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Dispersed tent camping options around Vail, Colorado offer a mix of primitive sites and established campgrounds within the White River National Forest. Red Sandstone, located just over 1 mile north of Vail, provides primitive dispersed tent camping with drive-in and walk-in access. Shrine Pass Road Dispersed Camping, situated along the 11.2-mile road connecting I-70 to the mining town of Redcliff, features multiple tent camping locations with designated fire rings and flat spots for tent setup.
Most tent camping areas near Vail require campers to be self-sufficient with limited or no amenities. Primitive sites typically have fire rings but no drinking water, toilets, or trash facilities. During summer months, fire bans are common throughout the region, with rangers actively monitoring compliance. High-clearance vehicles are recommended for accessing many tent sites, particularly at Homestake Reservoir and along Lincoln Creek Road. Vault toilets can be found at established areas like Halfmoon Campground, but dispersed sites require campers to pack out all waste. Seasonal access varies significantly, with high-elevation tent sites often inaccessible until late May due to snowpack.
Tent campers at Shrine Pass appreciate the privacy between sites despite the area's popularity. Sites positioned farther from main roads offer greater seclusion, with wooded areas providing natural screening between campsites. Wildlife sightings are common, with mule deer and moose frequently observed near tent camping areas, particularly at dawn and dusk. The elevation at most tent sites ranges from 8,000-10,600 feet, resulting in cold overnight temperatures even during summer months. As noted in feedback on The Dyrt, "The sites feel private and separated from each other. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring, and there are typical vault toilets." Winter temperatures frequently drop below freezing, with one camper reporting "temperatures got down to 16 degrees" during an October camping trip.
"You can drive or walk down a mile which leads to a trail to Lost Lake, which you can swim in. It was definitely buggy, got my fair share of mosquito bites, so I recommend bug spray."
"The campsites are decently spaced out but not the place to go if you don’t want neighbors, I chose the only single site I could find but could still hear dogs barking and music in the distance(to be fair"
"Found this spot at about 7PM on a Friday night near the Breckenridge end of the Boreas Pass Trail (39.451441,-106.014294)."
"This this is a long Winding Road up the mountain that has many nice places to pull over and Camp right off the road. Some are a bit further back than others. Most are accessible to any vehicle."
"Halfmoon Campground is located at the end of Notch Mountain Rd (forest Rd 707) near Minturn, CO in White River National Forest."
"during the week very few camper, campfires allowed. water. no electricity. it was wonderful. no rain, great stars"
"**Campground Review: ** As an adventurer in Colorado, I often find myself driving down I-70 and over the Vail Pass."
"Great area, be prepared for weather and elevation gain."
"It has space for one tent for sure, and several more tents if you aren't picky about smooth and level ground under you. You could definitely fit an RV or trailer in the space as well."
"Level and had a turn around for a larger rig. Many tent sites around. Road is in good shape."
"However there is designated overnight vehicle parking where people leave cars for hut trips in the Vail Pass Rest area lot, which is adjacent to Shrine Mt Road."
"Convenient spot off i70 but without the traffic noise. A few spots along the road."
"Nice places with amenities, but you can go off the beaten path and do some hardcore stuff. Water sources all around. Very cold until August."
"Good for tent camping and very small trailers. Accessible via a maintained dirt road, but the road in the campground is a little rough. A few hundred yards from multiple trailheads."
"Its a short walk to lower cataract lake with a good loop. The next morning we hiked the upper loop with Eaglesmere lakes, Tipperary lake, and Surprise lake."
"Campsites are on soft ground."
"Whitney lake is a very popular hiking spot located about 20 minutes south of Vail. The trail is al little over 2.5 miles to the lake and is a moderate hike."
RangerQuiet campground, off grid, no cell signal, no wi-fi. Busy campground due to proximity to Aspen. Adequate space between sites. Pit toilets, dumpsters available. May pose access challenges for larger rigs. Each site has picnic table, fire ring, bear box. No amenities, no laundry, no showers, no electricity. Smallest amount of road noise, depending on what site you are in. Day use parking lot available.
LegendWe stayed at the Gore Creek Campground last summer 2017 on a drive from Southern California to Denver, CO. We took highway 15 through Nevada and Utah, and connected to Highway 70 in Utah to Colorado. To budget this trip, we tried to camp most of the way out and back to California - we saved our Airbnb rentals for Denver, where I️ was competing in Pole Theatre USA, an international pole dancing competition. We wanted to find a spot to camp for the night that was close to highway 70 and not toooooo far outside of Denver - Gore Creek Campground was the spot. It’s about 10-15 minutes outside of Vail, and about and hour and a half outside of Denver.
Campsites at Gore Creek are reservable ahead of time on recreation.org - we planned this trip about 6 months in advanced so had no problem reserving a site for one night on a weeknight. This campground is fairly small, however, with fewer than 30 sites, so I️ imagine it fills up quickly during the peak summer months. There are mostly drive-in sites in this campground, but there were some neat walk-in sites in a loop beyond the drive-in sites.
Gore Creek is a beautiful wooded campground that sits next to Gore Creek. There are a few ‘riverside sites’ in the campground, that were 60 yards or so from the creek. We had our pick of the sites that many months in advanced, so we chose site 9 as it appeared to be well secluded and close to the river - both were true! The area is densely wooded, so the sites have a lot of privacy, and the sound of the river is relaxing and peaceful at night, and drowned out most of the noise pollution from the nearby highway.
Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. The camp hosts were extremely kind and welcoming, and kept the grounds and the vault toilets very clean. There is NO WATER available at Gore Creek, so make sure to bring in plenty of water for cooking, washing, and drinking.
WARNING: You ARE in bear country - be bear smart and safe and use your bear box! We had our own bear box in our campsite - I believe each site has its own food locker. Try to lock all of your food and toiletries inside the food locker - they are large, and we have always been able to fit our big cooler into locker. If you do have to leave a cooler in the car, I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows - he suggested putting put a towel and gear over your coolers when keeping them in the car overnight in bear territory.
There is a lot of beautiful hiking trails in the Vail - Gore Creek area. We did not have much time to explore as I️ had an appointment in Denver in the afternoon, but the area is absolutely gorgeous.
CAMPSITE SPECS
Fees: $25/night
Plumbed Toilets: NO - vault
Water: NO
Showers: NO
Picnic Table: Yes
Firepit: Yes
Cooking Grate: Yes
Shade: Yes
Cell Service: Yes
Trash: Yes
Animal Bins/Food Lockers: YES
GuideWe came here in early July to hike up South and North Arapahoe Peaks (and Diamond Lake for warm-up). The sites are nice right next to a creek, with very few mosquitos. Make sure to stay close to the designated areas (fwiw, Rangers monitor the site). No campfires were allowed and they are no fire rings, so I assume that the fire ban is typical rather than the exception. Bear-proof food storage is provided at each site.
We made it up the dirt road in our little Honda Fit but that was touch and go at times, and required some careful driving. 99% of the cars at the campground and trailhead were 4x4s.
The location is great with plenty of trailheads right next to the campground. But that also means that site is very busy. The trailhead parking fills up as early as 5am. It wasn't much of an issue in terms of loudness, but it does mean that the only two restrooms are also used by hundreds of hikers each day …
There are no trash bins (i.e., pack out whatever trash you produce), there is no drinking water (except for the creek if you have filters), all sites are walk-in though parking is just a few meters away (one is ADA accessible with parking right next to the site). With Google Fi (Spring) we had no cell reception (we lost signal even prior to the start of the dirt road, so many miles before the campground). Sites are in the shade below trees, and there are picnic tables.
Overall, I'd visit this place again, just because of the convenient access to amazing trails and scrambles. Trails to Diamond Lake (10km out-and-back) and Arapahoe pass were quite busy, but not unpleasantly so. The trail up to the Arapahoe Peaks (13km out-and-back to South Peak) was *much* less busy though we still saw about 8-10ish groups throughout the day (took us 2:10h up to South Arapahoe Peak, about 30-40 minutes to traverse to North Arapahoe).
TravelerThis campground is located on Gore Creek. The surrounding area is beautiful. It's appropriately 10 minutes from Vail and quite. The bathrooms are vaulted toilets and the roads are all dirt. I would not attempt this campground in a rig over 35 feet as it becomes very tight in and out. Being situated on Gore Creek the sounds of the dancing waters are right with you. There are several hiking paths throughout the campground. There is no electricity, dump or water available here so make sure you have plenty before you get in. There is firewood for sale at the camp host site. There are fire rings, picnic tables and bear proff lockers at each site. Nice place to re focus. Verizon worked well. Have fun and safe travels.
GuideI love this place. The campground is full every weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day due to reservations made at recreation.gov up to 6 months and more than 48 hours in advance, and being so close to metro Denver.
The campground has 16 sites; 4 Walk-In, 1 host and 11 are reservable. Check in after 2:00 and check out by 1:00. If someone has a reservation, like a hotel, their site is held until 1:00 the next day because of the Forest Service rule that the campsite must be occupied the first night and they could have had delays.
The campground is at 9600’ and the last mile of the dirt road is a bit rough, but I have seen low profile cars and 42’ Class A motor home with a towed vehicle. Well water normally supplies the campground to faucets, but has not been productive the entire 2019 season and there are vault toilets. Each site has its own bear box and fire ring. The creek is less than 100 meters from the campground and fishing this year was poor... water level was low. Lots of great hiking and climbing in the area. About a 40 degree difference between day and night. During the fire ban, dispersed camping is limited to just a few areas so the campground is a great place to stay and you might still be able to have a fire in the fire ring. Privately owned cabins can be seen as you walk through the woods. Hell’s Hole Trail is a few hundred yards from the campground. I’m looking forward to going back there as host next year.
RangerThis remote campground might pose some access challenges for larger rigs. Clean pit toilets, no showers, no laundry. Fresh drinking water and dumpsters are available. No dump station in campground. Mixture of river and non river sites. Plenty of room and privacy between sites. No mobile phone coverage, no wi-fi, no amenities within 30 miles of the campground. 2 campground hosts on site. Small reservoir lake nearby for fishing and canoeing. Hiking and fishing nearby. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring and bear box.
GuideQuiet campground- especially early in the season.
$22/night; Firewood bundles on-site for $9.
Each site has a picnic table and a bear box for food storage.
Bathrooms were clean. Sites are smaller and very close together. Little privacy if visiting during a busier time.
Sites 7, 9, and 11 have trails that connect back to Chicago creek just a short distance away. Hiking trails are close by to nearby forests land. No cell service.
GuideWhat an awesome site! Bear boxes and concrete picnic tables. There are only 5 campsites here and one is handicapped only. That and the next site, where I stayed, are right off the dirt road. There are 3 more sites past the barrier which are more secluded but require schlepping your stuff farther.
Fourth of July trailhead is busy and parking fills up fast in the morning. The hike is breathtaking in beauty; the wildflower covered mountain meadows are glorious! It’s possible to backpack in and stay in the rough. I met several groups who’d done just that. Buckingham campground, however, makes a great base camp if you prefer, like I do, car camping.
No fires allowed, of course, but a Ranger once told me as long as it has an off switch it’s okay. I brought my gas ring and was pleasant warm drinking tea and listening to a light rain hitting the awning as twilight turned to night.
The one consistent drawback was airplane noise every few minutes. There’s a flight path right above. While I saw plenty of people in the trail the campsite was secluded and quiet, especially at night. Dogs on leash are welcome and there’s a vault toilet 😀
LegendThis is one of the smaller sites alongside the main road you will find just a short distance outside of Aspen. I was passing through late in the season, technically during "closure" but was able to snag a site because it had not yet been closed due to unusually warmer fall. There had been some snowfall higher up but where I was there had not so the camp had not been closed. They had however turned off the potable water source but vault toilets and sites remained open.
I was located in site 5 which had a small back in area, a picnic table and fire ring. There were also bear boxes throughout camp, which you need to use if you are here because there is a population of bears that will raid camp. I made sure to keep any food in the car behind doors and cleaned up away from camp with my own water source so as to not attract anything to come near. Bears do scare me a bit!!
The site for my tent was lush and grassy, it had not yet frozen or died for the season so it felt very fluffy underneath my tent.
Temperatures dropped dramatically at night and I was happy there was no fire ban when I visited because I used my fire for a heat source in the evening and then hand warmers inside extra socks at night. It was pretty peaceful at the camp as a whole.
While there I enjoyed hiking on the Weller Trail which heads directly out from the parking area near the camp and treks a short distance with some amazing views. I was so happy to have found this site for only $21.
TIPS:
Typical season is May to the end of September if it is before or after this time check with the Forest Service to see if they have opened camp for season.
Bring a flashlight there is no external light at the campground so you will not be able to see anything without one.
Dispersed camping near Vail, Colorado typically requires high-clearance vehicles to access the more remote sites. The White River National Forest surrounds Vail with camping options at elevations between 8,000-10,600 feet, creating cold overnight conditions even during summer months. Road access to many sites opens late May through early October, with seasonal closures common due to snowpack.
Hike to alpine lakes: From Halfmoon Campground, access trails to multiple mountain lakes within walking distance. "A short walk to lower cataract lake with a good loop. The next morning we hiked the upper loop with Eaglesmere lakes, Tipperary lake, and Surprise lake," notes Dylan J.
Scale mountain peaks: At East Cross Creek, campers use the sites as a basecamp for summit attempts. "10 campsites total and plenty of available when I arrived Saturday. Splits the grueling 5K ascent," reports Daniel B., who used the site to break up the climb to Mount Holy Cross.
Explore mining history: Drive the 11.2-mile Shrine Pass Road which connects I-70 to historic mining areas. "The road to get up was easy (we stayed in #9 - not sure about the ones farther up the road). I had to come in later as I had a work appointment, so I drove up in my Jetta to meet up with my husband," shares Stacy T. about Boreas Pass Road, showing that some sites are accessible with standard vehicles.
Solitude in prime spots: Campers appreciate finding quieter camping areas despite popularity. "We were lucky to find a fantastic, more spacious spot. It had plenty of room for our truck, a large tent, and a canopy—perfect for spreading out and relaxing," mentions Jenny B. about her Boreas Pass experience.
Wildlife viewing opportunities: The area hosts abundant wildlife visible from campsites. "There were clear signs of moose activity nearby, and fellow campers just up the road mentioned seeing a moose wander around their site," notes Jenny B., highlighting animal sightings that add to the camping experience.
Fall colors: Many campers time their visits for autumn foliage displays. "Timing wise, we were up Sept 21 & 22 (2024) and the fall colors were GORGEOUS," writes Stacy T. about her Boreas Pass trip, while another camper mentioned "I came in October when the aspens and birch still had some leaves. Beautiful colors on bareus pass."
Road conditions vary significantly: Access roads range from sedan-friendly to requiring 4x4 vehicles. "The road was REALLY rough. One portion looked like someone had just run around digging random holes in the road," reports Rhonda C. about Red Sandstone. At Homestake Reservoir, Jeff H. notes: "Road out was a little bumpy but and a 2 wheel drive sedan could easily make the trip."
Mosquitoes can be intense: Bug protection is essential during summer months. "It was definitely buggy, got my fair share of mosquito bites, so I recommend bug spray," warns Ali S. about Red Sandstone. Another camper at Boreas Pass reported "SO MANY MOSQUITOS," while Elizabeth S. at Homestake Reservoir shares "Lots of mosquitoes but Murphy's incense kept them at bay."
Camping spots fill quickly: Early arrival is recommended, especially on weekends. "We arrived late afternoon on a Sunday in July. All 23 spots were taken," notes Rebecca B. about Boreas Pass Road. Another camper reports "Drove up Homestake Road on a Thursday afternoon, lots of spots taken already."
Site selection matters: Choose sites with natural features kids will enjoy. "Little creek runs along Site 1 and it's very lovely," notes Juliette about Halfmoon Campground, providing natural entertainment for children.
Pack for cold nights: Even summer camping requires warm clothing for children. "Being mid October the campground was very cold at night but it was empty and felt secluded even though only 35 minutes from Silverthorne," reports Dylan J., highlighting the temperature drops even at accessible locations.
Prepare for elevation effects: Higher altitude can impact children and adults. "Being at a higher elevation, one person in our group did experience some mild altitude discomfort, even though we're from the Denver area—something to keep in mind if you're sensitive to elevation changes," warns Jenny B.
Size restrictions apply: Larger RVs will struggle at most dispersed sites near Vail. "We're in a van, and while some spots would have been great, not all would work for our van," explains Rebecca B. about Boreas Pass sites. Similarly, Elizabeth S. notes about Homestake Reservoir: "we took our offroad capable teardrop to the loop at the reservoir but I don't recommend taking a non-offroad trailer past Gold Park."
Limited RV facilities: Most dispersed sites lack hookups and have tight parking. "Found a great spot on the creek. Level and had a turn around for a larger rig," shares Amy N. about Homestake Reservoir, showing that level sites with turnaround space are valuable for RV campers.
Town restrictions: Vail itself has limited RV accommodation. "There is no parking for RV around town in walking distance (Long Walk included). All parking only for cars," warns a reviewer about the Vail area, suggesting campers shouldn't expect to park RVs in town while exploring.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Vail, CO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Vail, CO is Red Sandstone - Primitive Dispersed with a 4.3-star rating from 12 reviews.
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