Jump to content

Colorado Boondocking-Free BLM and State Campsites


Born2Explore

Recommended Posts

Wanted to share a few boondocking spots my wife and I used earlier this year! You could find a site at both of these places for a tent or even a medium sized rig. We do not like being crowded, and we normally keep to ourselves so these sites were perfect for that! 

The above is an awesome BLM spot just across from Mesa Verde National Park in Mancos, CO. The park itself does have a developed campground that you can pay to stay at, but when we went in March it was closed (i am pretty sure). This spot is across from the park and is primitive. It was perfect for us since we wanted to spend a few hours at the park, then sleep, then drive to the Four Corners monument (just an hour away). [Coordinates of Campsite... 37.359890, -108.427740]

The next free site is within Royal Gorge State Park in Canyon City, CO. This one is a little more developed but is actually a little further off of the beaten path. You are about 5-10 minutes from the Royal Gorge suspension bridge, which is something we enjoyed going to check out! It was a little pricey, but worth going once to walk out on it! You are allowed to camp here for up to 3 days. [Coordinates of Campsite... 38.464011, -105.292609]

The wife and I made a video going into more detail on these two campsites and give detail on how we found them. If you're interested in learning more, check it out.
https://youtu.be/naSdvMZquAY

We will DEFINITELY be staying again at both of these sites in the future!

 
Class B - 2004 Extended GMC Savana G3500 w/ Hi-top
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Al F said:

Good info and very nice video.

By the way, both campsites are listed in the Days End Directory.  The Royal Gorge is listed at Canon City, CO and the Mesa Verde one is listed at Cortez, CO

Thanks for the link! Hopefully the video/description is able to help some people as well!

 
Class B - 2004 Extended GMC Savana G3500 w/ Hi-top
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

check out the san luis wildlife area north of alamosa,co. not true boondocking. free camping, free 50 amp service, covered picnic tables, fire rings, vault toilets. free dump station, but they have no water on site. about 15 miles west of the great sand dunes national park. we use our senior pass for free entry to dump and refill our fresh water. over 70 well spaced campsites. supposed to be a 14 day limit, but i've seen no one to push this. most rvers i've seen here in 10 days has been 5 others. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/14/2017 at 6:12 PM, hasti14 said:

check out the san luis wildlife area north of alamosa,co. not true boondocking. free camping, free 50 amp service, covered picnic tables, fire rings, vault toilets. free dump station, but they have no water on site. about 15 miles west of the great sand dunes national park. we use our senior pass for free entry to dump and refill our fresh water. over 70 well spaced campsites. supposed to be a 14 day limit, but i've seen no one to push this. most rvers i've seen here in 10 days has been 5 others. 

Awesome looking spot! Just pulled up some pictures and reviews. Thank you! I will definitely be checking it out!

 
Class B - 2004 Extended GMC Savana G3500 w/ Hi-top
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, hasti14 said:

working on our 3rd week here. still not much rv traffic. great spot for stargazing. no traffic noise. will stay for a bit as we don't want to head to rio grande valley too soon.

RGV stays pretty warm until December.  If you haven't been to Big Bend NP.  November up until Thanksgiving Week is a great place to spend about 3 weeks. It can be a little warm, upper 80's and some low 90's some days, but it is dry and cools down at night. Not many people until T'giving week.  Many schools in Texas are off for the week and come to BB.

If your RV is under about 26' stay in the Chisos Mountain CG, if over 26' stay at (RGV Rio Grande Valley), the NP operated CG, dry camping only.

Al & Sharon
2006 Winnebago Journey 36G 
2020 Chevy Colorado Toad
San Antonio, TX

http://downtheroadaroundthebend.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for info for big bend. we'll probably meander towards faywood hot springs,n.m. north of deming. they are a passport america park. stayed there for a week last spring. nice out of the way park,hot springs,etc. might pass up on bb. 33 footer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 10/4/2017 at 5:43 AM, Born2Explore said:

The above is an awesome BLM spot just across from Mesa Verde National Park in Mancos, CO. The park itself does have a developed campground that you can pay to stay at, but when we went in March it was closed (i am pretty sure). This spot is across from the park and is primitive. It was perfect for us since we wanted to spend a few hours at the park, then sleep, then drive to the Four Corners monument (just an hour away). [Coordinates of Campsite... 37.359890, -108.427740]

We too camped at that Mesa Verde site in early September -- we found it via Campendium https://www.campendium.com/county-road-34:

20170906_192248a.jpg.dcd2f1d6917d126b165e206a36fcd255.jpg

Without a doubt it beat the cramped campground that we drove through inside of the park! We dragged our travel trailer further up that dead-end road than you drove, so we didn't have the problem you did of having US-50 in our viewscape. However, RV'ers should be aware that the turn-around at the end of this road has a large, fat overhanging branch that prevents you from completing the loop turnaround with any high profile vehicle, and backing up to turn around was a royal PITA even with our relatively small TT, which is just under 26' overall including hitch. For RV'ers, it's therefore probably a good idea to scout ahead for an acceptable open spot before driving in there. Of course, we weren't that smart.

Marc Guido
Cottonwood Heights, UT
YouTube.com/GrandAdventure | GrandAdventure.tv
2016 Evo by Forest River T2050 (26')
2014 Toyota Tundra SR 4x4 Extended Cab long bed 5.7L V8

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...