colorado camping spots in June 2018

[LarsO]

Hello all .. thanks in advance. Looking for help in planning my trip into Colorado in the next few weeks for the month of June. Any help on best free or cheap camping spots and or places 'not' to miss? Im traveling in a 28' class C. Coming into Colorado from utah or northern AZ. Not sure yet.
I travel alone but also truly meeting up with like minded folks.

Kind regards and thank you for your responses in advance. I know it's a pretty wide open general question tho.

L

 

[Strawberry Lady]

L...San Louis National Park, by Sand Dunes near Alamosa Co. ...AWESOME view, water not available but restrooms and dumpsters and free electric...camp host's name Jim. Tell him Strawberry sent you..?...enjoy

 

[DLTooley]

Lizard Head Pass, North of Cortez, has some awesome views. I haven't been up yet, it may be dry already. South Mineral near Silverton is a deserved classic. I have not been in a few years so don't know how crowded it is currently.

 

[QinReno]

@Lars, I lived in Colorado for 25-years. The reason to go there is to tour the high-country, but May and June are still a bit early for that. There is still lots of snow, and the roads go over many passes that are above 10,000-feet. Right now, I would go to Moab for a couple of weeks and hang out. The obvious there is Arches Monument, but don't miss Canyonlands Park, Dead Horse Point, and Island in the Sky looking down at the "Confluence". (I know you are a camera guy). I assume the road in to Island in the Sky is ok for Class Cs. Desert land all over for boon docking. Check freecampsites.net.

Here would be my grand tour of Colorado high country from the west: Cortez/Mesa Verde, Lizard Head Pass/Telluride, Ouray to Silverton to Durango (this is the queen leg of the tour), Pagosa Springs, South Fork to Creede, backtrack to Great Sand Dunes Park. Then north to Leadville and Summit County, although a side trip to Canon City/Royal Gorge would be worthwhile too. That is the Grand Tour. At that point the only great thing you have missed is Maroon Belles near Aspen. Independence Pass (going over to Aspen) off the road going north to Leadville will still likely be closed. I can't say much about boondocking as I mostly stayed in Nat'l Forest campgrounds, which are everywheres, but may mostly be closed for another month or two.

 

[Wabbit]

A pass for their SWA's is $36. Maybe $46 if you need a habitat stamp. A fishing license is about $56, $66 if you need the habitat stamp.

This is just my take on the info I found, it gets kinda confusing with all the changes.

 

[LarsO]

@Lars, I lived in Colorado for 25-years. The reason to go there is to tour the high-country, but May and June are still a bit early for that. There is still lots of snow, and the roads go over many passes that are above 10,000-feet. Right now, I would go to Moab for a couple of weeks and hang out. The obvious there is Arches Monument, but don't miss Canyonlands Park, Dead Horse Point, and Island in the Sky looking down at the "Confluence". (I know you are a camera guy). I assume the road in to Island in the Sky is ok for Class Cs. Desert land all over for boon docking. Check freecampsites.net.

Here would be my grand tour of Colorado high country from the west: Cortez/Mesa Verde, Lizard Head Pass/Telluride, Ouray to Silverton to Durango (this is the queen leg of the tour), Pagosa Springs, South Fork to Creede, backtrack to Great Sand Dunes Park. Then north to Leadville and Summit County, although a side trip to Canon City/Royal Gorge would be worthwhile too. That is the Grand Tour. At that point the only great thing you have missed is Maroon Belles near Aspen. Independence Pass (going over to Aspen) off the road going north to Leadville will still likely be closed. I can't say much about boondocking as I mostly stayed in Nat'l Forest campgrounds, which are everywheres, but may mostly be closed for another month or two.

great advice QR... thank you so much for the detailed response!!
L

 

[LarsO]

@Lars, I lived in Colorado for 25-years. The reason to go there is to tour the high-country, but May and June are still a bit early for that. There is still lots of snow, and the roads go over many passes that are above 10,000-feet. Right now, I would go to Moab for a couple of weeks and hang out. The obvious there is Arches Monument, but don't miss Canyonlands Park, Dead Horse Point, and Island in the Sky looking down at the "Confluence". (I know you are a camera guy). I assume the road in to Island in the Sky is ok for Class Cs. Desert land all over for boon docking. Check freecampsites.net.

Here would be my grand tour of Colorado high country from the west: Cortez/Mesa Verde, Lizard Head Pass/Telluride, Ouray to Silverton to Durango (this is the queen leg of the tour), Pagosa Springs, South Fork to Creede, backtrack to Great Sand Dunes Park. Then north to Leadville and Summit County, although a side trip to Canon City/Royal Gorge would be worthwhile too. That is the Grand Tour. At that point the only great thing you have missed is Maroon Belles near Aspen. Independence Pass (going over to Aspen) off the road going north to Leadville will still likely be closed. I can't say much about boondocking as I mostly stayed in Nat'l Forest campgrounds, which are everywheres, but may mostly be closed for another month or two.

Hey thanks again QinReno.. Follow up question if you dont mind; since Im a bit early for the high country and have a bit of a time constraint in that June is the only month I have to explore Colorado ( this year at least) . What about the eastern route up through Col Springs as an alternative? Any thoughts? Thank you so much in advance.
L

 

[DLTooley]

It's a dry year.

 

[QinReno]

As DLT says, it's apparently a low snowpack year, but still expect to see a lot of snow at higher elevations. I found this website which shows road conditions, and most are open. However, many campgrounds will likely still be closed due to snow. Tomorrow you can look at the live cams and see what things look like. Starting in Colorado Springs, you can do the trip in essentially reverse order to what I said, going through Canon City/Royal Gorge. Try to get down to the Ouray-Silverton-Durango area, if you can swing it, but it's all good in the Colorado mountains. I've always enjoyed the trip between Leadville and San Luis Valley. In Colorado Springs, I see that the cog railway is closed for repairs.

http://www.cotrip.org/map.htm
https://www.pikes-peak.com/pikes-peak-cog-railway-closed/

 

[jimindenver]

We held the Colorado get together in the Rock Creek Road area last year. It's a open area above Jefferson, pretty easy to get to and lots of free camping. Just beyond it are two free campgrounds at Terryall Res. In fact the whole area is riddled with free camping.

 

[[email protected]]

Lars O, I was on a motorcycle ride Friday from Farmington New Mexico up to Teluride Colorado and there was precious little snowpack even at Lizzard Head Pass. The temperatures were in the low 80's and it was beautiful. We saw forest service people preparing three campgrounds for opening in the next week. I should recommend that you come on up. There is a great boondock area about 4 miles south of Rico, Co on the Dolores river. By mid to late June most of the easy to reach spots are taken. Jeff.

 

[LathrenJames]

Hi, Lars. We go to CO, each Summer. We stay in San Isabel. Last year, we also stayed on BLM land for 2 weeks right outside of Buena Vista. Right on the water. So nice. Peaceful even though the place stayed full. Rangers stop by daily to make sure no one is overstaying. Pit toilets but a laundry/shower in BV and a good supermarket. Salida has good dining and community. Have fun!

 

[mpruet]

Check this out...  BTW - the closer you are to I-25, the harder it is to find boondocking places...


https://www.codot.gov/travel/scenic-byways

 

[DLTooley]

I went up to Lizard Head yesterday too, for a late afternoon hike. There are a few patches of snow left in the woods, but the meadows are more or less as they'd be during the Monsoon. The area is suffering from use, the Forest Service has started to work on it and some of the spots are closed. I believe the plan is to make it designated dispersed. That is the plan for Alta Lakes this summer, which needs it. Alta is still closed.

There was no one camped at Lizard Head that I saw.

There is another dispersed spot looking likely to open, per my suggestion last fall. No date yet, but it will be choice - and fair chance this will be the only free summer for it.

There will be fire restrictions in Southern Colorado very soon. Stoves only, maybe grills in campgrounds.

 

[kayman]

Sopris Park @ Carbondale, CO

Very RV friendly. There are three parked around the park as I write this message. One of them has been there for about 3 months.

 

[Moxadox]

To find those free campsites, go to freecampsites.net and UC Public CG app. The former is crowd sourced, the latter is an excellent commercial app. I've been boondocking for three years using mostly these two apps. Take the advice of the CO native and input the places they've suggested into the apps to locate specific campsites. Take those into Google Earth, and you will see exactly where you're camping!

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