online to check their availability is highly recommended to ensure you’re not making a trip out here for nothing.
Individual Campsite Review
We stayed at campsite 266, which is on the interior of Loop G in Pa-Co-Chu-Puk. It was easy to find and only a short drive from the fee station in this part of Ridgway State Park.
All of the lots here are spacious, even for a state park, which are often generous with their camping sites.
I liked that each of the campsites was a curved half moon, ensuring that they were all pull-though and easy to access. There was additional privacy with a large set of shrubs in front of each camping pad, so you couldn’t see directly into the campers from the campground road.
Our lot had a few birch trees on it, but they were placed far enough back from the camping pad that they didn’t provide a lot of shade.
On the interior side of our site, there is a huge grassy field. This distance gives individual campers even more privacy even though you’re in an often full campground!
We had a picnic table and campfire with grill, which came in handy on the nights we wanted to cook outside. Our Winnebago Micro Minnie 1800BH doesn’t have an outdoor kitchen on it, so I’m always excited when the campsites have a grill onsite.
The camping pads are asphalt, and we needed to do very little adjusting to get our travel trailer leveled. It was long enough that we could’ve pulled into the lot without uncoupling the truck and travel trailer if we’d been staying just for one night.
The full hook-ups are included on every site, which makes these sites a bargain when compared to how much the Ouray KOA full hook-up sites are down the road.
There was a dumpster between our lot and 268, but the lots are SO big that the dumpster was still a long way from us.
While there were many other campers there at the same time as we were, the campground was wonderfully quiet, both day and night.
Campground Layout
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk has 80 campsites spread out over 2 loops. Unlike the Dutch Charlie campgrounds, the loops in Pa-Co-Chu-Puk are separated, making the entire layout feel more secluded.
These would be super helpful when taking your tent camping stuff between your car and hike-in site!
There are another 13 hike-in campsites on Loop H, which is set away from the RV sites. That means those tent campers won’t be bothered by the RV campers, and vice versa.
When you pass through the fee station, you’ll keep to the right for the RV sites. The tent camping sites are located to the left at the first intersection with a dedicated parking lot near the Uncompahgre River.
To access those hike-in tent sites, you’ll need to go across the pedestrian bridges and walk up to the tent sites a couple hundred yards up the trail.
There are small push carts available near the parking lot to help tent campers get their stuff to their sites.
The Uncompahgre River makes a large curve around the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground, though only a few of the sites have direct river views (sites 273, 274, and 276 have partial views).
You’ll find 3 bath houses at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk, one located near the entrance of Loops F and G, and another at the back of Loop F and at the back of Loop G.
Campground Amenities
When we checked in, the station attendant told us, “Colorado is very proud of our state parks,” and I fully understand that now we’ve stayed at one.
While we love staying at state parks—Oconee State Park in South Carolina is one we go to nearly every fall!—there’s often a trade off for those big state park lots for fewer amenities than the private campgrounds.
At Pa-Co-Chu-Puk (and the other camping areas at Ridgway State Park), I didn’t feel like we sacrificed anything to stay here! In addition to the huge lots, we also had full hook-ups, beautifully manicured common spaces, incredibly clean bath houses, and play areas for the kids.
The paved roads throughout the park made for an easy drive in and out while hauling our trailer. While I don’t mind gravel roads, the paved roads are so much nicer.
Plus, the paved roads are what my 7-year-old calls “scooter roads” because they’re smooth enough for him to zoom around on his scooter.
The large, clean showers at the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk main bath house
The bathhouses here were some of the nicest that we encountered on our entire 8 week road trip and they were light years beyond some of the showers at the expensive private campgrounds we stayed at.
The bath houses at the backs of Loops F and G are smaller and only have toilets.
Both loops in Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground share the larger bath house at the loop entrances, which has both toilet stalls and showers.
Both the smaller bath houses and main bath house were immaculate throughout our stay, which is more than I can say about some campgrounds we’ve visited. (Colorado Springs KOA, I’m looking at you.)
These showers were huge, which is always wonderful!
I can’t stand tiny campground bathrooms that get everything, including your fresh, clean clothes, wet because there’s not enough room.
The showers at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk had separate sections: one for a changing area with clothing hooks, and another for the actual shower. This helped keep our clothes dry while still allowing plenty of room to move around in the shower.
My kids’ favorite part of the campground
The playground is small but still worth it, according to my children. They loved having this available to them before they went to take showers or as we were killing time in the campground between outings.
State parks are often hit or miss when it comes to playgrounds or other kid-friendly items, so we’re always excited when we stumble across them.
The campground also has a laundry room, which is a HUGE help for us when we’re on these longer road trips.
Most state parks we’ve visited don’t have on-site laundries, and the one at Pa-Co-Chu-Puk was a big reason why I booked our stay here.
There are several coin-operated washers and dryers here. It was one of the largest laundry rooms we had at any of the campgrounds from our summer road trip.
The laundry room is located in the same building as the showers towards the front of the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground.
Such a pretty laundry room!
There are 3 hiking trails in the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground: Enchanted Mesa, River Walk, and Oak Leaf.
Enchanted Mesa is 2.5 miles and connects Pa-Co-Chu-Puk to the Dutch Charlie section of the park.
River Walk is an easy 0.2 miles and runs from the pedestrian bridge near the hike-in tent area to the group camping area on the river.
Oak Leaf goes around the tent camping area, and then loops back along the Uncompahgre River.
The Camping Kiddos take a break from the River Walk hike
If you like to fish, there are 2 catch-and-release fishing ponds between the RV camping loops and the tent camping area. You can rent fishing gear at the Visitors Center at Dutch Charlie if you don’t have your own.
Finally, you can have fun at the horseshoes and volleyball courts near the tent camping parking lot. These are first come, first served.
What to Do Elsewhere in Ridgway State Park
Paddleboarding in the Ridgway Reservoir
Ridgway State Park is a vacation destination unto itself with more than 14 miles of trails, multiple access points for paddle boarding, a swim beach, a marina, and more.
My daughter had asked to go paddleboarding for her birthday, which fell during our stay here.
I loved that we could rent paddleboards at the park’s marina office, just a few minutes from our campsite.
We also enjoyed hiking throughout the park, and walking along the beach in the Dallas Creek area.
When the reservoir is lower (usually in the spring), you can even drive out on the beach over at Dallas Creek!
Final Thoughts on Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground
Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground is one of the nicest state park campgrounds we’ve stayed at so far, and I would go back in a heartbeat.
I loved how many ways the park had for visitors to camp here with thoughtfully placed tent sites, large RV camping areas with privacy barriers, and fully equipped yurts for the glampers.
Families visiting here with appreciate the multiple picnic areas, playgrounds, and open spaces for running around. There’s much more room here at these campsites than what you’ll get at any of the private campgrounds in the area.
The park has also made this area into a destination that’s much, much. more than just a camping area. Thanks to its many amenities, you barely need to leave the park!
