We spent four nights last week in James M Robb State Park in the Fruita section.  I welcomed a quieter campground after our two weeks next to the I-25 in Firestone, CO, at St. Vrain State Park.  Honestly, I hadn’t realized how much noise there was as it was constant until the noise was gone.  I wouldn’t say that this park is the quietest campground out there, just quieter than where we had most recently been.

Of note, there are multiple sections of the James M Robb State Park.  We stayed in the newest, western section of Fruita and would be happy to camp there again.  There are a total of 63 sites – 22 with full hook-ups, 22 with electric only, 13 tent sites and a group camping area.  All sites seemed well-spaced and positioned to offer a good amount of privacy from neighboring campers.  Sites are large, each with a level, sizable concrete pad, gravel patio, covered, heavy-duty picnic table, fire ring, and grill grate.  The website indicates that full hook up sites accommodate vehicles up to 50 feet with total length around 93 feet.  We had plenty of room to park our Jeep Patriot and Brian’s cousin’s car when they came for dinner. 

We rented space #37.  If we return to this campground in the future, we will try to be on the north side of the loop road as these sites face the river/ponds providing scenic views.  Unfortunately, our site faced the local truck stop and connected to the walkway leading to the main bathhouse from the group camping and tent site area.  These things added some additional traffic and took away some of our privacy.  With respectful campers in the park, this was certainly not a deal-breaker.  Bathrooms located throughout the park offer convenience in each section of the campground.  The main bathhouse also provides showers and laundry facilities.

While the campground is open year-round, at-site water is not available year-round.  I’m not sure if this is “normal” or not in the industry.  It was not what we expected and were disappointed to learn that the water would be disconnected in the afternoon after our arrival despite warm day-time temperatures.  We filled our holding tank and decided to depart a day earlier than planned.

Fruita is an easy to navigate town with a decent selection of restaurants, a couple of micro-breweries, and a City Market (aka Kroger) for groceries.  Just 15-20 minutes away, Grand Junction offers more of a selection of businesses to pick from, including some RV service centers as viewed from the highway.   There is also a good-sized dog park just off of the I-70.

We found plenty of places to take Skipper for walks around the campground, including a gravel path around the pond to the south and a paved riverwalk that takes you north along the Colorado River.  Further construction is in process and appears to provide additional trails.  And there are lots of other trails in the area, especially in the neighboring McInnis Canyons conservation area and in Colorado National Monument.

With limited time in the area and all during the workweek, we took one evening to drive Colorado National Monument’s rim road from Fruita to Grand Junction.  It’s a spectacular drive offering stunning views of the canyons with many places to pull over.  I’m sure driving this direction is a little less scary than driving the outside lane from the other direction.  Although with many cliffside pullouts, some of these are difficult to access from the far lane.  If you’re in the area, don’t miss going to the Monument!

We imagine that this will be a convenient stop for us in the future and will look forward to checking out some of the other sights to see when we return.