My Top Four Favorite Campsites

If you've read anything on this blog at all you've realized by now that I love to camp. And not the lavish, high-end glamping, but the roughin' it down and dirty camping in a tent, preferably with no people, no showers, and amazing views. Just in case that wasn't clear, I've compiled a list of my favorite campsites and have laid them out below. Please keep in mind: this is a work in progress and I will update the list as I continue to find new, fantastic places to pitch my tent. Here are my top four favorite campsites, in no particular order:

My Spot, CO

My Spot has been a long standing campsite in our family, ever since we discovered it years and years ago on a family vacation. It was always the place I chose to camp any time I was asked to pick a spot, and I have many fond memories playing on the rocks near the cold mountain creek near Monarch Mountain in the central Colorado Rockies. The last time I was there we only stopped for a lunch picnic, but I would love to go back and camp again, just for the trip down memory lane.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Cosby Campground, TN

Great Smokey Mountains National Park completely blew me away as a whole, but camping at Cosby Campground, as the only person on my entire loop, backed up against the forest and warned about the resident bear, I was in awe. Evening sunlight filtered through the thick canopy of leaves, and nights were darker than I thought was possible. Shining a flashlight around revealed the eyeshine of millions of forest bugs, and I fell asleep each night to the melody of a thousand crickets. Each morning I woke up to a tent covered in dew, and smelled the musty rain scent of a forest that is perpetually wet. I would love to go back to that park and get out into the backcountry, maybe try out the AT for a few nights!

Sea Rim State Park, TX

I'm a morning girl and a sucker for sunrises, and I'm not sure a slow sunrise over an ocean beach can be beat. I loved camping on the beach of the North Texas Gulf Coast so much that I went back a second time, and I wouldn't say no to several more trips per year. The sunrises linger on, from the first glimmer of light on the eastern horizon to when the sun finally gets her round face fully over the horizon, and even a little after as she continues to light up the low clouds like fire. Plus the fact that it's a relatively unvisited little park with five miles of deserted beach, and the ability to camp anywhere on the sand that you want as long as you're not on the tidal dunes and out of reach of high tide. Now that's my kind of park.

Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO

This campsite right here is a bucket list item I can finally cross off! I have wanted to backpack into the tallest dunes in North America for years, and have stayed right on their skirts in the park's established campground, but never had the chance or the gear to actually hike into the dunes and pitch a tent. I have finally accomplished this goal, and slept soundly in the dead quiet night surrounded by mounds of sand. After climbing the dune ridge to catch the sunset (skypainting, when words are hard), and sitting outside my tent watching the stars unfurl into the Milky Way, of course. And waking up to glowing ridges and deep bowl shadows then next morning? Bliss.

Have I convinced you to tent camp a little more? Have I inspired you to take your own adventure, by yourself or with a friend, to a place where you can pitch a tent in a lovely place? Let me know if I have, and if you're at all interested in camping with me next time!