Kirby Gulch

Spent 3 nights here for memorial Day weekend. Was able to get up there early enough to get a good spot, but the spots went quickly! Designated dispersed with great views. On the west side of the road they are close to the creek but not protected from wind, on the east side the sites have more protection from wind. Lots of wildlife sightings! The road early on isn't too bad but having a car with some clearance would be helpful, especially the farther up the road you go. Great trip

We got to the start of camp spots early on a Friday and it was already like Disney land. We thought we could drive up a ways to escape people but after and hour of driving there was not a single spot available. This place is pretty but it’s basically a camp ground and sooooo busy.

This campground is beautiful and low traffic during the weeks

We came up the weekend after Labor Day to avoid the massive crowds and it was a success! Definitely a busy dispersed camping road but it’s a great place if you’re okay with people in your line of sight. The beginning of the road is definitely more busy; I recommend driving farther back. Definitely have a truck or suv! We have an Audi wagon and it was quite sketchy in some parts and we only made it 2 miles up the road before deciding to not bottom out lol. We couldn’t leave denver till 5:30pm on Friday and lucked out “sharing” a site with a person sleeping in their car the first night. They were kind enough to offer it when they saw us looking disappointed at our prospects—they earned some good karma! Every site has a fire ring and parking and dogs are permitted. Not many bugs, given that there’s a creek running alongside the road. The spot we stayed at was really exposed (I cannot remember the number for the life of me; maybe around #20??) but actually had a trail across the creek that led to a much more private site back in the trees. So we moved camp for the next night and it was so worth it!! Had great views of the leaves starting to change and even saw 3 moose in the morning! A gem of a spot. Really glad we took a chance based on previous reviews (which are super accurate!).

This was a great campground. No amenities. Plenty of room to spread out on every site. The creek is orange and smells like rust but that is really my only complaint. There is some traffic on the front campsites but it’s not much of an issue with all the room. #27 has to be one of the nicest camps I’ve ever seen.

About 15-20 of us camped at this site (#19) the weekend after the 4th of July, and it was an incredible, mostly private location. The road to other sites is close to the communal camp area only our group used but tons of area for numerous tents and tent sizes beyond this area and away from the road.

Across the road is the creek where the dogs (and humans) lived it up!

We will definitely be back to this spot!

Super bumpy roads - must have an SUV or truck.

As you drive in, you’re met with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. You’ll find that the first few sites are less desirable in that they are close together and lack tree coverage but keep driving and the sites become more private and pushed back from the road. A few sites are a little bit of a hike from the car - but not all are like that.

The river can be heard from almost every site and it was great to fall asleep to.

We went on Memorial Day weekend and were still able to find a site.

We got there around 9am on the Friday before Labor Day and it was already packed. We found two spots available and chose #37. Beautiful views throughout the campground (not from our site) we hiked, the kids played in two different creeks, and we enjoyed having space between ourselves and other campers. Incredible stars, and quick access to the trailhead (which was packed all weekend) Since it was a holiday weekend, cars were constantly driving up the road in search of a site. We even had one night where a group set up camp in a non-site area right beside us and drunkenly sang Queen songs until 4 am but thankfully the ranger kicked them out a few hours later. When we left on Sunday afternoon there were many spots available. Definitely need a vehicle with high clearance since the road is very rocky. There are few places to turn around and if you come on a busier weekend, you may want to grab the first spot you see.

Kirby Gulch is free camping with hiking and creek access. This is a large free camping area with 43 sites.There are multiple styles of sites for camping. 

This campground is just past Burning Bear Campground and before you get to the pass summit. 

There are no bathrooms or picnics tables so please clean up after yourself. When you pull in off the main road, the road turns into a washboard and you drive up into a meadow with multiple sites for RV’s and tents. 

The sites surround the outside of the meadow. As you head into the loop you will get more tree cover and creek access from the sites on the left. The road heads back to open up to a few more secluded spots right on the creek. There are actual camp sites for you to use with semi-established fire rings and flat areas for tents. 

Small pull behind campers fit back here but not large RV’s. There isn’t space to turn around once you get on the road until you get to the end that has a parking area for the trail head. 

This campground was completely full the weekend of Memorial Day but most of the sites were empty during the week days. 

The hiking is great, it heads through treelines and along the creek up to a marshy meadow with beautiful views of snowy mountain peaks.