Royal Gorge / Canon City KOA

The kids loved all the activities (big slide, go karts, pool) and it was conveniently located for all the things to do in Canon City. WiFi worked great too.

Our site was ridiculously narrow, uneven and unclean. The park wasn’t even full and they put us right next to one other camper with the rest of the row empty. We arrived at 6pm on a Sunday (office was closed) and we were gone the next morning. Site had a huge red ant hill and dog poop. Trash bins were overflowing.

Wifi: Verizon - 64 down, 38 up / ATT - 35 down, 12 up. We got a last minute reservation that we ended up extending. The Royal Gorge KOA is 3 miles from the Royal Gorge, as well as about 15 minutes from Cañon City. The sites themselves are spacious, and you don't feel crammed in by your neighbor. The people who work here are clearly proud to be at the KOA, and it shows in the immaculate bathrooms and clean grounds. Everything is dirt or gravel, so it was a little difficult on the bike on hills, but the KOA fit in with the area. There is also a really creepy, almost abandoned looking “family theme park” with a giant slide, mini golf, and go karting that is open on the weekend. If the KOA crew hadn’t mentioned multiple times that we should try it, I would have assumed Pennywise lived there. The office/store is renovated and looks amazing, but is a bit anemic in its selection. However, the cell reception here was insanely good. You can see a cell tower in the distance, but it feels like such a remote area that I figured we would get usable but slow speeds. This was like having wifi in a home. We would have stayed longer had we not already booked a reservation for our next stop. Will be back next year.

Paid $53 for a single night stay. Full hookups (50amp, water, sewer). We didn't have a reservation ahead of time but they still had a few spots available for us when we pulled in at sunset in early October. Stayed in site I2.

The entry road is a bit bump with some water damage but nothing too bad. Once we drove around the campground roads everything was smooth and maintained even though it was all packed dirt. The site was reasonably level but took a leveling block to make it better. The sites all have nice trees and some retaining walls since the campground slopes down the hill.

We used the playground facilities and they were very dated but still fun. The swings and general playground area had a few slides and swings and toys that reminded me of my school playground as a kid. We got some mini golf clubs from the office and walked across the bridge to the mini golf course. The turf was torn up and the walls were crumbling on most of the holes, but that just added to the challenge! The large slide and gokarts were closed, but neither really looked all that safe anyway so we were ok with skipping.

We drove our 42ft 5th wheel with us down to the Royal Gorge since they have plenty of RV parking. The road there is a little windy, steep and narrow but we weren't there in peak season so there wasn't a lot of traffic.

We also stopped by the Tunnel Drive Trail on the way out of town with our trailer in tow. There was a dirt parking lot near the trailhead that we parked at and ran up the trail through the tunnels. Fun trail if you're staying at the KOA.

Pros: good location. Close to royal gorge and not far out of Cañon city. From our site we had great views.
Cons: The entire camp smelled of sewage. There is a pool, but it was not well kept and the sewage smell seemed to be the worst by the pool. They had some neat looking attractions (mini golf, giant slide, go carts), but no set hours they were open. We always missed the random hours.

Loved it we stayed here and during the week days is very quiet and our site was leveled, had 50 amp. The views are very nice and found out that had access to several locations that had hot springs in the area. Will come back with the kids later this year.

The views from our campsite were beautiful. The sites at the back of the park are nicely spaced. Very convenient to Royal Gorge. Friendly staff and we appreciated that they did not charge extra for mini golf like many KOAs do. The website advertised go karts and a giant slide. Our kids were disappointed when we checked in to find out the slide was closed and go karts are gone. They should update their website about that. We work remotely so cell coverage is important for us. Verizon and AT&T worked great.

Stayed here beginning of April 2024.
Pull-through FHU 50 amp. Dirt/gravel pad. Pavers, landscaping, and very fine gravel/sand mix fire pit area. Site #B12

General:
1) Very quiet and not many other campers this time of year.
2) 5-7 min for Royal Gorge Bridge Park and overlook picnic areas.
3) Spacious sites and not too close to neighbors and their hookups (many are a touch short but still work well)

Campground WiFi:
Worked pretty well. Conducted Zoom meetings and able to work on vpn. BUT that is mainly b/c the park was fairly empty.
Cell/hotspot using booster:
AT&T (3 of 4 bars—4G). Able to work on VPN, Zoom meetings, and stream.
Verizon (4 of 4 bars—4G). Able to work on VPN, Zoom meetings, and stream.

Details:
Check-in: Site assignments posted on board. Office hours limited this time of year.
Sites: Dirt/ gravel pad. Fairly spacious sites.
Site 19: Was not our site but we noticed that the patio side connects directly to laundry and restrooms, so folks seem to forget their manners and cut through that site's patio spot.
Campground Road: Dirt road but too not bumpy.
Grounds: Clean.
Bathrooms/Showers: Clean and well-maintained.
Laundry: Worked well.
Location: Gas, groceries and restaurants are in town 10 min
Near highway: The KOA is slightly off of a main road so there is a touch noise during the day.
Near train: No

Pros: good location. Close to royal gorge and not far out of Cañon city. From our site we had great views.
Cons: The entire camp smelled of sewage. There is a pool, but it was not well kept and the sewage smell seemed to be the worst by the pool. They had some neat looking attractions (mini golf, giant slide, go carts), but no set hours they were open. We always missed the random hours.