Lincoln Gulch Campground

My family has been going to this campground near Aspen, Colorado at least every couple of years for as long as I can remember. It is the best campground we've ever seen! There are only 8 fairly rustic campsites in the whole place and they share a guys' and a girls' port-o-potty for doing your business (the campground water pump no longer works so you have to go to another campground a few miles down the road to fill your water jugs). Each site has a gravel driveway, picnic table and a fire ring.



We bought a 2-man tent on sale a few years ago and first used it at this campground:



Part of our campsite (the previous tenants were kind enough to leave us the table covering):



We had the best steaks on the grill:



What makes this place so great is all the cool rocks and rivers there.







On the south side of the campground is one river with a steep mountain on the other side of it. My sister, Karen, and I spontaneously climbed that mountain once--what an adventure!--and were pleasantly surprised to see from the top a 360 degree view of snowy mountains in the distance (we had no idea they were there!).



On the north side of the campground is another the river that has many small waterfalls and beyond that are the cliffs.





The east side has many huge rocks which are perfect for star gazing on. We call one of them the "whale" rock because it is large and rounded like a whale. It's easy to walk up.



We also watch the moon rise between some other mountains from this rock. This year the moon rose late and was the brightest I have ever seen it in my entire life. It was so stunning! It really lit the ground up like a floodlight! I could hardly tear my eyes away.



The west side has a river (the south river flows here and joins with the north river) and a short hike beyond that are The Grottos (rocks majorly carved by water over time).

After crossing the river on the west and wandering through some bushes, you can either hike the canyon or take the high easy path. I actually took the high road this time and took pictures of the canyon group down below.





Canyon hikers:



Tim with son, Daniel, taking picture of the rest of his family in the canyon below:



Janet helps Michael cross the last little stream before reaching The Grottos:



There is a cave that usually has lots of ice it in. This year it had already melted. Here are some climbing down to the entrance to the cave:







Chelsea and Greg in cave:



John climbed down into the cave from above (path for the really adventurous only!):



Greg and Chelsea exited the cave a different way...by climbing up this narrow chute (the narrow part is in the shade so you can't really see it):



Craig was off somewhere else with Minga so he couldn't join me for this picture:





Anna resting and snacking in the cave with her Grandmom:



Anna leading her grandparents out of the cave:



Waterfalls (the grand finale of the day trip):







Lindsay takes her sons further down the waterfall for a closer look:





Snack time at the top of the waterfall:





Hiking back to the campsite on steep but smooth rocks that are easy to traverse: