Lake Irwin Campground

Incredible location far away from even the small town of Crested Butte. We loved it all HOWEVER there was a large bear within 300 yards of the campground and we backed off after it grunted for us to stay away. Then on our way back we saw a large deer killed by that bear or a cat the night before. The camp manager was very responsible and warned everyone to bring food in and be in the lookout. The bathrooms were super clean and we loved the people.

Location is beautiful and isolated. Only about 32 sites. The only reason is not getting 5 stars is because there is no water or dump station. Crested Butte water management offers a paid dump station in town which is only 10-15 mins away.

Beautiful alpine lake. Small beach areas to hang out at. Lots of stand up paddle boarders and puppies!

Very relaxing week there. Friendly campground host. Had site with lake view.

I rarely ever am one to write bad reviews or complaints but I feel as though this is somewhat necessary. I went to Lake Irwin with a friend of mine on a last minute camping trip last night before we both went off to college. And don’t get me wrong, this is a beautiful area and we enjoyed our time there. We got there around 11am to see if we could claim one of first come, first serve sites. The first come/first serve sites were all full so we spent a few hours painting by the lake and drove around to see if any were unclaimed around 7:30. We parked at one unclaimed spot ready to move if told to do so and saw that the camp ranger or tour guide I believe was making his rounds and waited for him to get to our site. Again, we knew from the beginning that if it was not okay for us to be there we would move. The guy and perhaps his wife or coworker stopped at our site and told us we couldn’t camp there which we apologized for and agreed to move. I would like to mention that my friend and I were very polite and apologetic, however, when the two of them drove off the woman told the man who’s name was Kyle “They’re on drugs”. It was said as soon as she got into the vehicle and drove away and perhaps if she waited 15 seconds to say it we wouldn’t have heard it. But it felt as though they meant for us to hear it. We then politely confronted them as we were leaving and she sarcastically apologized to us first saying, “I’m glad you’re not on drugs” while Kyle said it was something she personally confided in him. The whole interaction seemed unnecessarily blunt and rude. I would like to think that this is the first time something like this has been said about a camper/ guest and no one else has had this experience. And for the record, we were not on drugs. It is extremely insensitive to make statements such as these, and though we are just teenagers who have not struggled with problems with addiction, having known people who have struggled, It is an extreme rude and again, insensitive thing to say to anyone no matter what.