Piñon Flats Campground

We stayed at this park in mid-October 2024. It is a small park with only 88 campsites with no electricity or other hookups. Contrary to what we had read, the campground had new, modern bathroom facilities with flush toilets but no showers. There were double sinks with lots of room for your toiletries. The campsites were generally level and clean. Most of the sites would not accommodate big rigs over 30 feet in length. The park is ideal for tents, small and medium size trailers, and class B and C campers. There are several short hiking trails in addition to the sand dunes that we enjoyed. The campground and park were pet friendly as long as the pets were leashed and the owners picked up after them. Many of the camp sites were shaded and nicely spread out. In fact, many of the sites had wonderful views of the sand dunes and snow capped mountains in the background. Both my wife and I felt it was one of the prettiest parks and campgrounds we have stayed at. When we were there, there was no camp host but the restrooms were still reasonably clean. There were multiple restrooms in the campground section we were in so no one was ever more than a 1-2 minute walk away from one. There was a nice small museum (free) at the visitor center with very informative rangers available for questions and information. Overall, this is an exceptional campground and park that we would rate 5 star. We had high expectations for the park and it exceeded them. The night sky is very dark so star gazing is amazing. During the day, the surrounding views are both breathtaking and surreal. We are very glad we stayed at Pinon Flats and not some of the public or private campgrounds much further away. During high season, it might be difficult to find an open site. We had no problem in October and only made our reservation after we arrived. There was a weak TMobile signal in the campground but was adequate to make a reservation after arrival.

It’s hard to beat a $20 campground inside a National Park! The sites have cell service, picnic tables, and fire pits. Deer often come through in the morning to nibble on the charcoal. The campground store also has firewood and amenities for sale. The bathrooms were meticulous while I was there. Make sure to reserve your spot online because you cannot reserve in person! Last but not least, this park is a certified dark skies area and the view of the stars are “out of this world”!

I stayed in this campground for one night while visiting the Great Sand Dunes National Park. This campground is within the National Park. My site was very clean and included a fire ring, a picnic table, and a bear box. The driveway was big enough for my minivan and was flat, so I didn't roll out of my bed. The restrooms here were clean and had flush toilets. The view from my campsite was magnificent.

Piñon Flats is the closest campgrounds to the sand dunes. It has bathrooms, sinks, clean water access, bear boxes, fire pits, and parking. Prepare for the temperatures to drop at night and the possibility of wind— but that comes with the territory. I’ve enjoyed this campground a handful of times and would recommend if you want to camp near the dunes.

Rooms = tent ... ha ha. Very good national park campground. Good service roads and nice campsites. We had a shady site that was ideal ... looked like many were the same. The bathrooms looked brand new and there were several so there was never a crunch or a wait to use the facility. It was a short drive (but I wouldn't want to walk!) to the sand dunes parking lot which is the whole purpose of this National Park. It's cooler on the west side of the front range and at this elevation so that was a good thing when most of the country is experiencing a hot summer. It got into the high 50s at night which made sleeping easier! Nothing worse than a hot tent. There is always some dumb people with their music choices whiffing thru the campsite ... even relatively soft I could do without ... the near silence of being remote is so refreshing I could do without your music for a few days ... thank you!