We visited Mirror Lake last year as part of a longer road trip. Though the setting was beautiful, the rough road to the campground combined with the ATV noise well into the night means this was a one visit campground for us!
Pros: The beauty of Mirror Lake and the fun historic ‘living ghost town’ of Tin Cup were what brought us to the campground.
Cons: The road up to the campground is very rough. Our Subaru was loaded down low with camping supplies, which made the rough road that much more stressful. The long rough road meant Nic was too cranky to want to stop in Tin Cup on the way out, so overall it was a bust for us. My main complaint was the ATV noise. I got the info about this campground from The Best Tent Camping in Colorado, which is a book I will be selling or just lighting on fire. It has been a total disappointment for me–the point of tent camping is to get away from noise, and the authors routinely recommend sites overrun by RVs or ATVs. I get the feeling they haven’t actually stayed in many of the campgrounds. Be warned also that google maps may try to send you the theoretically fastest way…over ATV only roads. You’ll need to go the long way to get to the campground (coming around the north through Tin Cup) which makes it about a 5 1/2 hour drive from Colorado Springs. With the long drive and the rough road and the ATV noise the view just wasn’t worth it. If you’re coming from closer and have a high clearance vehicle and only had the ATV noise to contend with, it might be worth considering.
Campsite recommendations: You can’t reserve any of these spots, so it’s a ‘get what you get’ type of situation. There are two sites with great views of the lake, but you’ll need to arrive before the weekend and have good luck to grab them! We were there on a Thursday before 4th of July weekend and didn’t stand a chance.
Facilities: You’ll find vault toilets, a picnic table and grate at every campsite, but no water.
Nearby activities:
- Tin Cup is a ‘living ghost town’
- Fishing in Mirror Lake
- Hiking near the campground (We didn’t actually do any hiking there, as we only stayed one night and our first afternoon a rainstorm rolled through and ended up lasting for over three hours. I took the best nap of my life that day as we holed up in the tent!)
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