Are you in need of a campground near Poncha Springs, CO? Poncha Springs is an adventure-filled destination for those who love the outdoorsy camper lifestyle. But it's also great for those who prefer to spend time near the city, exploring and sightseeing. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Poncha Springs and user-submitted reviews.
"If you ever been to any of the BLM camping locations around Salida, Mt. Shavano is not anything different."
"Totally Boondocking, no hookups, but close to town to refill water and such."
"Found an area right off the Colorado Trail trailhead. You don’t really need 4wd, but it is a dirt road and some parts are less smooth than others. Very close drive to the Mt Princeton Hot Springs"
"It is gorgeous and so easy to access. From the 285 going north turn left on County road 270 until it becomes the 272 we went straight to the 274."
"The area is very dry and rocky. The only way in is up the hill on 250. The pavement turns to gravel and becomes very steep and Rocky and rugged with some areas washed out."
"BLM
FREE
Limit: 14 days
The Wildlife Management Area is named after Mt Shavano. A mountain that is considered a must do for mountain climbers. The WMA lies at the base of the mountain."
"Very rough road."
"Tough road that gets progressively technical as you go farther up towards trail head."
"Big wide dispersed camping spaces. Plenty of nice hiking - especially Brown's Creek area. Great location with easy drive to Buena Vista & Salida & Mt. Princeton."
"I pulled in here around 8 PM on a Tuesday and had intentions to stay for multiple nights."
"This spot is one of the best kept secrets for dispersed camping in Colorado. The road has plenty of camping spots all the way up to the lake. Most spots are wooded and offer plenty of shade."
"It’s accessible but still feels a bit wild. Our site is very close to the road so we do encounter ATVs and other folks climbing higher up the mountain."
"There were sites you could pull into off of the road, but we car camped along the side since we were leaving early. Finding a spot can be difficult, but the views and location are nice."
"Awesome group sites and very easy access to lake!"
"A nice BLM area, free dispersed camping. Some loud generators in use when we came here but so much room we could get far enough away to not mind."
"Awesome location, beautiful views of the collegiate peaks and about 20 minutes away from Salida. There are lot of spots in this area (some side roads lead you to 360 views)."
"small sites with firepit and table available no water or toilet. A handful of sites could accommodate our 23' camper trailer. Quiet place. Though by morning most sites were taken."
"Free BLM site."
"There’s two outhouses at the Race Track trailhead."
"Well labeled from Highway 50 just before entering Salida. About or greater than 20 camping spots (but we didn't venture to the last site)."
RangerStunningly beautiful dispersed camping at its best. To find the most precious spot you need to get to Forest service Road 130 S as in South. There is a forest service ranger station on the south side of Leadville where you can get a motor vehicle use map MVUM. But even without a map the roads are marked. 130 starts near Highway 24 on the west side across from massive lakes, near a large bank of mailboxes. You'll see a sign asking you to respect the private property owners rights. Just keep going up the hill and you will find the forest service signage indicating the public lands. Many people don't go much further. But the truly spectacular sites are a couple miles further. The roads are narrow and steep but manageable. Keep going down 130 until you reach an intersection with 130A and 130 B, A goes north and B goes south. But keep going till you reach a T intersection. 160 goes north and 130 S goes south. Go left, south till you reach a slightly challenging switch back. Just on the other side of the switchback is a wide open space with room for many rigs including good size trailers. Very quiet with very little traffic of any kind. The Leadville 100 foot race goes right by every August.
RangerWe camped here for 4 nights in August 2020. It was so peaceful. Big wide dispersed camping spaces. Plenty of nice hiking - especially Brown's Creek area. Great location with easy drive to Buena Vista & Salida & Mt. Princeton. The only drawback was, well, August dryness & no water nearby. This was our first dispersed camping experience and we realize no facilities. There is one bathroom near the Brown's Creek trailhead about 2 miles away from where we camped, but we had a camper. Also, no picnic tables at all. AND cows roam freely throughout the area - drive slowly & respect them - listen for moos & coyote howls. Great bird-watching too. We enjoyed it so much!!
RangerAll the reviews so far seem to be quite correct. Except I did not see any creek. I did not see any lower levels. The area is very dry and rocky. The only way in is up the hill on 250. The pavement turns to gravel and becomes very steep and Rocky and rugged with some areas washed out. There were some big rigs up here but I don't think they'll make this trip very often before they break down. Once you get on top of the plateau there is plenty of room to spread out and the gravel roads are less challenging. Poncha Springs is only 10 minutes away in Salida another 10 minutes. There's a Walmart in Salida which has a very good beverage selection. A BLM ranger did show up to talk to us about the 14 day limit. My friends were over the limit and left a couple days later. The gentleman was very nice and accommodating, he did not want to give any appearance of harassment. But they do check. Even in mid-September it was Sherry warm, up to 90°. There was some smoke on some days from the Forrest tire's. I only got two mosquito bites in two weeks but I must've killed three dozen house flies.
RangerBare bones but beautiful camping opportunity conveniently located near the trailhead to the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area in Colorado
Campground Review:
Needing a spot to serve as a staging area for a planned backpacking trip into the Collegiate Peak Wilderness Area of Colorado, my group discovered this gem. County roads (CR) that access national forests in Colorado often have primitive but established camping spots. Since we were going to start our backpacking trip from the North Cottonwood Trailhead, we searched online to make sure that the access road, CR 365 offered dispersed camping.
After a nice meal in nearby Buena Vista, Co, we headed out on the 7-8 mile drive to the trailhead. Now 7-8 miles on a CR isn’t always the same as a similar distance on a paved road. The first 3 miles on the drive from town center were paved and were navigated quickly and easily. The next few miles were not and driving became more of an adventure and slowed dramatically. While in the end we saw 2 WD vehicles at the trailhead, I would suggest that at a minimum you should have a high clearance FWD vehicle. Our Subaru Outback AWD served us well. The drive took us around 30 minutes.
2 miles away from the trailhead, you pass a Colorado Trail access point with parking and vault toilets. IMPORTANT: there are no toilets past this point on CR 365 and no facilities at the North Cottonwood Trailhead.
We ended up driving all the way up to the trailhead to know what to expect for the next morning when we would start the hike. We then headed back down CR 365 about a mile to some of the more attractive looking camping sites along the road. In all, I would suspect you pass 15-20 opportunities along the road. Some of them are small, single vehicle, single tent areas and others could handle multiple groups.
We ended up finding a pull off point that had a gravel road that accessed several campsites. You are encouraged to find sites that have been used in the past and most will have a fire pit. Always check with the ranger stations to see if fires are allowed in the area at the time.
Since this site had a gravel road that took you 50-100 yards off the CR, you really felt the seclusion. The CR is not heavily traveled (maybe 6 cars used it from 7pm to 6am the next morning while we were there), being off the road really made this a nice site. The sites that are accessed via side gravel roads do have road designations. The one we chose was 365B and was clearly marked with a reflective post sign.
The sites are adorned with pines and aspens. We were also near a stream that provided us beautiful sounds to fall asleep to. Spacing between sites is significant so you do feel remote and won’t hear much if anything from other campers. Our site had a rock fire ring but firewood is scarce so if you want a campfire, you will need to bring some with you. There is no running water at these sites but the stream is flowing and with a filtration system, you can easily fill up. No tables or benches are in the area.
Does a bear … in the woods? Well yes and you will need to as well. This area’s minimum suggested practice was to dig your “cat hole” at least 6 inches deep, 100 feet or more away from water, camping and trail locations. Degradable toilet paper, no wipes, was suggested.
The site was beautiful, primitive, remote, and convenient. Everything we were looking for. We experienced temperatures of 70’s during the day and mid 40’s at night. We did have the typical misty rain in the evening but it didn’t last long and the ground absorbed it well. You are at around 9500 feet above sea level so you may feel the effects of the altitude. It served as a great place for this “flatlander” to get acclimated.
Not a site for someone that needs amenities. But if you love the thought of a controlled, primitive site, this will be right up your alley!
Gear Review: Wild Zora Foods
See a quick video summary of the product HERE.
As a Dyrt Ranger gear tester, I often get opportunities to evaluate camping related products during my outdoor adventures. On this outing, I was able to pack a variety of Wild Zora snacks and meals to help fuel this physically demanding trip.
The genesis for Wild Zora began in 2011 with a family that discovered the benefits of Gluten-Free, Paleo, and Primal foods. After developing their own, sharing with friends and family, the founders decided to package and offer their creations to the public. They offer meat and veggie bars, paleo meals to go, soups and teas. All are claimed to be prepared with minimally processed, high quality ingredients. The company states that it is mindful of diet restrictions and allergies.
Testing conditions:
I tested the product over several weeks under somewhat adverse but consistent conditions. The food was used to fuel a physically demanding trip where calorie dense foods were needed. I needed to be able to consume around 4000 calories a day to be able to backpack for miles and to climb 14,000 foot Colorado peaks. Space and weight were taken into consideration as well. We would be preparing the meals at high elevation which would affect how long and effective reconstitution of the dehydrated food would take. During most of the cooking times, temperatures were between 40-60 degrees.
Things that stood out:
· Conveniently packaged. Durable with no excessive packaging.
· Shelf life was way longer than what I needed for this trip so if any was left over, it would keep for my next trip.
· The meals and flavors offered are not limited to your common camping meals offered by others. CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE FLAVORS!
· There is no shortage of flavor in the meals. Nothing bland about them.
· Ingredients are top shelf and the meals and snacks have such a short but impressive ingredient list, you know you are doing your body good.
My preferences for improvement:
· Adjustment needed in how I ate it because of the dimensions of the meal packages. Narrow and tall vs short and wide made me adjust how I consumed the meal.
Summary of experience with Wild Zora:
These meals are POPPING with flavor! Since what we like in our meals is a personal preference, some may not like the strong flavors but I loved them. I am a little adventurous with my food and the flavors in all the meals I tried were distinct and pleasing – think gourmet vs fast food.
The food is packaged with the outdoor enthusiast in mind. Easy to tuck away in my backpack without being a space or weight hog and the snacks were perfect when I went “peakbagging” with a smaller daypack. Calorie dense. I was able to easily take 4 meat/veggie bars with my on mountain climbs and averaged 120 calories a bar. The bars provided satisfying protein and fat calories that complimented my quick carb foods I packed.
Will absolutely be a part of my meals on future adventures. See a quick summary of the product HERE.
TravelerThis is a pretty area and it does have a ton of room, great views, etc. but it wasn't the paradise we expected. We planned to stay several nights but decided to leave after one. First, the road in is extremely rough. You can get to quite a few spots lower down, but if your plan is to go higher up on CR 250 or on to some of the other roads that branch off I'd recommend a 4x4 and high clearance.
We noticed on our way in some folks around a large rig with a huge campfire burning, despite a statewide fire ban and wildfires raging in the San Juans to the south. I believe it was that same crowd who spent the better part of the afternoon firing handguns. Another group farther down on the other side had two barking dogs and they filled in the gaps yelling at each other or the dogs...not sure.
So, relatively easy to get to and close to town means busy. Plus, there's plenty of highway noise during the morning and afternoon commute times. Salida/Poncha Springs is a beautiful area but in my opinion there are better places to camp.
GuideTurn off Hwy 285 at “Mears Junction” and head up Marshall Pass Rd. The first few miles are through private property, but then it opens up into the National Forest, with dispersed campsites interspersed regularly along the roads. There are easy camper friendly spots, and tent spots, as well as some areas where a group could be easily accommodated. The views are fantastic, there are numerous trailheads, and Poncha Creek and other seasonal creeks are running beautifully.
LegendThis site is on Marshall Pass Road off of highway 285. The dispersed sites are near the intersection of Marshall Pass Road and Forest Service Rod 200. This intersection at the base off the access road up to Ohaver Lake Campground. The primitive sites are spread along the creek just off the Forest Service Road. Like many dispersed camps, the sites only have flat cleared areas with fire pits and no other amenities. The area is a great spot for ATV Riders to trailer into area as well as horse trailers to park and access the mountain roads and trails. The location is not the best for scenery and can get busy in the summer especially on weekends since it’s so close to the highway and Salida, Colorado.
GuideIf you ever been to any of the BLM camping locations around Salida, Mt. Shavano is not anything different. Some long dirt roads will lead you to multiple sites, though some of them are closer to people than I would want to be..
There is no water source, no trash, bathrooms, and it would be difficult to get a spot with an RV or trailer at this location. I did have decent cell service (AT&T).
One unfortunate thing I've noticed there was that it could be used as a dumpsite for illegal poachers. I saw numerous locations which had deer bones left but no head, as well as the area where presence of the animals sex was missing. I am debating reporting this to Colorado Parks and Wildlife as well as BLM to investigate.
Overall my stay was pleasant. There was still snow in the forecast at the end of the month of April when I was there. There was quite a few people there for a Tuesday, which was quite odd but I guess it's a popular area. Some of the residents looked more permanent, but I couldn't tell since I was just there for one night.
LegendThis spot is one of the best kept secrets for dispersed camping in Colorado. The road has plenty of camping spots all the way up to the lake. Most spots are wooded and offer plenty of shade. We were lucky enough to end up right along the river. If you keep driving down the road, you will end up at a stunning alpine lake basin that offers plenty of hiking. High clearance vehicle is necessary to get down this road.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Poncha Springs, Colorado, where nature enthusiasts can find serene spots away from the crowds. With stunning mountain views and a variety of outdoor activities, these locations offer the perfect escape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dispersed camping available at Poncha Pass and what are the conditions?
Marshall Pass Dispersed offers excellent dispersed camping options near Poncha Pass. Access is via Marshall Pass Road, turning off Highway 285 at Mears Junction. The first few miles pass through private property before opening into National Forest land with numerous dispersed sites along the roads. The area accommodates both easy camper-friendly spots and tent-only areas. Marshall Pass also features primitive sites along the creek near the intersection of Marshall Pass Road and Forest Service Road 200. Conditions are typical for dispersed camping—no amenities, varying road quality, and a requirement to pack out all trash. High clearance vehicles are recommended for accessing some of the more remote sites.
Where are the best spots for dispersed camping near Poncha Springs, Colorado?
Several excellent dispersed camping options surround Poncha Springs. Mount Shavano Dispersed Camping offers spacious sites with mountain views, though the access road requires high clearance vehicles as it's steep, rocky, and rugged. The area is quite dry with no water sources. Another popular option is Road 240 - Dispersed, considered one of Colorado's best-kept secrets for dispersed camping with numerous sites along the road. Remember that all dispersed camping in this area follows standard protocols: no facilities, pack in/pack out all trash, and stay in established sites. Most areas are accessible from late spring through early fall, weather permitting.
How close is Browns Canyon National Monument to dispersed camping in Poncha Springs?
Browns Canyon National Monument is approximately 20-25 miles northeast of Poncha Springs, making it easily accessible for day trips from nearby dispersed camping areas. Browns Creek (South) Dispersed Camping provides spacious camping with easy access to the monument. Campers report it's peaceful with wide dispersed sites and convenient driving distance to both Browns Canyon and nearby towns of Buena Vista and Salida. Browns Canyon Dispersed offers free camping options even closer to the monument. Most sites in this area are best visited from late spring through early fall, with August being particularly dry. No water sources are available at most sites, so campers should bring all necessary supplies.
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