If you're looking for a place to pitch your tent near Aurora, look no further. The Dyrt helps you find campsites near Aurora with tent camping. You're sure to find the perfect campsite for your Colorado tent camping excursion.
Five miles north of Nederland, National Forest System Road (NFSR) 226, commonly known as Gordon Gulch, turns east off of Colorado Highway 72. NFSR 226 intersects other forest roads: NFSR 314, 228, 233 and their off-shoots. There are 15 numbered, designated campsites scattered along the road system within 1.5 miles east of Highway 72. Camping is permitted in designated sites only. Take care when driving in this area. Snow and mud can persist through most of the year. The free Boulder Ranger District Motor Vehicle Use Map displays National Forest System (NFS) routes open to motorized travel and is available online and at the Boulder Ranger District offfice.
Streams; treat water for drinking.
Camping is allowed at numbered designated campsites. No fee is charged. Practice Leave No Trace Principles.
Camping is limited to 14 days in one location. After 14 days, your camp must be moved at least three miles away.
Maximum stay is 28 days within a 60-day period. After 28 days, all property and people must leave the Roosevelt National Forest.
NOTE: Campers who build any fires face fines up to $5,000 and/or up to six months imprisonment for open fire violations.
Leave No Trace must be observed, as in any outdoor space.
In any season this area is prone to very strong dry winds that can pick up a hot coal from a campfire that has lain dormant for as much as three days and ignite dry vegetation, causing horrific devastation. People from outside Colorado may not understand how tinder dry this area can be. 197 homes in this area have been destroyed by wildfires. All of these fires were started by humans.
Local residents overlook this area and if they see visible flame or smoke they will call the Boulder County sheriff. Any campers who require a campfire are recommended to disperse camp near Sugarloaf Mountain where fires are permitted.
White Ranch Park is one of two Jeffco Open Space parks that allows for permitted camping. Sawmill and Sourdough Springs Campgrounds offer semi-primitive, tent-only, walk-in camping in designated sites is available by online permit. Required camping permits must be obtained at least 24 hours in advance. Permits are $12 per campsite, per night and valid for up to three consecutive nights. Camping is limited to a total of six nights within a 30 day period.
$12 / night
$12 / night
The Dutch Fred Trailhead is located south of Indian Creek / Rampart Range area. The trail enters into a system of 115 miles of motorcycle and ATV trails in the Rampart Range area. In order to use any vehicle on National Forest lands, it must either have a valid state license plate or be registered with the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Program. Contact Colorado State Parks at 303.866.3437 for OHV registration information. Registered OHVs may be subject to fines if used where they are not specifically permitted.
On the west side of South Foxton Road, hiker and equestrian trails allow visitors to climb to scenic overlooks. Mountain bikes are welcome to explore the east side of South Foxton Road and connect to the 10.1-mile North Fork Trail that originates at the parking lot and terminates at the South Platte River, allowing access to the Colorado Trail.
Reynolds Park is one of two Jeffco Open Space parks that allow for permitted camping. Semi-primitive, tent-only, walk-in camping in designated sites is available by online permit.
$12 / night
Stayed the last night with a rental RV that we needed to return to Denver by 10;30 AM. Campground has an unusual lay out with "loops" being 3 rings of sites. Sites are spread out well. Lots of privacy, Within an hour's drive of the RV rental return location (with a Costco on the way to fill the gas tank). Some sites have elec/water/sewer at the sites. Some have just electrical - this was our site. A communal water/sewer was available with ability to handle two vehicles at the same time.
This was a one-night overnight tent spot after a work conference in Golden. Drive to the site was not bad. The roads are a little bumpy to get into the tent-only camping but even my little Chevy did okay. Bathroom facilities are good with coin-operated showers. Relatively quiet but there is quite a bit of road noise from I-70.
If you are used to RV sites or KOA you will be ok with this. On a scale of 1-5 here are my impressions.
Overall esthetic 2. The lake is nice. The rest of the area is well compacted dirt with some scattered trees. City/road noise 2.
Found a nice big spot with sun and shade and a great overlook. Was a touch concerned that it would get ATV trafficy over the weekend as it was at a junction where 3 roads jet off. However upon inspection on mountain bike, they all dead end and aren't very long, so fun for a little bike ride but not much of an ATV or dirt bike adventure.
Being towards the end we saw very few people and it was quite and serene. We did it in our sprinter camper van with 2WD and pickup.
Only issue we had was due to the nature of disbursed camping not the site or area. A car with 3 men showed up Saturday evening. In the morning one of their dogs wandered over to our site (my husband had run into town so I was alone). Owner meandered over and retrieved her, without a word. Later the 3 of them started walking up one of the roads, them one walked across and just with the dog on the rock outcropping technically on our site. He eventually went back to their site. A while later one of the walkers returned and decided to use his metal detector on the road 30 from our site and right behind where I was sitting. There was oddles of space to explore so it was creepy that's he chose to be that close to me. As I got up to walk back to my van, the second dog came running at me barking. The guy eventually called it back and it left me alone, but again not a word.
I LOVE dogs, but I'm not a fan of their humans who don't keep them within their boundaries and let them charge after "the neighbors"
Except for the creepers, it was a wonderful place
Sites weren’t marked like other places I’ve been but I expected it being dispersed. Had a wonderful time the sky was pretty it was secluded and lots of space for dogs to run!
The pulloff is one of many along the road. It's big, gets you quite far back from the road. Very little traffic on the road at night, I didn't notice any. Peaceful area. Not sure you could get a tent set up off of the pavement, but you could set one up on the gravel. I slept in my car.
This campground has everything. Full hook up, shower, restrooms, a great playground and a fantastic river.
Went a little further up to a different pull out (same road, maybe 1/2 mile or less up), which ended up being a little more secluded. No outstanding views but a good spot. No cars at night so it was very quiet. If you keep driving on the same road you’ll find a bunch of pull off spots. No internet but starlink was great.
Please text 603 404 8514 if you find a phone at site 15 !
Great spacious spot with picnic table and walkable to the reservoir
Amazing and wonderful absolutely love the view
Came here with my roommates in July after only dispersed camping earlier in the summer. Nice spot with a metal fire pit (good for stage 1 fire ban), picnic table, and tent pad. Tent pad was big enough to squeeze two 3-person tents and a 6-person tent (barely). Walking distance to vault toilets. Some nice foresty hikes between Aspen Meadows and Reverend's Ridge. We could see some other campsites but didn't feel too squished. There's an actual parking lot but we just parked next to our campsite, off the road enough to let other cars pass by easily.
I’m currently here and it’s pretty great. Nice campgrounds. Not close to anyone. Road up is 2wd. Keep heading up the small road to get to all the secluded camp grounds.
This campground was very nice! The sites are a little close together and it seemed like a lot of families were staying here for the weekend. It’s really close to red rocks Trail, which I highly recommend taking. There’s also a lake about a five minute drive from the campground as well. I showed up to a first come first serve site and had a very restful evening.
Really cool campground! We were able to tube on the river and we were at site five so we had direct access to the river as well. Just as a heads up this is a walk in site, but your cars aren’t parked very far away. And if you have a rooftop tent, you can still use that. Just know that your car will be parked on the road. It’s also $10 extra per night for an additional vehicle past the two vehicle per site limit.
Have to take off 1 star for the freeway noise and the lack of trees. However, the sites are nicely spaced, with many of them facing a few different ponds. The full hook-up sites are much more open than the electric only ones. Also, no showers on the full side, but what looks like a nice building on the electric side. It’s an hour to Estes Park, and it’s nice not to have to drag your rig up the mountain. Plus it’s close to Longmont where we found a couple cute breweries/cideries.
Took a chance on this place for Saturday camping, arrived here around 10am, so many spots! My group of 6 took the second spot on the right, we hiked about a mile to the lake only to discover a whole different area for camping! The lake is private, but pretty cool rock formations that you can climb up. There's fire rings at every site, FYI there were little to know mosquitos at the first couple spots, but got worse as we walked towards the lake. No amenities, no cell service for ATT, Verizon, & T-mobile. Solid spot, close to Boulder!
A lot of camping areas. Some of which could support RVs. There is a container of water that is provided along the entrance Road for drowning fire pits. Verizon signal is very spotty. I was able to find one available spot that had two bars. Great View and great area. Stayed here for 2 days. Some of the further spots might require 4x4 access
Found a great little campsite and had a fox as a neighbor! Only downfall was there was broken glass everywhere 😔
Great spot right outside of boulder, easy to navigate to. No access to the lake which sucks but other than that 10/10.
Gold Lake Road is one of the best spots for dispersed camping in the area. There are a ton of spots on the way to the lake. I've been able to find a spot even on a summer Saturday, which can be hard to do in many of these dispersed camping zones outside of Boulder. Convenient access to RMNP and Indian Peaks Wilderness.
Rolled in around 5 on a Friday and got a great little spot. Clean campsites and there were a number open Saturday morning when we drove to the end of the trail. Drove around the reservoir to kayak from the north end Saturday morning.
Our spot was in Aspen Meadows. The reservation confirmation gave us directions to Reverend's Ridge campground, which is wrong. It also said our site was on Aspen Loop, and there is no Aspen Loop - only Conifer Loop. It's a very poorly marked campground. It's also directly under a flight path. The toilets smelled like ammonia, horribly...but the campsite itself was clean.
Stayed at spot 17, it did thunderstorm so glad our spot was raised and our tent didn’t flood. Clean bathrooms. Quarter showers. Sink outside near bathrooms for patron use. No fire pits tho so bring something to cook on.
I’ve been out here twice now car camping you get the tiniest hit of cell service which has been nice to check in here and there. The first few spots always seem to be taken but sites are spread out enough you’re not really bothered by the other campers
Really pretty spot to sit in nature and decompress road does get a little rough the further back you go but I’ve seen cars go all the way to the back
Stayed two nights in July. Apparently quiet time is just a phrase here — multiple groups around us were loud well past 10pm but nobody came around to check. Bathroom access was an issue in the AM due to only one stall.
Not a lot of shade, ground kinda pebbly. If you’re looking for a quick post up near Denver or Boulder, sure. If you’re looking for peaceful camping, you could do far better. I suppose it’d be different in an RV, but tenting wasn’t good.
Either way, if you stay here, bring good earplugs.
The road is in very poor condition and there were at least 2 large piles of trash.
Very quiet and bathroom and showers were clean
Camping near Aurora, CO, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a family-friendly spot or a peaceful retreat, there are plenty of campgrounds to explore.
Camping near Aurora, CO, has something for everyone, whether you're a family looking for fun or an RVer seeking adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Aurora, CO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Aurora, CO is Gordon Gulch Dispersed Area with a 3.6-star rating from 48 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Aurora, CO?
TheDyrt.com has all 25 tent camping locations near Aurora, CO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
