Best Dispersed Camping near Vail, CO

There is free dispersed camping all along County Road 390, near Winfield. You will need a 4x4 or AWD to get further along the road. There’s a stream that runs along 390, adding great background noise. Our site was big enough for multiple cars, with great access to the Huron Peak trailhead.

Located near the town of Granite, this forest service road is host to trailheads and lots of dispersed camping. Off of highway 24 you will find Clear Creek Reservoir, this is a great spot to do some fishing form the shore or in a boat. There is also an established campground beyond the lake that is forest service run and does cost money. However if you keep driving for a few miles the road will open up to free dispersed camping. 

We showed up on friday at around 4 pm and it was packed! Spots range in size from one care to huge areas big enough for 20 cars and we saw just that. Lots of big camp trips happening. That being said, the camping was still pretty good despite all the people. We managed to find a spot next to another couple in a little turn off. Some groups were parked on the road and walked into the trees to set up a spot. It was kind of a free for all back there. 

With all those people and trailheads to several 14ers on the road, there ware many cars driving by. It did stay pretty active until later in the night. 

Campsites: Dispersed with no amenities. No metal fire rings, picnic tables, restrooms or trash bins. Restrooms were located at a trail head but on one set. 

We enjoyed the spot, it was a little dusty but not terrible. Perfect spot if you are trying to hike Belford, Oxford, Missouri or Huron. Road was in good condition, any car will make it.

There are several campgrounds in the area, some free and some with a fee. For free at the top of the hill high above the twin lakes and even above the Mt. Elbert Forebay is national forest dispersed camping. It's very popular on the weekends with many tent campers who sometime party well into the night. The views are epic. On the south-east end of the Twin Lakes is the Reservoir camping area, dispersed camping on bureau of reclamation land. The roads get rough as you reach the more desirable sites. Paid camping is available at Dexter Point, a parking lot with pit toilets and dumpsters within walking distance to the shore. Lake View campground is large with 6 or more loops, toilets, maintained roads, some big rig friendly sites, awesome views, but packed in pretty tight, but so is the dispersed camping. White star campground is a fee area right on the lake front for boaters, etc. In August it's a busy area, off season may be closed. Highway 82 goes to independence pass, a detour route if I-70 is closed due to landslides. 7/21.

My girlfriend and I drove in late to the dispersed camping on Lincoln Creek Road off of 82 (Independence Pass) towards Aspen. We set up at campsite 18 and highly recommend that site or traveling up past Grizzly Resevoir for primitive camping. The site goes about 100 yards back and has area for multiple vehicles or tents and is completely wooded. There's a path that walks back to the creek and if you follow it in either direction you have incredible views of waterfalls, Aspens, and Truro Peak.

Lincoln Creek is an absolutely incredible dispersed camping spot! there are 22 total spots up until the reservoir (about an hour to an hour and a half in) and after that, everything is a campsite! Very bumpy and rock filled road, but with any 4wd you should be fine! Beautiful views and lots of places to hike and play in the river! (It does get buggy when you are close to the water...)

Beautiful drive all the way up to the reservoir multiple dispersed, camping spots along the road fresh water source coming from the reservoir hundreds of feet away from camping sites. Beautiful scenery. Plenty of critters to see. Pretty cool place to explore.

WARNING: The road to the camping locations is very bumpy, narrow, and has some large rocks. AWD with high clearance or 4x4 is recommended.

This location was great! I was looking for a quick dispersed camping spot near Dillon, Co that was not to far from town. Take Rock Creek Trailhead off of country road 1350. There are roughly 4-5 large spots where an RV could be parked, and then lots of drive in, or tent spots. The best camp spots are tent locations that require you to leave your car, but I was able to find a great spot near the river with plenty of space for a full size truck with roof top tent.

Free camp sites. First come, first serve

There are three camping pull offs on the left of CR 48. The first of which is where camped. We later walked down the road toward Turqouise Lake and realized there were more spots, the furthest having the best mountain views. The roads to the dispersed camping spots was a bit bumpy but we saw rigs of all types and sizes here so it's definitely do able. About a 2.5 mile round trip walk/hike to turqouise lake from the farthest campground (the 1st pull off). This place was pretty busy but people kept their distance. We were there in late August and temps got cold at night. But it's a beautiful and quiet spot in the woods.

Used an F150 with aftermarket tires pulling a 19' travel trailer with also larger tires. I think I bottomed out the tongue once on the ride up once you get past Campsite 6 or 7. 

There are some serious potholes and rocks so if you have low clearance, hit one of the early sites. They are not as secluded, but it's a great area for free camping with a town only 15-minute drive away.

I got here on a Thursday evening about 6 and saw plenty of people drive in after me only to turn around so I think the deeper spots past 10, 11, 12 area get filled much earlier.

I first camped in Colorado last year with a friend and we chose this dispersed due to it being close to travel too- yet still dispersed. I’ve come back 4 other times to camp here!

This trail does require some 4x4 action to get to the top. Lots of rocks, bumps, and pools of water to travel through to get anywhere.

The trail has a decent amount of dispersed sites along the way up to the top, although you can not camp the first mile or two, they are residential.

Even at the end of the trail, next to the reservoir there are some great spots to camp at. And a hike around the reservoir would show you that you could even do a bit of backpacking if you wanted to camp by a waterfall for the night.

This place has become a favorite camping spot of mine, and a place I love to bring friends. Quite clean, very scenic, and a beautiful creek rushing by most of the camp sites. There is also a really cool teepee stand waiting to be used to camp under at the top!

Boreas Pass has great dispersed camping for different sized groups. We camped at site #5 which accodated two vehicles but if needed to could probably accomodate up to five vehicles. This campsite was about a five minute walk to Baker's Tank. You can also access Baker's Tank trailhead after walking to the actual tank from the campsite. Be mindful if you decide to hike/bike Baker's Tank loop because it will spit you out at the very bottom of Boreas Pass which you then have to hike/bike back up to your campsite.

Stevens Gulch Road (321) is a dirt road off of I-70 west of Denver in the Arapaho & Rosevelt National Forests and the Pawnee National Grasslands. It has amazing scenery and access to gorgeous hiking trails to summit Gray’s, Torrey’s and Kelso Peaks. It is a fairly mellow SUV road with plenty of space to pass other vehicles and you will occasionally see passenger cars as well. The road leads to a large parking lot that fills up fast with car overflow parking spilling down both sides of the road. There are pit toilets and bear proof trash cans at the parking lot. The road continues past the parking lot a very short ways to some dispersed campsites by a river that have stone campfire rings. Definitely filter this water as there are uphill toilet paper gardens along the climb to summit.

Good dispersed camping. A little rough if you have a small car.

This dispersed camping area is great for western access to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Beautiful spot; close enough to civilization to feel secure yet secluded enough to feel private. In the section of camp spots I stayed at, most were full, but I got one as soon as I pulled in probably by luck. Judging by the fact that it is a Tuesday, I would assume this place would be packed on a weekend. The road getting here was a little rough but extremely short, no need for a four-wheel drive. The campsites are spread out enough to limit others noise pollution and feel secluded. There is a fire ring at all campsites, but no amenities. Overall, pretty good for dispersed.

I travelled to Twin Lakes the weekend after Memorial Day weekend to explore more of Colorado. The drive from Denver was beautiful and the Twin Lakes topped it all. Sitting at the base of several 14'ers this campground featured dispersed camping with options for walk-in, drive-in, and drive-in 4x4 camping. We found ourselves on the North side of the upper side of the neighboring lake since we arrived late Friday afternoon. We found 4-5 sites without anyone around, a quiet spot nestled in the trees for shade. 

Bears were reported to be active in the area but we didn't see any. Some camp sites, as we walked around, were littered with people's waste and trash. Sad to see but not everyone follows the leave no trace attitude.

Amazing dispersed camping, private. We brought our dogs and they enjoyed themselves. Very accessible- second weekend in august and was perfect! Around 55 degrees at night, 10,000ft elevation.