Best Dispersed Camping near Nucla, CO

Easy dispersed camping placcess off of hwy 50 between Delta and Grand Junction. BLM land. Several established spots to the right and up the escarpment. A few spots as you head down toward the river.

Man, we love these blm lands in colorado!!

BLM land just outside the south (main) entrance to Black Canyon National Park. Road can be rough, especially slippery mud after rain. Many dispersed sites with cleared space and fire rings along the road, which goes for miles. Reserved campsites within the National Park can be difficult to get ... there's no shortage of sites here, just outside. There's a small store at the junction of the Park access road with US 50, selling firewood, ice, and necessities. Montrose is a short 15 miles away for more substantial needs (gasoline, repairs, shopping).

About a 45 min drive from downtown Moab. Probably want 4WD. Bumpy road and a few tight turns but not too bad. Free camping spots up at the campground were great. We got there at 5 pm and found plenty of good places. Bathrooms available (not bad). Beautiful spot to watch the sun rise over the rim!!!

Reach this BLM dispersed about 9 miles on route 90 from the center of Montrose, good paved until the last mile good graveled.  IMMEDIATELY after hairpin switchback, turn left and you'll find a 2 acre mesa with junipers and views, probably can fit 5 camps in there with elbow room.  I had 2 neighbors.  Shade is limited so it'll be hot in the summer.  Only good legal free camping near town!

Blue lakes is one of the most vibrant colored lakes in Colorado and you can camp right at its shores! This is dispersed/backcountry camping only. Spots can be found right before the lake, look for a clearing and setup. This area can get really busy with day hikers and campers so go early and try for a weekday. We went up there on a weekday and saw about 10 other tents. Camping is free, make sure to pack it out there. 

Great jump off point to hike Mt Sneffles or up to the other lakes. The hike is around 3.2 miles one way but worth every step.

My wife and I camped with another couple bringing a race car trailer and pickup truck and car hauler with our Jeeps onboard. We found this spot here that was amazing. AFTER CLEANING UP A HUGE MESS THAT SOME A HOLE LEFT, we arranged our gear and set up camp. Best time I have ever had camping. We were even greeted with 4" of snow our last day there! Coming from Houston that was cool. There is no water or restroom so be prepared with your own water and port a poty. Maverick gas station down the road GAVE us potable water access and allowed us to throw our trash there. Our port a poty can be dumped in any toilet so...was not bad.  We wheeled the local trails, camped and cooked all our meals, and never had any incident or visit by any sketchy people or authorities. I believe if you are taking care of the area "treading lightly" you will have no problems here. The stars and views are the best you can expect...especially for free camping. Please Please Please leave the site better than you found it unless you want to lose the luxury of this type of dispersed camping.  We will be back as we did not do all the trails yet.

We were passing through town, and and all campgrounds in the area were packed out...on a Thursday. The actual lakes dispersed camping were full too, so we ended up parking on the side of the road going up to the lakes. It was a bit freaky just because it felt so isolating. I’m sure it would be fun if you’re fully prepared for bear prevention and enjoy that kind of isolation.

Lodging isn’t always easy to find in the Telluride area especially if you find yourself passing through as we were but this is an absolutely amazing free camp spot 11 miles out of town. If you want a no frills but off the grid easy in and easy out spot fine for a tent or a trailer this place is an amazing option. Beautiful views at 10k+ feet. Fires are allowed in the fire rings as long as you stay at a previously disturbed spot you are good. There are toilets across the road at the trailhead. The road in is a bit rough but if you’ve got a high clearance vehicle you should be fine. If your pulling a trailer this is perfect. The night views are stellar. Like I said, this is a no frills spot but we loved it. I’ll probably stop here again if I’m in this area and thankful it is available and free. Had a great night here. Check it out

First off, make sure you’re using the GPSing to Blue Lakes Trailhead, Telluride 81435 There are two different trailheads and there is camping at the other one (going through Ouray), but you can find that through the NPS system (Thistledown Campground and Angel Creek Campground).

The true dispersed camping is along the route to the “telluride/ Ridgway” trailhead. You should be entering the forest through route 7. This is an 8-ish mile road from the highway to the forest entrance. The camping spots will not appear until you’re actually across the forest threshold (there is a sign and a cattle guard), with only about 1.5 miles left your gps-ed route. The round is rough and long, but manageable in a 2wd car. (I have a Camry.)

I stayed here the past two nights and was lucky enough to have some campers split their space with me. We were right by the stream, maybe a half mile from the TH itself. It’s shortly after the meadow, on your left as you drive in. Cars definitely came and went throughout the evening, but the sound of the stream drowned them out. The temps are def dropping at night this time of year and it was in the 30s. There was ZERO cell service for Verizon. Would def stay here again - in warmer conditions!

You are also able to hike your gear in and camp at the Lower Blue Lake level itself, if that’s you’re thing!

This site rivals my favorite spot in Big Sur. I chose this campground thanks to the previous reviewers. The spot I chose on the map was already taken when I got there, which was next to the creek. After scouting out a few more sites up the road, I landed on one that was even better than I could have imagined. There was a little brook running through and I had to carry my gear over a log to the actual site (though you could definitely set up camp where I parked) and burning the extra calories was worth it. My backdrop was beautiful and even though it rained the entire time I was there, this is still one of my favorite camping spots I’ve stumbled across here in Colorado. It looks like there were multiple fire rings where I camped so I imagine it gets really busy with hikers once summer is in full swing. Totally perfect for anyone who enjoys truly primitive camping. The road up was muddy and had big divots but I think any vehicle would be fine, as long as you take it slow. No cell signal up here so plan for that. Not that you’ll need it :) Enjoy, guys!

This, like many of the areas around Telluride is dispersed camping. Down a winding path and into the mountains where you will have a view of some of the best vistas Telluride has to offer.

This is a smaller site perfect for tents but it is set apart from some of the other dispersed camping sites I have found in this area in that it has a vault toilet on the grounds. BIG UPGRADE!!

This site is not one of those I would want to find myself adventuring to late fall through early spring, the roads are not great for driving in during that unpredictable time of year and it is to far to hike in from the main road. Not to mention there is a requirement posted on the kiosk of the campground about storing food only in hard sided vehicles, so hiking in would be out of the question.

One of my favorite features of this site itself was that it is completely FREE!! Usually when you find any improvements at all they want to charge a small fee for use, however this site is one of the exceptions I found in this area. For this reason it is a first come first serve campground, but I cannot imagine it being so busy that you couldn’t find a space.

I loved the appearance of this site and how secluded it is. When I look at a campsite I look at it for a number of reasons based on what I enjoy and also what I believe that my blog followers might enjoy. I feel like this hits the nail on the head for me as a person who doesn’t require much in way of amenities but also suits my less adventurous followers in that they world doesn’t have to be their bathroom and they can feel like their are still camping within their comfort.

I also enjoyed that this site is a part of several small trail systems nearby and has a map located as you first enter the site so you can have an idea of the full potential of the area. I found several people were horseback riding in the area, however I never saw where they had parked their trailers so I assume there must be another area that is a bit larger and designed for that.

Parked and camped below the trail head in the dispersed camping there. It was full of shade and a river flowing through it. Will be back.

Off road trail will take you to a campground, but there are many dispersed sites throughout the trail. We found a beautiful small lake on our way up. Some fire rings made out of rocks, but fires were not allowed. Beautiful and quiet, no amenities as usual with dispersed camping. Only complaint was the swarms of mosquitoes. Get here early on weekends, sites fill quickly!

Went dispersed camping for the first time! Location is amazing and very close to the entrance of the black canyon national park.

Whilst setting up our tent we even saw a bear (really close really scary, we slept in the car)

10/10 would recommend

Took the Rav4. Wouldn't recommend the Honda Civic. Better clearance would be good for the upper sites. Lots of rock ring fire pits but not so far apart as you would expect in dispersed camping. Somewhat busy for a Tuesday in October. Vehicles looking for open sites all through the night.

Nice area at the hwy summit. Great views, good solar and StarLink works great. No cell signal up here. Free dispersed, access road is a bit rough and the camping area has been defined (and reduced) by large boulders so folks have to camp closer then they may be used to for dispersed camping. Most spots are out in full sun but one site at top has tree cover. No toilets (except across the hwy at the summit TH parking and also a dumpster at TH!), However there is NO water, but scenery of surrounding peaks is awesome. Some hwy noise but goes away at night. Note the drop off from the hwy to the gravel access road will give some pause but just go slow if you are pulling a TT. Note there are more sites down the FS #626 gravel road around Trout Lake but most are side pull offs close to the road. Once you venture down #626 with a TT you are likely committed to drive the loop all way around Trout Lake to get back to HWY #145.

We camped here in a campervan and it was perfect! We arrived around 7pm and were able to find a place to park, but if you have a larger vehicle or need a spot for a tent, I’d try to arrive a bit earlier. Having the vault toilet is a nice perk for a dispersed camping site, and the views are second to none!

This is some of the greatest dispersed camping that I have ever been to. The sites and nice and spread out and the views are amazing. The drive up to the main summit area is about 45min from the main road. It is some very rough terrain, so don’t plan on taking anything other then a 4x4 vehicle. There are a few spots where you can get Verizon LTE. Overall 10/10

We arrived to this campsite at sunset as the plan was to camp at Porcupine Ridge; however, it was closed. We found this campsite as our back up plan which did not disappoint. It’s somewhat close to the road; however, we only had one vehicle pass by during the night. We chose this campsite due to it being more remote compared to the other busy campsites near the entrance of Sand Flat Recreation. This campsite also offers gorgeous views with never ending large, flat rocks and juniper trees. To get into this campsite we would recommend having high clearance and off roading tires. The campsite was clean and all around a wonderful experience for our first time boondocking in Moab!