Best Campgrounds near Aurora, CO

*Note: Images DO NOT capture the true beauty of the scenery*

Pros: For a dispersed camping experience that's well maintained, I'd recommend Sugarloaf Road. There are several spots for tent placement, panoramic mountain views, a well put together fire pit that you can actually use, so much free firewood and kindling, shade trees, and the spacing between sites is awesome!  The area is generally quiet despite the occasional vehicle passing by. Something I was happy to have was moderate (2-3 bars) cell (T-Mobile) and WiFi (AT&T) service.

Cons: The bugs are giant.  Ants are the size of crickets and some of them fly, spiders are thriving, flies are flying, and some type of grasshopper or cricket can be heard around the clock.  They didn't disturb my camping experience too much, just a heads up.

The road turns into a rocky challenge pretty quickly.  High clearance would make life easier but I have a low clearance sedan that made it down towards the end of the road. I never went over 3 mph but I made it there and back without damage.

There is a mountain lion in the area and they warn to watch your kids and pets. You'll see the signs when you first enter. This is the first site in CO that I didn't see a "Bear Area" warning which was a nice change.

If you can get a spot, it's worth checking out.

First off the campsite locations for hidden wilderness roadside camp is somewhat misleading. Once you get to where # 1 is marked on the map, there are essentially spots scattered along that road all the way past wilderness camp #3. It’s not just a group of campsites at anyone location. This is one of those places where you kind of think you’re lost the entire time but then every couple minutes you’ll pass another campsite. Now please note well you might pull this off in a 2 Wheel Dr. I would seriously recommend four-wheel-drive. This is a very rocky steep Jeep trail essentially. From the paved road, we slowly drove a solid 30 minutes up this road before we picked a campsite. There are campsites ever so often both on the left and right side of the road that are marked only by a pull off area with a fire pit. If you pick the right spot, there are absolutely beautiful views, and it is very spread out and secluded. It says you need a permit, but we didn’t bother. I would recommend this to anyone who wants an adventure and not just some regular campground. Our campsite didn’t have much even ground, but we strung up hammocks so that wasn’t really an issue. There are no facilities at all to ever so you will need to pack in and pack everything out yourself .

Lots of lovely spots close to Boulder. Most sites have well established firings, which is great. Less crowded than some other spots although we did have an unfortunate group of men a couple sites down that had too much fun in to the wee hours of the morning. Always annoying. The only thing I would caution about this area is The ticks. We brushed about Five off of us just during the visit. Unfortunately we must’ve missed one because my wife ended up with one attached when we got home in her scalp. Just be aware and make sure you’re checking when you get back.