Best Dispersed Camping near Weston, CO

This is BLM land that's free to camp on for up to 14 days every 45 days. The camp sites are just off a dirt road that leads to the trailhead for hiking to Blanca Peak. The road gets pretty rough the further up you get, but there are plenty of large camp sites on the way up the mountain, some you'd have to home to if you decide to go to Blanca Peak. It's a fairly busy place as off-road vehicles and horse back riding are popular here. Beautiful views of the San Luis Valley, Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Mt. Blanca. Definitely worth checking out of you're in the area. No shade or amenities, so bring everything you need with you and as always, leave no trace.

We spent two nights here, in our camper van, while visiting the national park. It’s proximity is so great. The area is easy to find, big and open and nearly all up the very upper parts are navigable by a regular car. There are some upper parts that could require 4WD and high clearance. Our only complaints were how dusty is was and that there really were no trees so potentially not much privacy depending whom is camping around you. If you don’t have a bathroom….this could also be an issue. Not much in the way of tree cover if you are going in the wilderness.
We chose sites on the north side of the area, closer to the park and it seemed more private.

Only a few miles from Ft. Garland, Mountain Home Reservoir is another Colorado State Wildlife Area, but no signs saying an SWA permit is needed to camp there so not sure if you need one or not, we have it so we forgot to check. We have also bought land to build on three miles from the lake, we love this area.

There are two sides to camp on, one side has toilets, vault style, but it's more crowded on that side and less room to camp. The other side takes a little drive, but is much more open and has the mountains behind you and the lake in front of you. It gets busy on weekends, but weekdays are pretty quiet.

The water is cold, but you could swim in August if you really want to, not too cold at all. Boats are allowed, and there boat ramps on both sides of the lake from what we could see, didn't inspect the ramps, but know one works because there was a pontoon boat on the lake one day.

The weather changes by the minute it seems, and storms move over the area pretty quickly. If you don't like the weather wait five minutes, it'll change, and I'm not exaggerating. Still mostly nice weather, and normally sunny.

This is a beautiful camping area, again this is a no hook up area so pack in what you need and leave no trace. Try to camp near one of the already made fire pits, makes it easier on you and they discourage building new fire pits. If you don't want a fire then you can camp anywhere you aren't blocking a road.

Truly beautiful place to camp, you can stay 14 days in a 45 day period. RV dump and fill stations are nearby in Ft.Garland, and it's only about thirty minutes to Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Zapata Falls. Smith Reservoir is also nearby and that's another SWA we reviewed, check that one out.

Not far from Great Sand Dunes national Park & Zapata Falls, this free dispersed campsite, as well as others along unpaved Mount Blanca Road, provide wonderful views. One side are mountains, and the other San Luis Valley. This particular dispersed site is just off the rocky road as one starts to climb the slope toward the mountains. Mount Blanca Road starts out very easy with no obstacles & washouts, but becomes bumpy and, at some places, technical, as one drives up the slope. The road has washouts and large rocks on it. The site itself was not level, but we managed okay with our campervan. The site is very close to the road; other campers, overlanders & hikers greeting you as they pass by. This site, as well as others along the road, are wide open. There were a few clumps of junipers where we were able to hide our toilet setup. The site was a short pull-thru with a rock fire ring and a small area to set up a tent. Separation between dispersed sites is really good, giving one some privacy. The site was clean. There are no amenities: no water, no electric, no shelter, no toilets. Pack it in, pack it out. We did have reasonable AT&T & T-Mobile service. It was windy & cool at night. Except for an occasional ATV passing by, it was quiet. Enjoy our stay; would not hesitate to camp here again.

This campsite is very popular, I would definitely recommend arriving early morning time to secure a spot. We got in fairly late in the night from Texas and had to drive in a ways. Many people left early in the morning so sites opened up fairly quickly. The road is graded and then turns into a rocky road that is manageable in a crossover for a ways then high clearance will be needed. There was a small flooded portion that is next to the helipad but we just drove up onto the helipad to get around it as to not risk getting stuck. There are plenty of sites available and even a circle drive in the front of the road if you don’t feel like venturing in during the night. There are A TON of flies! Lots of bug spray and loose clothing to avoid those pesky biting flies. We had a beautiful view of the mountain and Great Sand dunes is a short 20 minutes away. Our pups loved the large open spaces but beware of cacti and tiny burrs.

There are three dispersed sites listed along this road with the first being flat and open, the second being slightly uphill and fairly open, and the third being higher uphill and far more private. We kept driving until we found a spot that was both uphill and private, which definitely requires a vehicle with some height to it like an SUV rather than a sedan. The road to the third and farthest site became too rocky for some cars and horses to continue on, but my AWD SUV did great.

The camping spots in this site all have fire pits, edible prickly pear cactuses, and some shrubbery and trees for privacy. Verizon and T-Mobile service worked well. When the wind was forecasted to be 7mph with 15mph gusts, it was enough to cancel the noise from a group of campers a few spots down. It’s a generally quiet area, so with the except of that group, you could only notice other campers if they walked, biked, or drove past the spot.

The views were phenomenal, and it was a 30 minute drive to the sand dunes. You could also check out Zapata Falls for the day with a short drive from this campsite.

There are no amenities other than fire pits in designated spots here. There is open BLM land on either side where many RVers chose to park down the hill. You can also split away from the designated spots in the upper rocky area for extra seclusion and privacy, but considering the amount of cactus and tall grass, that may only be good for car camping.

The temperature almost went down to freezing at night in early June, so be prepared with layers for both hot and cold desert conditions.

In our camp spot we saw mountain blue birds, tiger beetles, circus beetles, hover flies, common flies, plateau fence lizards, snake holes, pocket mice, deer droppings, prickly pear cactus (we prepared grilled nopales), and pinyon pine trees.

A lot of area for dispersed camping on the side of the mountain. Roads get progressively more technical as you ascend. Some roads marked on the map have washed out making them impassible. The sites at the bottom are pretty flat, but the ones farther up the mountain become pretty steep, 8% grades if the inclinometer in my truck is right. There is fresh water fill and a dump station at the NP - free with entry fee (or real free if you have a pass), a small store with gas priced competitively and restaurant. The nearest cell tower is in Blanca a few miles away. Verizon signal is pretty good.