Ouzel Camping Area
A rustic riverside tent campground a few miles up the Platte River road from Deckers. Mixed first-come and reservable sites, no water, no host. The overflow pick when Lone Rock is booked.
Why it's here
Ouzel is a designated Forest Service campground along the paved South Platte River road north of Deckers, roughly 6,200 feet of elevation, about 13 sites. It is a designated campground, meaning you camp at a numbered site and not wherever you like; that distinction matters out here because there is genuine dispersed camping elsewhere along the forest roads and Ouzel is not it. Some sites can be reserved through recreation.gov and others are first-come; the split is not cleanly published, so treat it as partly reservable and partly a gamble.
There is no potable water at Ouzel at any time of year. Vault toilets year round, portable toilets added in the peak season, and no on-site host (the host for this corridor is stationed at Lone Rock). The nightly fee runs around $24. The campground is open year round with full services only Memorial Day through Labor Day and a 14-night limit. This is rustic, tent-oriented camping, and the people who come here are mostly anglers working the Platte.
The honest framing of Ouzel is that it is the third choice on this river and that is fine. Lone Rock is the one to want (reservable, RV-capable, host on site). Platte River is the quiet walk-in tent option. Ouzel is where you go when Lone Rock is full and you still want a numbered site rather than driving deeper to find dispersed camping. It does that job well, with river access and the same Gold Medal water reputation the whole Deckers stretch carries, though the official Forest Service page does not specifically label the water at Ouzel, so we will not either.
A real caution: a lot of the riverfront land along this corridor is privately owned and the boundaries are not always obvious. Respect posted signs when you walk to fish. The approach is the same long unpaved road as the rest of the corridor, and signal is unreliable in the canyon.
Know before you go
- •A numbered riverside site when Lone Rock is fully booked
- •Rustic tent camping focused on Platte River fishing
- •Year-round access if you bring all your own water
- •Avoiding dispersed camping while still going primitive
Full services Memorial Day through Labor Day; open year round otherwise with limited services. Reservable sites can be booked on recreation.gov; the first-come sites fill on summer weekends.
No water here ever; pack it all in. If you want a guaranteed spot, book a reservable Ouzel site or Lone Rock instead of relying on the first-come sites on a weekend.
No potable water year round, no host on site, rustic facilities. Private land borders much of the riverfront; respect posted boundaries. The reservable-versus-first-come split is not clearly published, so confirm on recreation.gov before counting on a site.
Designated numbered sites off the paved South Platte River road north of Deckers. Long unpaved county-road approach from the Pine Junction side; unreliable cell service in the canyon.
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More in Roxborough
Indian Creek Campground
Lone Rock Campground
Roxborough State Park
Geological site with wildlife, hiking trails overlooking red-rock formations & a visitor's center.
