Saddlehorn Campground

What an AMAZING campground in an AMAZING national monument! We camped in Saddlehorn campground this past July, and even in the middle of summer it wasn’t too hot up on the mesa… about 85–90 °F (we were expecting at least 100+) and the campground wasn’t even remotely close to full. This meant that there were plenty of good spots to choose from and plenty of peace and quiet! Not only that, but the campground is a short hike from the visitor’s center as well as several totally awesome cliffs with great viewpoints and overlooks. Every evening my wife and I would drag our camp chairs the 50(+/-) yards from our campsite to the edge of a 450 foot cliff adjacent to the campground and watch the dark gray desert thunderstorm clouds roll over and watch the amazing show of lightning on the distant Book Cliffs across the Grand Valley. Even when it was stormy and the thunder was rolling overhead, it was still nice and warm in the evening. When it did rain, it usually wasn’t too hard and, on the rare occasion we got a downpour, it was extremely brief. On the nights it wasn’t stormy we were treated to the best sunsets I’ve ever seen… anywhere…in my entire life! We also got to listen to the bighorn sheep «talking» at night on the cliffs just outside the campground — they sound like Chewbacca from Star Wars… hahaha! Let’s see, what else do you need to know? Beautiful park, beautiful campground, inexpensive campsites, great views, plenty of room for our tent, nice climate, tons of good hiking, other cool attractions nearby, water faucets with clean, cold water, and clean, modern restrooms… all in all a GREAT place to camp!
OK, but here’s one important bit of info (and a hint):
The only bummer about this campground was the lack of showers (trust me, after hiking all day in the heat, you’ll need one). The good news about the lack of showers is that just down the mesa (about 20 minutes drive) is James M. Robb Colorado River State Park with nice HOT showers! The bad news is that J.M. Robb Col. River State Park wants to charge you 10 or 12 bucks just to GET INTO the park! You can try to explain to the state park ranger that you are not camping, hiking, boating, swimming, sightseeing, picnicking, or doing much of ANYTHING else in their park except spending 10 minutes using the showers which are in a building literally about 40 feet behind the entrance station, but they’ll try to charge you anyway. I can understand that they’re just doing their job, and entrance fees are a source of revenue for them but… if you figure you’re camping in Saddlehorn Campground for a week, driving down the mountain to JMRCR State Park every evening to shower, and they’re charging you $ 10 every time you come in (plus the quarters the showers cost to operate)…that’s like $ 80/​week or more just to get clean once a day!!! Can you say «rip-​off»? So, my advice: Do what we did — show up to JMRCR State Park at like 11 o’clock at night after the rangers have gone home… then you can drive right in and all you pay is a handful of quarters for the showers. And the drive up the mesa late at night is very tranquil and beautiful: lots of stars, city lights in the valley below and, if you’re lucky, you’ll see some night-​time critters!
P. S. BRING BUG REPELLENT!