Osprey Campground

Osprey is a small Forest Service tent campground on the South Platte River corridor near Deckers, roughly 6,200 feet, 13 sites, no RVs. It is tent-only with a cap of about 8 people, 2 tents, and 2 vehicles per site, and a 14-night stay limit. The whole identity of this campground is fly fishing: it sits on the Platte and the people who camp here are working the Gold Medal stretch of river that runs through this corridor. There is no on-site host (the host is stationed at nearby Lone Rock) and no potable water, with portable toilets available during the peak season only.

The nightly fee runs around $24 with a charge for a third vehicle. It is open year round, but full services only run roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend, so an off-season trip means more primitive conditions than the summer version. Because it is tent-only and a little less convenient than Lone Rock, Osprey stays quieter than its neighbors, which is the point for the anglers who pick it.

The honest caveat that applies up and down this corridor applies here too: a lot of the riverbank adjacent to the campground is privately owned, and the boundaries are not always marked clearly on the ground. Plan to fish from the obvious public access and respect posted private land rather than assuming river access is open everywhere.

Getting in is the same long unpaved approach as the rest of the Deckers corridor. There is no reservation convenience and no host to bail you out, so this is a campground for people who already know how they like to camp and want the river without the loop-camping social scene. If that is not you, Lone Rock a short distance away is the more forgiving choice.