Great Sand Dunes Dispersed

There’s plenty of spots off the main road, but seems like you need to get there early. We showed up around 6 pm. The road does get pretty rough eventually, and we didn’t trust our minivan going through the “unmaintained” section, we turned around and were able to find a connecting side road that had plenty of open space out there. When entering the road initially, the side road would be about half way up to your left. Pretty close to Great Sand Dunes National Park, so we were happy with this location! Nice mountain view.

Spent one night only on my way home. It was perfect for what I needed. Quiet and peaceful. Wide open spaces. Loads of stars! Very sandy/dusty but not intolerable. Would definitely stay again but probably not for multiple days. Easy drive to Alamosa and the Dunes!

We did not drive up very far because it was getting late. So we did not make it up into the brush, maybe it is better further up. Lots of people, but it was quite People left trash, which we picked up. Lots of bugs on the ground and flying Basically you are camping in an open field. We left the next morning, so it worked for what we needed rolling into town late but I would not choose to stay there.

Enjoyed an evening here. Not much shade, you will be exposed to the sun and any rain. Saw some sedans there but I don't know that I would attempt it. 4WD want necessary but I recommend something with a little clearance.

Beautiful site, there are camp sites along the road listed and a couple of camp sites down dirt roads to the left after you pass the new Heli-Pad. I would recommend only for capable vehicles we made it with a AWD subaru and a 40 year old pop up trailer. Lots of cows and good sunrise and sunset.

37.54219° N, 105.59200° W

There are three dispersed sites listed along this road with the first being flat and open, the second being slightly uphill and fairly open, and the third being higher uphill and far more private. We kept driving until we found a spot that was both uphill and private, which definitely requires a vehicle with some height to it like an SUV rather than a sedan. The road to the third and farthest site became too rocky for some cars and horses to continue on, but my AWD SUV did great.

The camping spots in this site all have fire pits, edible prickly pear cactuses, and some shrubbery and trees for privacy. Verizon and T-Mobile service worked well. When the wind was forecasted to be 7mph with 15mph gusts, it was enough to cancel the noise from a group of campers a few spots down. It’s a generally quiet area, so with the except of that group, you could only notice other campers if they walked, biked, or drove past the spot.

The views were phenomenal, and it was a 30 minute drive to the sand dunes. You could also check out Zapata Falls for the day with a short drive from this campsite.

There are no amenities other than fire pits in designated spots here. There is open BLM land on either side where many RVers chose to park down the hill. You can also split away from the designated spots in the upper rocky area for extra seclusion and privacy, but considering the amount of cactus and tall grass, that may only be good for car camping.

The temperature almost went down to freezing at night in early June, so be prepared with layers for both hot and cold desert conditions.

In our camp spot we saw mountain blue birds, tiger beetles, circus beetles, hover flies, common flies, plateau fence lizards, snake holes, pocket mice, deer droppings, prickly pear cactus (we prepared grilled nopales), and pinyon pine trees.

Gorgeous 360 views and very easy to access and dispersed enough that you aren’t too close to people but there are campers near by

Last second memorial trip weekend… Plenty of open spots, and the further up you go with a 4 x 4 you have a beautiful view of the valley. It seems to be pretty windy but nothing too crazy campfire pits already built in many locations. 

I drove in late last night just for the night, on my way to Denver. It was pretty windy most of the night. I felt comfortable by myself with others around. There are several pull-offa after you see the first one. Fire rings seem to be established already.

Unsuccessful in obtaining a campsite in Great Sand Dunes NP and discovered BLM land south of the park on Hwy 150, turn east between mile marker 3 & 4 at large sign indicating its ok to camp. Road goes a couple of miles for two wheel drive and further for 4WD. Numerous opportunities.