A couple of nice and easily accessible camping areas close to Denver are Golden Gate Canyon State Park and White Ranch Park Open Space. Both of these are accessed by going up Golden Gate Canyon Road just off of Highway 93 on the North side of Golden. Golden Gate Canyon has all types of camping, from tent camping to RV'ing to Yerts. It is a beautiful area and does tend to fill up on summer weekends, but they do have quite a few camping areas and spaces. White Ranch Park Open Space is a little closer than Golden Gate, however the camping here is limited to tent camping and you also, have to either backpack in to the campsites or ride horses. White Park Ranch is also at a lower elevation, so the snow tends to melt earlier in the year. There are a lot of great hiking trails at White Ranch Park and it is also a day use area, it's easy to go up and scout the area out before deciding if you want to camp there. You do have to make reservations and get a camping and parking pass to camp. There is a variety of wildlife to see here and from some areas on the trails, you can see Denver. There are day use areas that are accessed a little further North off of 93, so don't confuse that part of White Ranch Park with the area you go to to access the camping.
