Overview

Chalk Lake is a very popular campground with an array of recreational opportunities like hiking, mountain biking and off-road vehicle riding. Visitors also enjoy fishing at Chalk Lake and Chalk Creek.

Chalk Creek Canyon offers scenic views and stark contrasts between white chalk-like canyon walls and dense pine forests.

Natural Features:

The campground is situated near the shore of Chalk Lake at the edge of a stand of Douglas fir and aspen trees. The lake sits at an elevation of 9,000 feet in Chalk Creek Canyon, which gets its name from the soft, white, chalk-like kaolinite canyon walls. Kaolinite is a clay mineral that was deposited by percolating hot springs.

Chalk Creek can be accessed from the campground. It flows 27 miles eastward from the Collegiate Peaks before joining the Arkansas River. Chalk Lake is a mile east of the campground.

A variety of wildlife makes its home in the area, including chipmunks, hummingbirds, birds of prey and mule deer.

Afternoon thundershowers are common during July and August.

Recreation:

Chalk Lake is heralded as a great family fishing spot with rainbow, brook and brown trout. Motorized boats are not allowed on the lake. Chalk Creek also offers fishing, and it's best above Cascade Falls.

Plenty of off-road vehicle trails are near the campground. Recommended rides include Mount Antero, Baldwin Lake, Tincup Pass, Hancock Pass, Pomeroy Lakes, Hancock Lakes and Williams Pass.

Chalk Creek Trailhead can be accessed nearby and provides access to the extensive Colorado Trail, which extends nearly 500 miles from Denver to Durango.

Facilities:

The campground offers single-family sites, a few of which are accessible. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Accessible vault toilets are provided. Firewood is sold on-site.

Nearby Attractions:

Take a day trip to the historic ghost town of St. Elmo, just 15 minutes from the campground. An old saloon, county courthouse and many other historic structures remain from the days of its mining glory. Rock hounds come to the area in search of quartz and aquamarine.

The city of Salida is 45 minutes away, where visitors can take a scenic tram ride, experience a zip-line, play a round of mini golf or go whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River.