Deadman Road - Dispersed Site

Like with all good camping spots, ya gotta get there early. The good news is that even on a busy weekend, there's bound to be a spot SOMEWHERE off Deadman Road, even if it's not the best of the best, bc there are so many options. They all offer a form of privacy, but the variety of what's available here is what makes it so special... Boulders/rocks? check. Views? check. Trees? check. Water/stream? check. We've been up there 4 times, and each time offered something different than the last. 

It's conveniently located near Red Feather, so if you need to fill up some water or grab a few things from the store, it's not too far of a drive. 

Visiting Dowdy Lake was the highlight... We were lucky enough to find our own "private" beach where we got to swim and cool off during the most beautiful sunny day, and then head back to our campsite to enjoy the Milky Way Movie next to our campfire. 

Heaven, and worth the drive.

Campground is about an hour from Fort Collins. We got there late on a Friday night and there were plenty of spots open. The site was exposed so we set up behind the trees on the right side. Gave some protection from wind but not much. Sunset was amazing, but the real show happened when the stars came out. I think it was the most stars I've ever seen. I definitely would camp here again for a quick weekend getaway.

I loved this site, but it is very far out of the way if you are planning to go to RMNP or Estes Park. We went up a very washed out hill to get to our spot (in a Subaru Outback), which we realized later that there were much more accessible spots farther down the road up an easier hill.

We saw one RV in a large site on the main road, but the better spots are up the hill where an RV wouldn’t be able to reach. Definitely search for a good site, because there are lots if you explore the different roads.

We visited in May and only saw the one other RV. The site we stayed at had a fire pit made of stones, but none of the other sites we saw had any designated fire pits.