I have lived in the Boulder/Nederland area for over 30 years and have always enjoyed this part of the state. The West Magnolia area has great potential for dispersed camping. My wife and I tried to camp here this past week after not having camped at this location for many years. As others noted, it could make for a convenient base camp for tons of activities in the area. 

Unfortunately, we were unable to find any usable campsite. All sites were occupied, even during the middle of the week. Many of those sites were occupied by long term campers as made clear by the multiple tents and bags of trash piled up. A couple primo sites had been abandoned by long term campers who left their trash, broken tents and chairs, food containers and other refuse in the campsites. It was really creepy coming upon these sites. Sadly, West Magnolia has become an extreme heavy use/abuse area. As someone who has spent years in the outdoors for days and weeks at a time, I would even question the health and safety of staying in some of these heavily used sites due to obvious lack of care and stewardship (think human waste close to camp). If you decide to camp here, and can find a suitable site, please be mindful of keeping yourself and gear away from potential health hazards.

West Magnolia is still a nice place to hike and bike, but I cannot recommend it for overnight camping.