Denver · Towables
What qualifies
A towable is the camper you pull behind your own truck or SUV instead of driving. You supply the tow vehicle; the host supplies the living space. That split usually means a lower nightly rate than a motorhome, plus the freedom to unhitch at the campsite and keep your truck for day trips. PickRV covers four common types. Travel trailers are the all-rounder for families. Fifth-wheels are taller, roomier rigs that connect to a pickup bed for stable long-distance towing. Popup and teardrop trailers are light and simple — easy to pull to a state park lake or a weekend festival. The key number is tow weight: each listing lists dry weight so you can match it to your vehicle. Renters pay one transparent 10% service fee at checkout plus tax, with no drip pricing, and cancellation is free for 48 hours.
Timing
Late August through September is the sweet spot — post-hail, post-traffic-peak, gold aspens above 8,000 feet by mid-month, and cool nights that make unhitched trailer camping at altitude genuinely pleasant. Trailer-specific season notes: mid-May through early July is peak hail (June worst), and a parked trailer can't be driven out from under a storm the way a motorhome can, so site selection away from tree cover and an eye on the NOAA Boulder forecast matter more with a towable. Winter brings I-70 chain laws for combinations over 10,000 lbs and hard freezes for water lines. Book Cherry Creek and Chatfield 6 months out — 5-6 months ahead if dates brush the October beer festival.
Where it works
Every spot below comes from the Denver arrival guide — fees, length caps, and reservation windows included.
The towable headquarters: 146 full-hookup sites in the A, B, and D loops at $41 (77 electric-only at $36), trailers to 45 feet, on the foothills side of the metro. Unhitch in Littleton and the truck reaches the mountain corridors before the I-70 crowds — the positioning advantage that makes this the first booking to attempt.
The city-side twin at $41 full-hookup / $28 electric, 45-foot sites, 12 miles from downtown — right for trips weighted toward the city with mountain days mixed in. Trailer logistics per the guide: top off fresh water at the site spigot rather than the day-use dump, where Saturday lines run 45 minutes in season.
Lakewood's city-run park 14 miles out: electric hookups with centralized water and an on-site dump (no individual sewer), trailers to 40 feet at about $40. It is the quieter, closer-to-the-foothills alternative when the two state parks are booked — same unhitch-and-day-trip pattern, smaller crowds.
The utility stop for the combination: a 24/7 dump at $10 ($7.50 with the loyalty card), 12 diesel lanes with bulk DEF, and RV fuel lanes separate from the semi lanes. No overnight parking allowed — but as the guide notes, the fuel-and-dump combo works, and with a trailer behind you the pull-through geometry is the feature.
What it costs
Travel trailers and fifth-wheels on PickRV run $65 to $285 per night — less than comparable motorhomes because the tow vehicle is yours. Checkout adds one 10% service fee plus tax; cancellation is free for 48 hours. Denver-area sites run $28-41 at the parks, and every listing states dry weight — mind it, because mountain grades punish an overmatched tow rig.
Good to know
No — this is Denver's sharpest rule. Sec. 54-464 gives an unattached vehicle or trailer over 22 feet a maximum of two hours on a public street in any 7-day period. Attached combinations get 24 hours residential. Unhook only on private property or at your campground; the $50-ticket-then-tow escalation is fast once 311 complaints land.
Chatfield's A, B, and D loops carry 146 full-hookup sites at $41 with 20/30/50-amp service; Cherry Creek runs full hookups at $41 and electric-only at $28 across 135 sites; both cap at 45 feet on 6-month windows. Bear Creek Lake Park offers electric with central water at $40, capped at 40 feet.
The grades are real but the timing is the actual problem: I-70 westbound clogs Friday 2-7 p.m. and eastbound Sunday 2-8 p.m., turning the Idaho Springs chokepoint into 2-3 hours. Tow before noon or after 9 p.m. In winter, chain laws apply to combinations over 10,000 lbs on the passes — check CDOT before committing the trip.
