Pawnee Buttes - Dispersed Camping
K
Reviewed Jan. 18, 2021

Beautiful change of scenery

Took advantage of this past warmer weekend to camp here. It’s about 2 hours from Denver. There were a couple spots on the road you might want higher clearance, but mostly smooth and all easily passable in a stock Outback.

Plenty of dispersed sites; we camped on an overlook a quarter mile or so from the Pawnee Buttes trailhead which had beautiful, clear views of the sunrise and sunset. We only saw one other site in use and some folks camped at the trailhead parking lot, but neither were visible from our site. The night sky is beautiful and full of stars, though not completely dark since we could see lights from nearby private lands.

The only negative was wind. It was very windy, especially at night (the wind rocked the car most of the night). It wasn’t an issue for us sleeping in the car, but I wouldn’t tent camp. Pawnee Buttes Trail was a great way to start the day the next morning and it was nice to have use of the bathrooms.

Overall a beautiful site, plenty of solitude (at least in the winter) and nice change of pace from the mountains. I would return.