Ironton Park, near Ouray, Colorado, is a fantastic location for those seeking a rugged camping experience surrounded by stunning mountain views. This area offers a mix of dispersed camping options, allowing you to find your own slice of nature, whether you prefer a spot right by the creek or a more secluded hideaway among the trees.

Campers appreciate the freedom to build their own campfires and the abundance of natural beauty. Many have noted the convenience of fire rings already in place, making it easy to enjoy evenings under the stars. As one visitor shared, “We came in late and took the first spot on the creek. Beautiful view, right next to the creek.” 

Ironton Park serves as a great base for exploring the nearby ghost towns and off-road trails, perfect for those with 4x4 vehicles. The area is known for its rugged terrain and scenic drives, making it a popular spot for adventurers. Just be prepared for a bit of road noise, especially if you camp close to the trailhead, but most find it manageable.

While amenities are minimal—there's no drinking water or restrooms—this adds to the charm for those looking to disconnect. Just remember to bring your own supplies and firewood. With its breathtaking surroundings and access to outdoor activities, Ironton Park is a memorable spot for your next camping trip.

Ironton Park

Ouray, CO is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Ouray. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Ouray and user-submitted reviews.

Ouray

The Best Camping Near Ouray, Colorado

First off this is a free spot. Basic dispersed camping, no tables or ring rings. There are many spots in the area of Ironton Park, upon turning onto county road 20, you will drive past a few spots once you get into the trees. The roads go in many directions and there are camp spots in every little hole. The spots range in size and privacy but all have rock fire rings already built. Our spots was right in the middle of the two roads. We didn’t see many cars until about 830 am. 

Ironton park is the jump off point for many 4x4 and scenic drives around the silverton/Ouray area and because of that you will see lots of jeeps and atvs in the area The camp spots are 8 miles south of Ouray and 16 miles north of silverton on top of red mountain pass making this a great spot to base camp while exploring these towns. 

Overall this was a great spot to spend the night. It was free, quiet and in a great location. Side note: we heard a pack of coyotes very close by making a lot of noise after dark. It was u unsettling and awesome at the same time. 



Great 4x4 base camp

I stayed at Ironton a week Sept 2019 in a large class A motor home. Nothing here just great dry camping so be prepared. There is lots of room to spread out or if you have a small pop-up or tent, you can find many places to hide away from everyone. I will be staying here every year from now on and using it as a base to ride the trials of the San Juan mountains. Jeeps or ORV are required along with good maps.  If you arrive from the south on highway 550 you will need to enter the parking lot for the Corkscrew jeep trail and turn around (heading back south) as all the entrances into Ironton are a very sharp Right hand switch-back and difficult unless you have less than a 20 foot RV..Google map in Satellite view to see it! The old town site has been preserved and there are many old buildings to the south of the camping area to explore and the old railroad line built by Otto Mears, (the man who built HWY 550, the Million dollar highway), follows the old creek and the road that enters the area. You can find coal and rail road spikes if you look hard enough. No Att cell service and very limited Verizon signal. you might make a call but no internet so bring some books, dvd's or hit the Redbox in town.  Bring your own firewood too. Water is available,,,$$,, in Silverton at the visitor center so fill up before coming.

I love camping here! Exploring the ghost town is a bonus

This is the best accidental campsite we've ever came across - would highly recommend! There are a good number of disbursed sites in the trees at the beginning of this atv trail that are nice enough on their own (just a bit busy), but we elected to drive up the road a bit and see if there would be some options with no one around (Tacoma TRD off-road, 6in lift). Boy did we hit gold! Perfect views over looking the mountains and we only ever even saw 2 ATVs go by on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Then to top it all off, Ironton is a playground. There are ghost towns to explore all over and a ton of off road trails. 

An absolute gem

Wonderful camping area we just happened upon.    Quite a few trucks with ATV trailers parked at the entrance but didn’t hear them at night.   

Roughly 5 pull through RV sites at the beginning of the road.  The further you got the more dispersed and smaller sites got good for our RTT set up.  River runs through part of the area and was really flowing due to recent rains.     We arrived just before dark so didn’t get a chance to explore much.    Very quite campground with dispersed sites nestled between aspens.  

Dispersed camping 

We came in late and took the first spot on the creek. Beautiful view, right next to the creek. I'm sure there are more secluded spots down the trail Rd but this worked for us. There was some mild Rd noise but that's a given as we were right at the trailhead. In the morning they're were quite a few 4x4 coming through but at respectable time. I would stay here again.  

Ironton dispersed camping

This is mostly private mining company property. The area and the creek are highly polluted from mining, the water and rocks in the creek are red for a reason, pollution!  

Horrible place to bring kids, as they will undoubtedly get in the polluted water.

Polluted

Other than the lack of drinking water (for our preference) and road noise (nothing too bad) it’s a good spot. Plenty of space and there are fire rings built. Pretty good jump of spot for Ouray/Silverton. 

Something we wished we had known is that you can cross the bridge, drive past the parking lot, and make the first left to find about 15 spots or you can not cross the bridge, head south onto a dirt road that follows the creek. We did not end up going down this road but there are a bunch of sites that you can see from the highway.

Solid Spot

There are spots by the main creek that runs along the highway and pass the first bit parking lot for the alpine loop. There are two awesome spots if you go left from the parking lot. Once you get to a creek, the spots are right next to it on opposite sides of the road.

Photos of Ironton Park

Real photos from real campers