Morefield Campground

I last visited this campground 10 years ago, I thought it was below National Park standards then.
10 years later, there is no doubt that this campground, and for that matter, this NP is a step child in the NP system. Granted, they have built a new visitor center that is outstanding, but that must have blown the budget as everything else in the park is seriously substandard. From the moment you enter the store/​cafeteria/​gas station parking lot you sense it as a place that has seen better days.
The campground is made up of several loops, probably back in the day when everyone tent camped as 80% are 15′ long and canted on the hillside. Only roughly 20% of the sites at the lower end of each campground are suited for any modern RV.
No landscaping maintenance has been done to the park as far as I can tell. Most of the campsites are overgrown with grasses and trees that make the sites dangerous to park anything larger then a pick up in.
Such an outstanding park, but such a disappointing campground. It really should be leveled and built from the ground up to todays standards.
I spend the following days camping outside the park.

We liked it here. It is a fairly basic campground. We found flat a spot near the restroom, which is also close to water access. No hook-​ups for RV’s, but they do have a dump station. You can run your RV’s generator a lot longer than most other National Parks when you need power. Deer came onto the campsite every night and ate grasses, which our children really enjoyed. There was a strong WiFi access for free as part of our reservation. The showers up the hill were very nice, were free and had no time restrictions. For a basic campground, we enjoyed our time here and the camp sites offered plenty of space.

This is a rather interesting campground and is maybe not one of the best in the National Park System, but it’s far from bad.
The sites have new-​ish tent pads, fire rings, and picnic tables. Some of the sites are kind of elevated (you have to take a few steps up to get to them), which is nice because it keeps you off of the street level — no headlights shining straight into your tent at night. Several of the sites you have to go down a few steps, these ones are almost all shaded by trees.
The store has firewood, food, alcohol, maps, etc and there are free showers nearby as well as laundry. The toilets are flushing toilets, and they have a sink in there as well.
Only had two issues with this campground:
1. It’s about 4 miles past the park entrance. The cliff dwellings are mostly about 25 miles in, so you should expect to drive for about 45 min from your campsite to the dwellings (like Cliff Palace).
2. It’s fairly expensive for a campsite.
There are plenty of hiking trails nearby and tons of stuff to do. If you’re visiting Mesa Verde National Park, make sure you stay here for a night or two.

The best thing about this campground is the free showers. The campsites are close to each other and very few are level. They are not well maintained and they charge for everyone over 13 so we paid $ 40 a night for a very mediocre site. The good news is there are very few people in the campground. The bathrooms in the campground are not nice for the price you pay. They do have free wifi which I am convinced the include so that you don’t notice they poor campground.

A long way to water (except that it rained on us both nights all night long). Showers were nice and showers are a bit unusual for national park campers. I think it’s because this one’s run by a concessionaire, Aramark. Our campsite was a little short of privacy but the site was level and in good repair.

Campground is run by a concession, Aramark, and it shows-​bathrooms are barebones and in need of upgrades. Sites are expensive and water for tent sites is a pretty long walk.

Morefield Campground is located inside of Mesa Verde National Park, about 4 miles from the visitor’s center. There are many sites, and you can reserve ahead of time if you don’t want to take your chances (though the park website basically says sites are always available bc there are so many.
Campground facilities include a general store, coin laundry, and free showers. These are all located near the entrance to the campground and a fairly short walk from the Zuni Loop of the tent section. Campers staying in the full hookups loops have more of a trek to get there.
All campground loops include a couple comfort stations (bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks). Because bears are in the area, there are also bear-​proof dumpsters and food boxes where you can store your food. We were given strict directions to put away food as soon as we were finished eating and NO toiletries, food, or even water in the tent.
The campsites we saw were fairly close together but not as packed as you’d see at a KOA. There were some with shade, and each had a designated tent pad (small gravel) and a picnic table. Fires were only allowed in fire rings, and not all sites had these.
Overall it was a very nice camping experience. I’d have rated it higher expect for two things: 1) $ 35/​night is awfully high for a campsite on public land with no electricity/​water and 2) my shower was barely more than lukewarm; for $ 35/​nt you should be able to expect a hot shower.

There are several good things about this campground: 1) It’s in Mesa Verde; 2) It has enough sites that even the park’s website says «With 267 sites, there’s always plenty of space!» (Too many campgrounds require planning months ahead.); 3) Many sites were relatively private, although I think #17 would be my first choice. With that said, $ 30 is for too expensive to pitch a tent in rural Colorado. All National Parks should have some free/​low cost camping options and Mesa Verde should be no exception. The increasing prevalence of public campgrounds run by for-​profit companies is an unfortunate trend that prices out budget minded people.

Basic type campground.
Good restroom, water available.
Rangers come around quite often. That’s good.
Visiting center 5 min drive from here, showers are available for free.

Had this not been $ 23 a night I would have given Morefield 4 stars. Also, because we sleep in our van, they did not allow us to stay in the tent only sites. We got there early and there were plenty of great sites. We picked one and had plenty of daylight to go enjoy the park. Unfortunately when we returned there was an old motorhome next to us and we feared they would run their very loud generator all night, By this time the campground had filled pretty good and the really great sites where gone. Thankfully they didn’t run there generator too late, but when I’m «camping» I don’t care to listen to them at all much less 15 ft from me. Had we been in tent only area this would probably not have happened. On the pro side the camp store was great and reasonably priced. They had a great beer snob selection and super friendly staff who quickly checked us in :) Nice clean showers were also greatly appreciated after our wonderful hike to Cliff Palace.

I haven’t been camping in years. Like, since I was in high school years. And as I went through college and started my adult life, I kind of forgot about camping and tried to forget how much sleeping on the ground hurt my back. Or how I don’t like sleeping on pine cones and rocks. Or having spiders and bees in my tent. Well, thankfully, air mattresses and bug spray exist, so as to keep my poor old back happy and my tent bug free.
Now that Lisa H has finally collected a respectable camping gear collection, we headed down to Mesa Verde to test everything out. But where to camp? Well, why not IN the park itself?
Morefield Campground is located within Mesa Verde National Park; you’ll happen upon it shortly after scaling the first few mesas. Check in at the «General Store,» grab some ice or cold beverages (yes, they’ve got beer here!), or a little souvenir. Then, head off to claim your site!
Here there are plenty of tent and RV sites; first come, first serve. No site is too close, so you’ll have plenty of elbow room. Many sites are shaded, but some are in open fields. Not all sites have a grill or even a fire pit, so do prepare for that.
There are many comfort stations well within easy walking distance of any site. These include:
–bathrooms with sinks and a mirror
–camper sink to dump out your dirty dish water
–potable water spigots
Although there are many trails within the park, there are also a few trails that begin from Morefield, such as Knife Edge Trail. Knife Edge Trail is a great, short hike from the campground. You’ll see some pretty spectacular views of Montezuma Valley from this trail.
After working up a sweat from hiking and exploring the cliff dwellings, Morefield also offers access to free showers! Definitely a plus after a few days of sweat and sunscreen.
Morefield is a great, cheap way to stay within Mesa Verde National Park. Beautiful and relaxing campground!