Best Dispersed Camping near Rockvale, CO

Backcountry dispersed camping in Great Sand Dunes National Park offers an unforgettable and truly unique wilderness experience. If you’re seeking solitude and raw, untamed landscapes, this is the perfect spot to pitch your tent. With no designated sites, you have the freedom to find your ideal spot beyond the busy dunes and under an expansive star-filled sky.

The journey begins with a hike deep into the park’s rugged terrain, where you’re surrounded by towering sand dunes, alpine forests, and sweeping views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The lack of light pollution makes stargazing an absolute highlight—this is one of the best places to witness the Milky Way.

Keep in mind, this is true backcountry camping: no facilities, no water sources, and you must pack out all waste. Permits are required, so be sure to plan ahead. The environment can be challenging, with extreme temperature swings and strong winds that shift the sand beneath your feet. Good preparation and Leave No Trace practices are a must.

The rewards are well worth the effort. From sunrise hikes to the serene sound of nothing but wind across the dunes, this camping experience immerses you in nature’s raw beauty like few others can. It’s an adventure you’ll carry with you long after you’ve left the dunes behind.

Highly recommend skipping the tent and sleeping under the stars!

Rampart Range Road is the main dirt road that has plenty of smaller trails branching off of it to keep you busy exploring all summer. Rampart Range Road is accessible by 2wd vehicles while some of the smaller trails that branch off of Rampart Range Rd do better with a 4wd with high clearance. The southern portion of the road (south of Devils Head Trail) is open year around while the northern half of the road is closed seasonally during winter. Easily accessible outside of Woodland Park on the south end of the road and west through Sedalia. Lots of dispersed camping sites along the road, some are very large and could easily accommodate a large RV or large groups. Other campsites are tucked away off the road a little which is great because this road can be very busy & dusty in the summer. All in all, this place makes for a fun and easy weekend getaway as long as some ohv traffic doesn’t bother you too much. The best part of Rampart Range Road is the several forest service roads that branch off with dispersed camping. These smaller trails and dispersed camping make for a much more relaxing and peaceful weekend, I highly recommend if you have a 4x4. Find the right forest service road and you’ll feel like you are a million miles from it all.

Tarryall creek dispersed camping. The road in is a bit bumpy. I would not trade in a low clearance vehicle. Four-wheel-drive is needed if it should get wet or slippery. Once you get onto the road, the sites are big and spacious. This is dispersed camping, so there is no water no electric and very little cell service. We have periodic two bars of Verizon. The sites are definitely big enough to accommodate big rigs. You just have to take the road really slowly on the way up. If you carry on all the way up to 10, you get to fenced areas where there is no camping so we took 293 off to the left and immediately after the Turner a couple of sites. We followed it all the way down for a long way. The road is incredibly bumpy and four-wheel-drive is absolutely necessary. Along with high clearance. I would not advise it for big rigs. The Site that we got just on the left after the turn walls reasonably wide. Big enough to get a big rig into. It’s pretty flat too but it’s also very exposed. There’s not a lot of shelter for our tent or our gazebo. The views are OK but nothing spectacular.

CR 290 off Tarryall Rd. Campsites are all designated on 290 but there are numerous firepits on the side roads. The road to get up is very rutted. I recommend a high clearance vehicle. Definitely four wheel drive is required. I did see a Subaru forester up near the top. The sites are wide open once you get onto the plateau at the top. Easily could accommodate a big rig, but the issue would be getting it up the road. The views from the top are really nice. It opens out and you get some spectacular views of Pike National Forest. The sites are spacious with some pine tree coverage for tent campers. This would definitely be a possible back up spot if nothing on Matukat rd was available. Because they are dispersed there is no electrical hook ups or water. There’s no Creek running through the area. I imagine it would be really quiet and remote up here because the road to get in is going to deter a lot of people. We did find some spots with fire pits, but not sure you can camp there given there is no sign post reading designated campsite but they are off the main road so give it a try.

County Road 31 dispersed camping On entering the area, there is immediately a sign that reads that OHV’s are prohibited. At least in this area you know you’re going to get some peace and quiet. The road to get in is mainly washboard. Totally possible even with a low clearance 2 Wheel Dr. vehicle. The sights designated only. Once you get past the information board you’ll see turn off‘s on the left and right wave Campers and fire pits. If you continue down County Road 31 spectacular. The biggest issue I can see again is a lack of firewood. There appears to be no downed trees or burned trees in the area. You need to bring in your own. There’s also no water source in this area so come well prepared. Since this is dispersed camping, there is no reservation or electric hook ups or sewer hook ups. These sites are plenty big enough for big rigs, and most of them appear to be pull through sites. Tent campers the sites do appear to be a little bit too exposed. There are sites with better tree coverage for tent campers when you go further into the back areas of some of the side roads the downside is you lose the views of the surrounding mountains. If you keep going further back, CR 31 connects to 896, and there are sites way back there that give you the impression that you’re just even further removed from everybody else. There are so many sites in this area. This could be a good back up spot for Matukat Road if it’s not available. There is a site on 896 right before the no camping sign, which is designated as a campsite, and it has some tree coverage, and all the mountain views. 896 is a very tough road requiring high clearance and four-wheel-drive. Numerous places have deep holes and you need to take it very slow.

Medano Pass is the route it's believed that Pike took into the San Luis Valley, and is one of the only primitive roads accessing the valley. The road starts in the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and runs over the mountain and exits on RT 69, or if you want an easy up and hard way down the mountain start off RT 69 and go to the dunes. From 69 to the top of the pass takes about an hour, and you only need high clearance 4 wheel drive for the last two miles of the 12 mile journey to the top. That's not the route we took.

We started at Point of No Return in the Great Sand Dunes National Park, don't worry there are plenty of places to turn back if you get nervous. There's DEEP sand throughout the first six miles, I aired down to 50 from 65, LOL. I figured I'd make it on 35's 12.5" wide, but I can definitely see where as the Sand ets softer I would have gone down to the recommended 20psi. If your going over the mountain have an air compressor to fill your tires when you get to the rocks. There's air at the ampitheater parking lot at the National Park, but no air on RT 69 until you get to a gas station at least twenty miles away.

We made it no issues, buy squeezing a super crew cab, F 250 through was TIGHT! It was FUN though, and my God the place is breathtaking!

Campsites start about five miles in and are spread all the way to the top of Medano Pass. This is National Preserve land, and it is primitive camping. There are fire pits and bear boxes, use the bear boxes as bear encounters are frequent. The sites are clearly marked, and nice size. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TAKE A TRAILER, if you do you won't make it, I promise you that.

The Park, Preserve, and Forrest boundaries are clearly marked. To camp along the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Preserve area of the road you must have a permit, free at the visitor center. I suggest reservations. After the Preserve it is a National Forrest and its first come first serve primitive camping only. You can stay for up to 14 days, as with most National land.

The 12 mile trip up from the Park takes about 4 hours, yes it's that rough. AND you will stop alot to take in the amazing views.

Even if you don't camp, take the drive, it's worth it. You will need high clearance 4 wheel drive, all wheel drive will not cut it here.