Arapaho Bay: Big Rock Campground

The stepchild of its two sisters, Big Rock Campground is little more than an overflow camping area for the Arapaho Bay Campground complex, with Roaring Fork Campground being the most popular and Moraine Loop Campground being a close second in popularity. Big Rock itself is a cluster of 22 campsites under a grove of lodgepole pine with a vault toilet, and big rock (giving the park its name). Each site is spacious, but unlike the other two campgrounds at Arapaho Bay, Big Rock provides no views or direct access to Lake Granby, although neither are far away. For potable water, you'll just need to head a quarter mile up the road to Roaring Fork Campground.

From the campground you venture deep into the Indian Peaks Wilderness via the Arapaho Pass Trail, Cascade Creek Trail or Buchanan Pass Trail, all of which depart from the Monarch Lake Trailhead. Or, if you head up to Roaring Fork Campground, you can also venture up the there-and-back Roaring Fork Trail - an easy jaunt to see pristine Rocky Mountain cascades.

Other campgrounds on the reservoir include:

• Stillwater Campground (105 sites, and the only with RV hookups)
• Sunset Point Campground (25 sites)
• Cutthroat Bay Group Campground (2 group sites)
• Arapaho Bay: Roaring Fork Campground (32 sites)
• Arapaho Bay: Moraine Campground (30 sites)

Arapaho Bay: Big Rock Campground is operated by American Land and Leisure. Call 801.226.3564 for more details.