Dakan Road Camping

So many sites to choose from, over 100. However this is not 100% dispersed. There is a fee when you enter. $20/night for one car and $10/night for additional cars. Someone drives around and makes sure you have paid.

Spent the weekend here in June. Weather was perfect except for a couple 10 min afternoon showers. As soon as you turn off Hwy 67 into the area there is a pay box. The down side is spot 88 is about an hour in along the washboard road, so finding your spot then wasting 2 more hours to go drop your envelope and get back to your site is a pain. There was a guy going from site to site collecting envelops which was convenient. There are a lot of large sites that can accommodate groups. It was a nice quiet area at spot 88 there was some 4 wheelers and dirt bikes riding around but not so bad as it would ruin your time there.

Spent a night

It’s quite an adventure getting up the campsites. But once you arrived and actually also the way it is amazingly beautiful!!

I used the directions from this app and it brought me to a road that said “no national forest access” so I just kept following the main gravel road that had “private property” signs all over the sides. Brought me up to some fee areas and ended up camping near Devils Head TH. Which was still nice!

I had a great time with my pooch at this spot. Great trails around to 4x4.

We stayed at site 93 in late May. The roads were maintained and we didn’t have any issues getting to the site. This site by far had the best views and enough space for multiple cars and tents. The area itself is very busy with off road vehicles, dirt bikes and 4 wheelers. As long as you don’t mind some noise it shouldn’t be much of an issue. It was also a little windy that weekend so we did see some trash flying around from some of the other sites. Otherwise we really enjoyed this site and would definitely come back.

Camped for two nights at site #93 which has the best view of Devils Head which makes for a great sunset.

I had decent cell service with AT&T. Verizon had limited cell signal in the area.

Large campsite area which can fit multiple vehicles. Permanent fire ring. The campsite is just off the road which had a good bit of traffic for “dispersed camping” anything from trucks, sxs’s, and motorcycles could be seen and heard along the road from 8am until 9pm.

The only issue I found is that being so close to civilization/the city is that there was a lack of camp etiquette from neighboring campsites. Loud music could be heard through the woods and wondering campers found their way into our campsite around midnight which was a little awkward due to not making their presence aware until I put a flashlight on their face when they were 10 ft away from one of our tents.

There are some really great campsites with some pretty amazing views here spread along Dakan Rd and the network of roads and spurs in the area. However, it can get very busy and noisy on the weekends in the summer. Very active OHV trails so the dirt bike traffic can ruin your weekend if you were looking for peace and quiet here. I’ve found the ohv traffic is not bad during the week or in late fall when it get colder.

Tough road if wet but in good weather it's a great spot that is really secluded

to get away from the city and hustle of everyday life was my main priority when I choose to explore and camp here. I did not end up staying more than 24 hours. My site was close to the road and there were more dirt bikers than I even knew existed. They were the last thing I heard going to sleep and first thing I heard when I woke up. If you’re into this then this is the place to be! If not then try to get farther up the mountain something I would do in hindsight. I don’t have to camp here again 🤷‍♀️ a bonus was that I saw a turkey 🦃!

All along Dakan Road (also known as Hidden Valley Road), there are dispersed campsites marked by a sign with a tent on it. They are all first come first serve, but offer great solitude in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Dakan Road is mostly known as an Off-Road vehicle Road, so 4x4’s are suggested to get up to the sites. However, a Subaru Forester and similar cars can do it as long as they plan their round around the bigger rocks. All around a great area to camp for free.