Best Equestrian Camping near Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests

This is for "Soap Creek Corral/ Coal Mesa Horse Camp" dispersed camping not the actual Soap Creek Campground. There were spots at the formal campground but they were small, unconcealed, and within close proximity to all other sites. However, there were true dispersed spots near the horse corrals where lots of horse trailers and off roaders park to ride the trails.

Off of HWY 50, we turned on to HWY 92 and then took FR 721 to FR 721 E where we turned and went right down to the proper campground before looping back out. We went out the same way in (FR 721) but split off onto the side road to find the horse corral area. Bear country. Pros/Cons: no mobile service, primitive, right next to a creek, lots of OHVs, milky way visible, mountain views, shade, creek sounds at night.

We decided to try this campground out on a whim, unsure how it would turn out. I’m glad to say it blew our expectations away! The campground was very well kept and quiet which is super hard to find nowadays. Many of the sites are shaded by the trees and the nearby creek provides soothing background noise during nights. Trails near the sites are very accessible. Views are gorgeous.

One warning: the road in gets narrow at times so if you’re bringing an RV or a larger sized car be extra cautious.

This has been our favorite campground in Colorado so far. I give this a 9/10!

We towed a 35 FT 5th wheel heading west on 105 until we discovered the perfect campsite by turning south at the intersection with 108. The road was very rough but doable by moving along very slowly. Our site was hidden by trees off a short dirt drive which wasn’t too bad. There was plenty of space for us to turn around, and a fire pit had been constructed of large rocks (with a resident chipmunk hanging out among them).
We loved being surrounded by tall trees on one side and having a long distance view across the meadow on the other side, watching storm clouds approaching every day. We were far enough from the road that we barely heard any traffic passing. However, the sound of cattle lowing was frequent, and there was evidence of their presence all over the ground! One bull approached and stood there bellowing at the camper before finally moving along, and another morning we looked outside to see several cows munching on the remains of our campfire. Apparently they like to eat ashes and charcoal for the minerals because it happened twice!
We camped there 6 nights and hated to leave. Our only reservations were driving on the long bumpy roads and cattle manure being everywhere. Otherwise, it was the best boondocking place we’ve stayed because of the scenery and remoteness. It was very quiet except for the cattle lowing. We rode our bikes down 108 one day and discovered that it was way too rough to drive with our dually pickup. Another day we rode all the way down 105 and then back on 100 which is Land’s End Road. There are lots more dispersed campsites further down 105, but many have huge potholes turning into them. Some are located next to reservoirs and have lovely views, but we were happy with our site because we didn’t have to drive that far to reach it. If you had a smaller rig, it would be worth trying those places.

Mud springs is a small campground tucked away on top of a national monument. To enter the monument, there is a fee, but if you are going to mud springs you can tell them that and not pay the park entrance fee. It's up on glade park but kind of off the beat and path. The road was wet from recent rain and a small stream flowed down the washboard surface. The park itself is small but nice. Quiet. A bit muddy when it rains. We saw deer in the morning. We had a nice tent pad and firerings. Room for hammocks. It's a good place with pit toilets. But it's quiet. We did have a couple things walk through our site, we weren't sure what they were but it put our dog on high alert. One had a bell so that was strange. The other we aren't sure of but our dog watched as whatever it was walked past the tent. There weren't many people there so it probably wasn't another camper but some sort of critter. There is also a fresh spring that you can collect water from I think. We looked at it but didn't opt to collect any water. Lots of trees though which is nice. It seems to rain in July there, although they go through severe droughts and then all of a sudden, rain for two days. But both times we've gone in July, it has rained.

This is a beautiful campground for those who like quiet and isolation..It is approximately 40 minutes west of Gunnison, CO. There are no reservations and no hook ups. There are vault toilets. What draws us to this campground is the beauty of the surrounding area. Black Canyon is close by for those who like to hike. We enjoy riding our ATV and have found some beautiful trails full of wildflowers and wildlife. It is also close enough to take day visits to Montrose or Crested Butte. Oh, and if you like star gazing this is the perfect place as their is no light pollution.

We arrived at Soap Creek Campground around noon on a Friday in mid-July and found several wonderful sites to choose from. We selected site 8 as it was fairly close to the restroom, had decent shade, and large enough to accommodate our large tent and two vehicles...with room enough to spare to play washers! Vault toilets only, but they were very clean...host normally sells firewood, but they were out, however they did allow us to gather our own. No water at this time as it is spring fed and was low. Mostly surrounded by tent campers, but a few RV's made it down the narrow, windy and bumpy dirt road to the campground...but for the most part they kept their generators off (no electricity at this campground) during quiet hours. We were able to walk to the creek and what a view! Would definitely recommend and can't wait to go back!