McCullough Gulch Designated Dispersed Camping

My partner and I hiked the McCullough Gulch Waterfall trail and camped at this campground. Couldn’t have been a better location for the hike! No problem getting a site and the roads were fine to get to with our non-4wd rental car. There were a few sites (I’m assuming the ones with the valley view that we couldn’t access in our car though). Highly recommend overall though!

As the other reviews describe, it’s a groomed dirt road entrance near the parking lot for the Mount Quandary trail. Most sites would be tricky with a trailer because of the lack of turn around space (sites 6 & 7 would work for this).

We took the road to its end, which is where you’ll find spots 9 & 10. These spots share a small parking area and turn around. The road to sites 8-10 gets tricky in a few spaces but we were able to make it up and down with an AWD SUV. Great views!

Still closed for the season

Stayed in I believe spot 5 down a narrow one way forest road from the spot 4 turn off. Didn't see another person on a Wednesday night. Very peaceful and plenty of spots to choose from. Road was rocky but not that rough, easy to handle in a Crosstrek so 4x4 and high clearance vehicles should be fine. Very narrow with branches on both sides so beware of that if you have a wide vehicle. I would recommend a 4x4 or offroad vechicle for most of the pull off roads in the area. Campsites have signs designating them and fire rings. Look for signs and pull offs from the main road. Highly recommend. Temps were high 70s in the evenings and low 40s at night in mid July so prepare with layers.

Pulling 15' teardrop trailer with AWD SUV. Access road is up the groomed gravel road to McCullough Gulch Trailhead. Road has gate, but it is not closed at night. No parking along road. Campsites are clearly marked 1-6, but there may be others. 

Campsite 1: We stayed here. Campsite road is a rough rock road about 100m long. A 2WD car might manage it, but 4WD is better. A large RV or trailer might be able to just pull in to an area straight down road, but it would be facing the wrong direction and backing out would be challenging. The main camping area is a 90 degree turn to the right. Very nice wooded area that even 2 smaller trailers could camp in. Lots of nice places for tents. Might be a good group camping area. My photos only show part of the camping area. 

Campsite 2: Great pull-in for a 2WD/AWD car with a tent. Parking area on a hill, so not so good for a trailer or RV. Cleared tent area looked nice. 

Campsite 3: Long, very rough road with several places to camp along it. Almost impossible for an RV or trailer to turn around on. 

Campsite 4: Road looked to steep for my AWD SUV to attempt. 

Campsite 5: I can't remember the site, but I do know that this site was our second choice of the six we looked at. 

Campsite 6: Nice site, but I can't remember it much. 

Hiking the McCullough Gulch Trail. If you hike, this trail is a little challenging, but amazing. Beautiful waterfall and mountain lake are worth it. Leave car at campsite, since parking is not allowed at trailhead. Start walking toward trailhead, and the shuttle bus will pick you up along the road and take you back afterward.

Fires: Check Summit County website before lighting a fire.  When dry, fires are restricted and carry a hefty fine.