Best Dispersed Camping near Ault, CO

It was pretty rough driving in, there were so many “private” lands even when you hit the national forest. The dispersed camping we found had 3 sites stacked on top of each other. Went a little further up the road and did find much else except more houses. It’s right next to a hiking trail which is great on cold afternoons. Stars were beautiful too very little light pollution.

The camping spots along Pawnee Butte Trailhead Road are absolutely perfect. They have wonderful views of the grasslands and the buttes. The biggest downside is there are a lot of giant windmills, oil pumps, and fracking operations in the area. Very difficult to ignore them as no matter where you look you’ll see something along the horizon.

In the spot I camped in, I had two bars of Verizon LTE service. But when I drove a half mile down to the trail head I only had 3G. So reception will be spotty.

There are no hook ups of any kind, anywhere. This is truly dispersed camping. The dirt road leading into the area was in fair condition. There were a couple of spots with very deep ruts that made pulling my 22 foot travel trailer slightly challenging. I can’t imagine anybody bringing something like 28 feet or greater into the area.

There were a ton of cows in the area, even walking right up into our campsite. Totally didn’t bother us though, in fact it was kind of fun. They were completely gentle and nonthreatening.

There is minimal hiking in the area. There was one trail that led into the buttes. But between May 1 and June 30 you cannot continue into the buttes. It’s closed to preserve wildlife.

GPS of spot I was in: 40.812312, -103.999513

If I go back, I’ll try a different area.

This area is in National Forest so it is free and there are no “designated” spots but there are lots of spots where people have made fire pits. Beautiful views and you don’t need 4x4.

This dispersed camping out Ski Rd was perfect. We found a spot with several fire rings close to the water and just a short walk from parking along the road. Far enough away from other sites that we couldn't hear or see others, just the occasional car driving by.

This site (and all Rocky Mountain National Park wilderness sites) is reservation only. Reservations can be made by searching "Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Permits" on Recreation.gov. The price per permit is $36. There is no dispersed camping within the park. 

Hard-sided bear canisters are required for storage of food and all other scented items from April 1st-October 31st. 

For more information on wilderness camping in Rocky Mountain National Park visit https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/wilderness-camping.htm

It’s a nice and simple spot to stay at. Plenty of trees for shade. There are 5 spots off of the Main road that I would say a small RV or travel trailer could stay at. The 2023 MVUM shows this place as a go for dispersed camping.

The first site, closest to the road, is pretty level, and lots of open space. The road does have the occasional car.

The other sites off of the main road are easy to get to as well, but not as level, and less room.

There is a turn off of the main road that has a steep drop and climb, and low clearance from trees, maybe 7ft. There are 4 additional fire rings that would make for great tenting spots.

The area as a whole could use some cleaning, there were spots where broken glass could be found in abundance.

This is a beautiful area and well worth the visit. The gravel road in is in very good condition. The drive is totally beautiful especially during the fall. The road is lined with aspens and large boulders and massive rock bluffs. The road leads to several homes and there is quite a bit of traffic. The dispersed camping is a little over 3.4 miles in. If you follow the GPS you will be fine. All sites have rock fire rings and most sites are fairly level. All sites are in the sun which is great for solar. Verizon cell service was a major bonus. We did have several herd of cattle that would visit but the only downside were the gifts they would leave us. Just watch your step. There is a small stream that runs along the back side of the sites. Most sites were on the right side of the road. Be aware there is a lot of private property. Be courteous. Stay off. At the highway is is a post office and small grocery store and a hardware store. 

LNT

 Pack it in Pack it out

Stay safe happy travels

This is one of my boyfriend and I’s favorite places to camp. You have to park in the lot and then walk down the hiking trail to get to the camping spots. The camp spots are pretty spread apart. They are set up along the river with fire pits and plenty of trees around. The only thing that im not to fond of is the first few camping spots on the trail or so close to the trail that in the eary morning when hikers start coming in it can get pretty loud and had woke me up. Other then that I love it here!

I absolutely love this campground! This camping is spread along a hiking trail that follows the St. Vrain river. in order to get to the camp spots you have to park in the parking lot and then walk over a bridge and about a .25 mile down the trail until you hit the first camping spot. There are about 10-12 tent spots here. They are spread out pretty well to where there is a good amount of privacy between camps but in the morning the hikers start to come through. Tons of trees here andonhe river is absolutely breath taking.

This campground is awesome if you're not trying to go to far. I went on Memorial Day weekend so there were a lot of people so I'm not sure how crowded it would normally be. Eventhough there were a lot of people, you feel pretty isolated in your campsite and would see hardly anyone at night. We camped on a pseudo island between the two streams and the running water helped drown out any noise too.

A short hike downhill to many dispersed campsites along the creek. Beautiful and easy! A must-see.

Multiple dispersed campsites approaching the Pawnee Buttes trailhead from the west and southwest. I camped (rooftop tent) on the bluff overlooking the trailhead parking lot, approached from the south. Chilly at night (10 degrees) but no wind.

Spectacular view of the Pawnee Buttes to the east. Perfect spot to catch sunrise and sunset. This area is also a “dark site,” so on clear, moonless nights the stars / Milky Way are phenomenal.

During winter snow often drifts onto the roads. If snowy, 4-wheel drive / high clearance helpful for accessing some of the dispersed sites.

Trailhead restrooms are open year-round.

Consistent 3 bars 5G (AT&T). 200 Mbps down / 16 Mbps up.

We did not find a campsite right on the pin we drove up a little ways and came to a couple different dispersed spots. When you hit a Y in the road head left you will come across a couple fire pits. Great camping for dirt bikes, four wheelers and toys. We were right next to private property but the only ones out here.

It's a decent camp spot. We went on memorial weekend and we were able to find a spot. His Subaru outback made it and we saw sedans get up there just fine.

Cows do use the area and may wander into your site. Cactus are a thing and it can get really windy. Our tent was staked down and we angled it so the side wasn't collapsing on us. Cooking during the wind was nearly impossible but doable with some engineering.

Neighbors were quiet and the terrain made it so that we didn't see who camped in the next spots nearest us.

It's decent if you want to get away for a day or two, wander around at your leisure, and read.

Pit toilet available at the Buttes trailhead.

Verizon service is spotty but I was still able to use maps.

We were coming from Nebraska and heading West in a Ford F-150 pick up truck pulling a 22 foot travel trailer. We stopped in Sterling, CO to fill up gas. If you are taking road 14, just know that it is at least 60 miles before the next gas station, so plan accordingly. We left Sterling heading west on highway 14, until we got to county road 129 where the pavement ends and we headed north into the grasslands. We simply followed the Google maps directions to get all the way to the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead parking lot from there! It was pretty easy, honestly! The roads are all gravel, so just take your time. They were pretty well maintained, due to the industry traffic that goes through there. We came across a couple of eighteen wheelers. The gravel was pretty compacted and seemed pretty safe. There are several areas to pull off, and if you are pulling a trailer, or you have a big rig, there is a loop parking lot at the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead that you can turn around in if you need to. The picture of me and the dog is standing on County Road 110 just before you get to the parking lot for the trail head. Our camping spot was one of many flat areas off of road 110 that you can pull off on, as long as it is 300 feet or less from the edge of the road. Our spot was before you get to the trail head, but if you pass the parking lot and keep going up the hill on Pawnee Buttes Trailhead Road, there are tons more spots to camp up on the ridge about a quarter mile or so. There are a lot of cows, but they are shy, curious animals. We had our pit bull with us, and we didn’t feel threatened. Just make sure that if you go through any gates while wandering the grasslands, you shut them behind you. There are no garbage facilities, so please LEAVE NO TRACE! There are some vault toilets in the parking lot.

We stayed here for two nights and it was a beautiful camp spot. There were at least 5 or 6 good spots that we saw but there were probably more if we looked harder. We arrived on a Monday around 4pm and most of the spots were open, but it seemed like several others arrived at the same time as us and we actually snagged our spot right before someone pulled into it. The spot we picked was super far away from people, we couldn’t see anyone and only heard a bit of noise from some louder neighbors on the second night. The road was very manageable in a small Kia forte with only 2WD. There was sooooo much to explore on the mountain behind us, we even found a walk-in spot higher up on the mountain but it would have been quite the hike involving crossing a river to get our stuff up there. There was also tons of dry wood laying around. A tiny bit of trash near the fire pit but it wasn’t too bad. Prepare for bugs (some big weird ones). Beautiful views, it was pretty hot during the day and cold at night but nothing too extreme (this is at the end of May). There’s also a general store about 15 minutes down the road that has lots of food and random things you might have forgotten. Would totally come here again!