Hermosa Park Road Dispersed

Hermosa Creek Trailhead - Dispersed Camping

## Overview

Cayton Campground is located along the San Juan Skyway (Colorado Highway 145) and the Dolores River. Visitors enjoy the area for its great fishing, hiking and scenic driving opportunities.

## Recreation

The Dolores River is a popular fishing destination that can often be crowded on summer weekends. Anglers will find rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout.  
  
The area boasts some excellent trails. The Colorado Trail follows the ridge across Bolam Pass. The Lizard Head and Cross Mountain Trails near Lizard Head Pass lead to alpine basins surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks.  
  
The Barlow Creek Road continues past the campground and crosses Bolam Pass with spectacular views. Road conditions near the pass often limit travel to four-wheel drive vehicles. The route eventually connects with the Hermosa Park Road, behind Durango Mountain Resort, and leads to U.S. Highway 550.

## Facilities

The campground offers 27 single-family campsites, many of which are situated along the river. Eighteen sites offer electric hookups. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, drinking water and a dump station are provided.

## Natural Features

The campground is situated near the banks of the Dolores River, in a grassy meadow surrounded by fir and aspen trees. At an elevation of 9,400 feet, campers should expect cool evenings. 

## Nearby Attractions

The Priest Gulch Trailhead, 11 miles southwest of Rico, leads to the alpine country west of the campground. The Bear Creek Trail, 14 miles south of Rico, heads southeast into the La Plata Mountains. Other nearby trails include the Calico National Recreation Trail and the Rico-Silverton Trail.  
  
Highway 145, which runs between the campground and Telluride, offers some of the most majestic scenery along the San Juan Skyway, including views of the "[14ers](http://www.14ers.com/)," which are peaks over 14,000 feet.

## Charges & Cancellations

Cancellations

Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. 

A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite.

Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.

No-Shows

A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.

No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. 

Refunds

Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended.

Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay.

For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. 

In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.

Cayton Campground

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Looking for a new type of Colorado camping experience? Try hike-in camping! Plan your hike-in camping trip and get inspired by the adventure of wild camping. Find the best information on hike-in camping in Colorado, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your camping experience.

Colorado

The Best Hike-In Camping in Colorado

If you enjoy the outdoors, it's time to embrace the wild and go with a hike-in camping experience near San Juan National Forest. These remote campgrounds can be reached by hiking and offer the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors in a way you've never experienced before. Check out some of the top rated hike-in campsites for backpackers near San Juan National Forest.

San Juan National Forest

The Best Hike-In Camping Near San Juan National Forest, Colorado

Kroeger Campground is located in beautiful La Plata Canyon, with 10 campsites shaded by a mixture of spruce, fir, aspen, and cottonwood. One site has a double table and large parking area. Another is suitable for a long RV; most sites do not accommodate larger RVs. There is one pull-thru. Please do not trespass on the private property adjacent to the campground. Services include include water, fire grates, picnic tables, and vault toilets and a host on site. T _ **here is no trash pickup; trash must be packed out.**_ Bear-safe food storage is mandatory. Camping is allowed only in developed campgrounds and designated dispersed camping areas. Campfires are allowed only in the metal fire grates provided for your use.

Kroeger Campground

Sig Creek Campground, 32 miles north of Durango, has 9 campsites on a southfacing hillside about 1/4 mile from the East Fork of Hermosa Creek. The campground is 6 miles west of Durango Mountain Resort on the Hermosa Park Rd. (Forest Rd. 578), accessible by 2WD. Much of this gravel road follows the route of the Scotch Creek Toll Road, which ran from Rico to the Animas Valley in the late 1800s. The road continues over Bolam Pass to Colorado Highway 145 north of Rico. The upper section is 4WD only.The upper trailhead for the Hermosa Creek Trail begins 2 miles past the campground, near the confluence of the main and east forks of Hermosa Creek. This multiple-use trail heads back to the town of Hermosa through the Hermosa Roadless Area. The trail offers a technical single-track experience for mountain bikes (at 19 miles, taking most of a day, including shuttle drops). A few camping sites are available at the trailhead, which has a toilet, picnic tables, fire grates, corral, and parking area.

Sig Creek Campground

## Overview

Mavreeso Campground is located on the West Dolores Road (Forest Road 535), which branches north from Colorado Highway 145 about 20 miles northeast of Dolores. It is a great place to relax and enjoy the outdoors by hiking, biking and fishing.

## Recreation

The West Dolores River offers fishing for brown, rainbow, cutthroat and brook trout. A parking area is available for fisherman. Several parcels of private property are found along the river. Visitors are asked to stay on the trail and not trespass.   
  
Mountain biking is allowed on Forest Roads 532 and 535. Forest Service Trail 624 begins two miles south of the campground.

## Facilities

The campground offers single-family sites, a few of which have electric hookups. A group site can accommodate up to 40 people. Accessible picnic tables, campfire rings and grills are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water. 

## Natural Features

The campground stretches along the banks of the West Dolores River, which has its headwaters in the nearby Lizard Head Wilderness. A shady forest of spruce, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir covers the campground. It is situated at an elevation of 7,600 feet. 

## Nearby Attractions

Southwestern Colorado, part of the Four Corners region, contains more than 4,000 archaeological sites and more than 600 cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde National Park is an hour and a half south of the campground, close enough for a day trip. Other sites within the region include the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Canyon of the Ancients and Hovenweep National Monument.  
  
The historic mining town of Dunton Hot Springs is just 15 miles north of the campground. A resort there offers six hot springs pools ranging in temperatures from 85 through 106 degrees, dining, lodging, guided horseback rides, fly-fishing trips and hiking. 

## Charges & Cancellations

Cancellations

Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. 

A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite.

Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.

Group Sites

Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee.

No-Shows

A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date.

No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. 

Refunds

Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended.

Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay.

For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. 

In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.

Mavreeso Campground

Hermosa Park Road 578 corridor: Parking a motorized or mechanized vehicle is restricted to one vehicle length off of designated routes and spurs only (not 300 feet off the 578).
Sig Creek Campground has been decommissioned, but the road, campsites and toilet are open for dispersed camping until new campground is built near Upper Hermosa Trailhead.

The Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection legislation, passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in December, 2014, created the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area (SMA) and the adjacent 37,236-acre Hermosa Creek Wilderness. The Hermosa Creek SMA is located within Hermosa Creek watershed between Highway 550 and the Hermosa Creek Wilderness. Check out the Hermosa Watershed Protected Area Map for SMA boundaries.

Due to the SMA designation, special travel management rules and seasonal closures apply to the area. All users are required to stay on designated trails in the Hermosa Creek SMA; new routes must not be created when trails are impassable. 

Please note, in 2018, the Hermosa Creek Watershed experienced the 54,000-acre "416 Fire". As a result, there are burned area hazards in the Hermosa Creek Watershed. Entry into burned areas is at your own risk. Some trails will be impassable, and hazards such as falling trees, unstable soils, and debris flows will exist. 


Hermosa Park Road 578 -  Dispersed

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Hermosa Park Road Dispersed

Hermosa Creek Trailhead - Dispersed Camping

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Hermosa Park Road 578 - Dispersed

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