Chinns Lake Dispersed Camping

Woke up on the first morning pretty much alone on a Tuesday after Labor Day, fishing happens but the lake remains nice and quiet. Night two had snow and woke up to some white caps. Will be back for sure!

There were so many spots to find along the road. The road to the reservoir was closed, but we had no issues walking up to check it out. The water coming from the overflow was roaring and gorgeous.

Rough roads if you choose to go off of rainbow road. Lots of mosquitos by the creek, so bring your bug spray.

Attempted to get up there but was WAY to bad, we got on rainbow road and got past some patches of deep snow, but soon turned around in attempt to not get stuck I have a RAV4 All wheel drive. We got stuck coming back and waited 4 hours for a tow truck…. $500…. Not worth it. don’t try unless you’re sure you can get up there!

We made it all the way up to Jeep Road but as soon we kept left to take Jeep road to the lake, our off road 4Runner could not make it due to large ditches in the road (we are also inexperienced with off-roading but the road was no joke once we kept left for Jeep rd). Prior to that a 4x4 would still be required for the VERY rocky road. A Jeep would’ve made it just fine on Jeep rd, we felt like we would’ve immediately bottomed out. Our foot plates scraped a few times. We continued on Rainbow road and found some great dispersed sites close to the reservoir.

Overall a great experience. I was a little under prepared for the mosquitoes. This lake is in my top 3 Colorado camping spots.

Loved Chinns lake! Had to do a little 4x4 to get to our spot. Got to hike, fish, paddle board, and just enjoy time away from the city. Its a great place and not a very far drive from Denver.

Still impossible to get to by off-roading. Snow drifts towards the top still too deep for vehicles. You can hike to the lakes still.

The entrance road is a bit rocky and 4x4 would be suggested. Low clearance vehicles won't make it up with bumpers intact. One of the campers in my group has a 2wd Toyota Tacoma with a small lift that made it up without major issues.

The campsite was awesome and very peaceful. It did get pretty windy at night and it also dropped into the upper 30's. I think most of the campsites have rock fire rings in place even though it isn't "fire-friendly". I stayed on a Wednesday night and just about all the campsites were full. 

I have AT&T and had zero cell reception, some of the others had Verizon which had limited cell service.

The road to get here especially once you get to the chinns lake turn off is definitely not by any means easy. Pretty narrow and especially with all the rain there’s quiet a few places that are rough. Definitely doable but just need to go slow. The lakes are gorgeous and there are plenty of spaces to camp. Went 8/4-8/5 and only 1 other campground was filled all night. A lot of people seem to go during the day so it’s definitely very quiet afterwards.

(Camped 09/18-09/20) This was a little tricky to get to but totally worth the trip. Just outside of Idaho Springs, take the exit for Co Rd 275 off of I-70. It's a scenic drive up a curvy paved road for about 15 minutes. Once you get to the "Invincible Lodge" entrance there is a dirt path off to the left. It has a sign at the entrance stating the drive up goes through about 3 miles of private property before reaching the dispersed camping area. It also says the route is for "high clearance vehicles"....and it isn't joking. The first mile isn't too bad...just mostly gravel. The next couple miles though get really rocky with some spots that have large dips and narrow paths. The route is ideal for Jeeps and offroad type vehicles, but it is still manageable in a small SUV or truck. Just have to really know what youre doing. Even in our Silverado, my brother had to drive very slowly and maneuver around large rocks sticking up otherwise we would have bottomed out. It took over an hour to get up to the camping area. There is a split in the road at one point and we continued to the left toward the Chinns Lake Reservoir.

Once finally at the top there were plenty of spots to choose from. Gorgeous views and lots of wooded area around both reservoirs. There is a nice hiking trail that goes up the mountain side between the two reservoirs as well. We got a little lost and ventured off the path to go higher on the rocks, and the view was worth it. Was a little bit of an adventure to find our way back down though.

Since it was mid-Sept it got pretty cold at night. Elevation was around 11,000 ft where we camped. We were in a fire ban as well so that didn't help. Probably got into the high 30s the one night. Beautiful view of the stars though, and plenty of small wildlife to see.

Highly recommend staying in this area!

We drove our BRAND NEW 4x4 Revel and were nervous the entire trip up and back.  We are a high profile vehicle, luckily we had plenty of clearance but it was very nerve wracking both up and back.  It is about 7 miles of dirt road, and 4 miles of very challenging (for me) driving.

Be sure to follow the sign LEFT to Chinns Lake.  When you arrive, there are several dispersed campsites around the lake.  All the spots have beautiful views and tons of space between other campers.  There are firepits (even though CO is on a fire ban) that  will be nice for future visits.  We visited on Sept 17-19, 2020, so the evenings are cold and the days short.  Additionally, the water level was very low.  

The area is nice for hiking and exploring, and especially to get away from it all.  No cell phone service.

As the weekend approached, there were several ATV's heading up for the day.  While we were there, only 3 other groups camping on the weekend.

You will be at 11,000 feet looking at the Continental Divide!  THIS is Colorado camping!  Enjoy and please remember to leave no trace!

Fun and easy 4x4 road up (‘05 Xterra handled it beautifully) with a ton of places to camp along the way and around the lakes. Super busy the Friday to Saturday we went (8/8/2020) but no need to set up camp on top of one another.

Words can’t discribe the beauty of this camp ground!

Went there in June and it was pretty hard to get up there as the road was snow packed almost at the lake so we had to hike the rest of the way. Definitely need a 4x4 as the toad can be very rocky. I was able to drive a Subaru Forester up there but some areas i wish i had driven a slightly higher clearance vehicle. Jeeps/ Toyota’s will have no problem with the road.

tons of pull off sites but close to the road by Saint Mary’s Glacier