Best Dispersed Camping near Centennial, CO

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Centennial

483 Reviews of 78 Centennial Campgrounds

• a

  andrew G.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 10, 2024

  Dispersed Camping - Pike National Forest Divide

  Fun in the snow

  There were a lot of options for us to pull off and camp. We had gone the day after a snow storm and the road was decent. I guess snow plows go through often since there’s nearby residential. Each campsite was decently spaced and far enough from the road so that you can U turn it and it doesn’t feel like you’re just pulling off to the side (accommodated out RTT nicely) There were great views and the pups enjoyed it.

• 

  Landon C.

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 19, 2024

  Bailey Area Dispersed

  Difficult road to get to but beautiful views

  The road here has some gnarly washboards. I had to slow down to a crawl at points because it was thrashing my rig around so much. There is also one turn on the road where if you’re not careful, I could imagine getting stuck. However, the views are incredible and it was well worth the effort. Cell signal from Verizon is extremely good, I am getting 5G UWB and download speeds of 180mbps. There’s some cool hills to climb and many great views.

• A

  A A Ron J.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 16, 2024

  Gordon Gulch Dispersed Area

  Trash+long term campers

  The place fills up on the weekend. I drove through most of the trail system and did not find a spot. Came back during the week and took a closer spot so as not to risk it. Trash is everywhere. Multiple poop spots are within 100ft of the fire pit with copious amounts of used tp lying around. Trees are slashed, cut, and the forest is not doing well. There are multiple long term campsites here so watch out for squatters. I stayed near the start and then a bit deeper, which prompted me to take photos. I forget the site numbers but honestly it’s not looking good in most places. At the very back are what look like a few nicer spots because they are hard to get to with a non off-road vehicle. It breaks my heart how this campground exists.

• A

  A A Ron J.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 16, 2024

  West Magnolia Campground

  ‘Long term’ campsites&trash

  Couldn’t find any spots over the weekend. Drove through the whole campground. There is an absurd amount of trash everywhere, especially at closer campsites. There are multiple ‘long term’ campsites by the looks of the trash, gear, and supplies left out. The forest is not in good shape either.

  Came back mid week and stayed at site #4 because it was close and I did not want to roll the dice on not securing a spot again.

  Keeping it brief: -I thought someone had been through my campsite when I was sleeping due to things moved -I might have met the squatter at the site. Couldn’t be sure, but determined there were red flags after talking to the guy and did not want to stick around to find out -so much trash it breaks my heart

  The county needs to do something about this campsite and the similar one North of Ned.

• 

  Lori L.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 13, 2024

  West Magnolia Campground

  Fall camping

  Great location with single tracks for hiking and mountain biking. Camping spots are well-marked. WiFi was decent. The sad part was the trash left behind from former encampments in some of the camping spots.

• 

  Andria R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 12, 2024

  Dispersed Camp Near Dream Canyon

  Sketchy

  Two beat up, broken down cars at the entrance. Road is very rough, full of potholes from the start. Did not feel comfortable staying here.

• 

  Andria R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 12, 2024

  Dream Canyon Campsites - Dispersed Camping

  4x4 and tents only

  Beautiful, but really need a compact 4x4 to get into and out of parking lot and there are tent sites only. We almost didn’t make it out with our 24 ft van (checked it out but didn’t stay overnight). Very crowded on a Saturday at 4:30pm.

• J

  Jason R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 12, 2024

  Forsythe Canyon Trailhead Forest Service Road 357 Dispersed — Golden Gate Canyon

  Not free, golden gate canyon SP

  Idk who did this but luckily there is service but anything nearby is outta the way. Says need permit online access filled it all out $10 plus camping. Dispersed without wheels requires a $4 fee too

• 

  Courtney D.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 11, 2024

  Bruno Gulch Dispersed

  Loved it!

  Not super busy! Lots of open spaces when we arrived around 6pm.

• 

  Savannah B.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 7, 2024

  Fall River Reservoir Dispersed Camping Trail

  Perfect for a quick overnight trip

  My husband bought a new tent so we just wanted to find something kinda close to Denver but still beautiful for just a quick overnight trip. Our goal was Chinns lake but stupid Apple Maps took us here instead. It was still beautiful and there were a handful of spots still open for us. I wouldn’t recommend for a big group unless you get there early and claim the whole top but we really enjoyed it! The lake was low but still beautiful.

• c

  clinton H.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 3, 2024

  Pull off with fire ring - Dispersed Site

  Great spot, minus the “no camping” signs

  We camped here after a Red Rocks show. The spot is a great area. About 20 minutes off of I-70. There are many pull offs along this road that could theoretically be good camp sites. However there are “no camping” signs, which is why I gave it 3 stars. Everything is great besides that: beautiful stars, good tent site, safe parking area.

  The spot we chose is a bit farther down the road than the one listed here. It’s in between the bend in the road. We parked at the pull off and walked down a small hill to find a good tent site and a fire ring.

  Also be aware it’s pretty chilly compared to just a few miles up the road. It was in the mid 30s at night.

• S

  Sawyer S.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 30, 2024

  Dream Canyon Campsites - Dispersed Camping

  Super sick spot

  We camped a very short walk from the parking lot. Amazing camp site with not many people around.

• 

  Drew M.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 30, 2024

  Dispersed Camping Black Hawk

  Great Spot

  Wish I had more time to spend at this spot! The views are amazing! The road up was designed for more of an off-road rig. Fire ban was in effect. Just like the rest.. you will here atvs all night ripping trails in the distance. And the trains !! Still a great area!!

• T

  Tristan S.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 29, 2024

  Gross Reservoir Dispersed

  Great Spot, Bright Construction Lights

  Overall a very fun spot if you have a vehicle with some ground clearance to get to the nice sites by the reservoir. My Peak Edition Atlas handled it well. Only complaint is the damn project at Gross reservoir is a 24 hour site and the lights are ridiculously bright.

• L

  LW P.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 28, 2024

  West Magnolia Campground

  Good potential, poor experience

  I have lived in the Boulder/Nederland area for over 30 years and have always enjoyed this part of the state. The West Magnolia area has great potential for dispersed camping. My wife and I tried to camp here this past week after not having camped at this location for many years. As others noted, it could make for a convenient base camp for tons of activities in the area. 

  Unfortunately, we were unable to find any usable campsite. All sites were occupied, even during the middle of the week. Many of those sites were occupied by long term campers as made clear by the multiple tents and bags of trash piled up. A couple primo sites had been abandoned by long term campers who left their trash, broken tents and chairs, food containers and other refuse in the campsites. It was really creepy coming upon these sites. Sadly, West Magnolia has become an extreme heavy use/abuse area. As someone who has spent years in the outdoors for days and weeks at a time, I would even question the health and safety of staying in some of these heavily used sites due to obvious lack of care and stewardship (think human waste close to camp). If you decide to camp here, and can find a suitable site, please be mindful of keeping yourself and gear away from potential health hazards.

  West Magnolia is still a nice place to hike and bike, but I cannot recommend it for overnight camping.

• 

  Hanna K.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 27, 2024

  Ceran St. Vrain Trail Dispersed Camping

  Quiet with a lot of options

  We parked in the parking lot and walked into the valley. After a while we found quite a lot of options with fireplaces already there. So you should mostly find something.

  It is quiet, but also a popular spot for hikers so early in the morning, some people arrived. But you can camp far enough in the valley and away from the trail. Water is available if you have a purifier or filter system.

• 

  Bryce B.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 26, 2024

  Rampart Range Road - Dispersed Camping

  Great site

  Pretty great dispersed site. Beautiful sun sets. I had great phone service. There are three campsites running along three different fingers. The second one has a portable bathroom. I talked to some locals who said grabbing deadfall was fine for fire wood. Quick 20 minute drive to get back into town for supplies. No water sources so you’ll have to pack out water. All the fire pits are hand build and being on the finger you’re pretty exposed to the wind keeping the fires small and not very hot. Most of the sites are not flat. If you enjoy camping with little amenities you’ll like this site 

• L

  Linnell W.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 23, 2024

  Dispersed Camping - Pike National Forest Divide

  Beautiful Spots

  Wanted to stay for two nights but only did two days, because a mountain lion tore a deer to shreds about a day or two prior to my arrival by my campsite and i was spooked. Had two dogs but had an eerie feeling and left early but it was gorgeous. Loads of OHVs tho

• 

  Justin R.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 23, 2024

  West Magnolia Campground

  Campsite 21

  Great campsite, enough room for 2 maybe 3 vehicles at campsite 21. Road is not too rough, would recommend 4wd if raining or snowing. There are some deep holes when coming in if raining. We did air down due to the rain and snow while we were there.

• 

  Lily R.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 20, 2024

  Dispersed Camping - Pike National Forest Divide

  Great spots along ATV trail

  Tons of level, large spots. Road is meant for ATV use, and was a fair amount of traffic throughout the day but tolerable. Hardly any at night. Restrooms at base of road. Found our spot 2.5 miles up the road, definitely needed AWD.

• V

  Victoria P.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 19, 2024

  Rampart Range Road - Dispersed Camping

  BEAUTIFUL SPOT

  Loved being here. In the process of getting an apartment so this spot was perfect for the wait

• T

  Tara D.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 18, 2024

  Gross Reservoir Dispersed

  Road Closed Mid-September

  There is no discernible reason that the road is closed 2 miles before where this app says the site is. Internet search says it should be open til middle of November unless there is some weather or other issue. Lovely weather, locked gate.

• 

  Andrew S.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 18, 2024

  East Portal Distributed Camping Area

  Great views buttttt

  Great views and easy enough to get to with any vehicle. Near some foot trails and some offroading, but there were signs of homeless people that had been there all summer. Trash scattered in areas and some semi permanent camp setups that were kinda trashed. Trains pass at all hours of the day, so be ready for that. Beautiful area, though, and would go back even with the trash. No fires allowed, but definitely signs of fireworks..

• D

  Deitz B.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 11, 2024

  Rampart Range Dispersed Site

  Great Access to Rampart Reservoir

  Handful of spots stretched out along the road. It was hard to find some open space on a Saturday around 3.

• 

  Jason C.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 10, 2024

  Beaver Park Reservoir - Dispersed

  Quiet

  It can get a little windy, don't expect to do anything with the lake other than look at it. Locals are protective of it. Drove my Class C with no problem. A truck and trailer will also get down here with ease. I don't believe a Class A would be able to find anything. But the view is beautiful. There are a few spots coming in. Keep driving until you hit the lake and there is a large open area with several spots to park.

• 

  Sue B.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 8, 2024

  Forest Road 332 Dispersed

  Quiet with lovely views

  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

• 

  Wil L.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 8, 2024

  York Gulch Road

  Great place dark skies lots of space

  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!