Looking for dispersed camping near Los Ojos? The Dyrt provides you with a diverse selection of places to camp, from dispersed backcountry camping to boondocking, and everything in-between. You're sure to find the perfect dispersed campgrounds for your New Mexico camping adventure.
Please LNT when dispersed camping
Many people enjoy the solitude and primitive experience of camping away from developed campgrounds and other campers. Dispersed camping is camping anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. It means no services; such as trash removal, and little or no facilities; such as tables, fire pits and toilets are provided.
There are extra responsibilities and skills that are necessary for dispersed camping. It is your responsibility to know these before you try this new experience. Camping rules and regulations apply to make your experience safe, and to keep the natural resources scenic and unspoiled for other campers.
The Tres Piedras Ranger District is managed for many multi-use purposes; hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, skiing, snowmobiling, camping and personal firewood cutting are among the activities.
Legend
Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is BLM land so it is all dispersed camping. You will need to make sure you aren't on someone's property or nearby any roads. There are plenty of turn offs.
This isn't a "get away" more like a stopover spot. I stopped here on my way back North to Colorado to see the bridge over the Rio Grande and so I wasn't so high up in elevation that I would freeze.
But if you can find a quiet place it is a beautiful dispersed spot where there is civilization nearby and toilets at local businesses and picnic areas that you can use. See map on review.
Be careful roaming at night. The drop into the river is quite deep so offroading isn't just ill advised for keeping the flora and fauna safe…but you as well.
There are picnic ares around the monument too, just not established camping spots.
Scout
The location on Dyrt maps is wrong, forest service is NW of 285 & 64. Beautiful dispersed camping spots plentiful. Park ranger Melissa was the top notch. Couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly. Definitely stay there again.
Scout
Excellent official dispersed camping area in the Conejos river valley. Entrance is marked with a USFS sign. Very large area for camping spread across multiple meadows. Access is a dirt road in poor condition, high clearance recommended but 4WD is only necessary in wet conditions. Fantastic views of the river valley and surrounding mountains. The area itself is perched on a dry hill well above the river, do not plan to walk or drive down to the river at this location. Very clean and trash-free, help keep it that way!
GuideThere are a bunch of different roads you can turn off to camp on if you’re driving from Taos to Durango. We mapped Forest Road 578 and it took us to a dirt road with a lot of flat spots you can camp on. We spent the night there and it was very quiet and peaceful. If you keep going to Durango you’ll get to Carson National Forest, which is not too far from the coordinates on The Dyrt. That’s where more people are camping, you can pull off right before the 64H road marker. You’ll keep passing camping spots as you drive to Durango so you can really go almost anywhere!
Guide
Great boondocking sites about 45minues from Pagosa Springs. These sites are completely primitive. No restroom facilities, electricity, potable water or trash service. No cell service. Its worth it, so plan accordingly.
Follow US160E about 10 miles, turn right onto USFS 667. Pass by the entrance to East Fork Campground and continue on the forest service road. This is where the road becomes fairly rough. Dispersed sites begin about 2 miles further. Most sites are clustered together in pockets near the river.
We arrived early in the day and found a great site near a vertical rock face. Campsite was at 8000'. We stayed a week and only saw other campers on the weekend. The weather was perfect with day time temps in the 70s and overnight temps in the 50s. Ideal hiking and fishing conditions.
The forest road gets busy with Jeeps and UTvs during the day on weekends. Our site was far enough away from the road that we weren't bothered.
Access to several trails, beautiful valley views and waterfalls nearby .
Legend
Road closed to dispersed camping is closed
TravelerGreat spot! Lots of dispersed camping along the river. Fishing, hiking and swimming all right there. Great views of the Mountains. The star gazing at night was amazing. Great to see everyone packing out there trash. One of the cleaner and quieter camp areas I’ve been too in a while.
Scout
This site is not for those who need amenities. But for those who come prepared with whatever they need, it is a great spot to camp close to Pagosa Springs, CO in the national forest.
Guide
We found this place randomly. Seen all the road exits of the Carson National Forest on our way to Taos we said “let’s give it a try!” And we found apparently a fairly popular place. It may be due to available internet connection (which we greatly enjoyed it after weeks!) or just a lower altitude spot that may help with physical activity and weather temps. At any rate, easy and short access to the camp sites via gravel sandy road, some with fire rings and camp tables, leveled grounds for trailers and lots of pine trees for privacy. There are signs for trailheads and pretty rock formations that will need to be explored next time. We stayed a night and enjoyed it to the fullest. Highly recommended, especially as nights get nice and chill (vs. hot day temps) for good sleep.
RangerI tent-camped off of Carson NF Forest Service Road 578 in mid April 2022. FS 578 is south of Tres Piedras about 5 miles on the west side of Hwy 285. There are several dirt road turn offs but FS 578 is clearly marked with a brown NFS sign (see photo) and has no gate but there is a cattle guard/grate. Here is a NFS road use map that shows dispersed camping along FS 578 and many other NFS roads: https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/gis/mvum/Carson/CarsonTresPiedrasCanjilonElRito.pdf (see also screenshot). My Tacoma had no problem on the dirt road, which has ruts and might be tough for an RV. There were few clearings suitable for dispersed camping but I found a nice spot with a small fire circle in a small clearing on the south side of the road just past a fork in the road. I carried two black boulders over to serve as a table and chair. I didn’t see anyone else camping or driving by. The forest is a nice mix of sage, juniper, and pine trees. I saw two elk across a swath of sage. I could see the snow capped peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range on the eastern horizon when I walked farther up the road. It got cold at night, like 27 F. It was a nice waypoint on my trip between Gunnison CO and El Paso TX but it didn’t look like many people camped there. I had intended to drive to Taos the next day on Hwy 64, but didn’t.
GuideIt’s not the best dirt road getting in but I was able to make it quite a ways up in my Nissan Altima. The sites are scattered along the road that follows the river. Beautiful views and great trails to hike. I found a spot that was a peninsula, surrounded by the river. Very primitive camping. No facilities, so bring water and be prepared to take your trash out with you.
Guide
This camping spot is awesome but can be busy at times. One down side being close to the river is the bugs, literally thousands of them can make it unpleasant. Outside of that the spot on the river is fantastic for viewing pleasure. You can certainly find valuable relaxation here.
Guide
There only seemed to be about 2 camping spots. However there is area to just pull off and park. I stayed here 1 night no issues. There is no Verizon phone signal. Stayed at the first large pull off with a stone circle fireplace. It was nice and quite, not a busy road.
TravelerA nice secluded little forest road. RVs will not make it, so it's nice and quiet.
AWD/4WD needed on the rutted rocky road.
Stayed one night and saw no one else.
Multiple pulloffs for unmarked campsites, but the one I picked was right off the road.
Cell service drops completely pretty soon after leaving the highway. I sporadically received some messages at my camp site but not reliably.
Ranger
A good dispersed campground with a few spots. Don’t drive to the John dun bridge from Taos use the longer route instead. The switch back road is blocked off now. If you make it up to the campsite it’s only a mile walk to the hot springs down below where the bridge is. You can go fishing over there as well as rock climbing.
Scout
This dispersed area is close to Hopewell Lake and Campground where there is fishing and vaulted toilets. The Continental Divide Trail goes right through this location.
GuideWaterfalls, atv trails for miles some novice some very experienced trails, hiking, creeks, fishing. Hands down my favorite CO spot. With kids or wanting some beauty this is hands down the best! We did camp passed the east fork campgrounds. All the way down to the beginning of the ranch road way you have plenty of dispersed tent areas and rv areas (no electric).
TravelerThere are 20+ campsites along FR667. Some can accommodate RVs, some only tents. We parked a popup at the 1st campsite past the bridge near the trailhead. 2 waterfalls are close, Pagosa Springs is 30ish mins away. Our kids tubed down the creek. Lots of ATV traffic, some bikes, but overall quiet.
Traveler
A good amount of dispersed sites off of FSR558. I just pulled off to one of the closer sites but looked like tons of other sites were further in on the road. Really quiet even with the highway close by. Great stars at night, decently clean (the sites that I saw). You could probably make it in a 2WD vehicle for the first few sites but it gets a bit more rugged as you continue in.
TravelerCampsite got very muddy river was no clear what so ever. Otherwise quite nice
GuideWide open dispersed desert camping. FS-558 runs for several miles south of HWY-285. We stayed closer to the highway which is safer without 4WD. Higher clearance is helpful due to ruts in the road. There's a fair amount of trash, but plenty of spots without. Bummer that locals use public land as their private dumping area. The nights were quiet, other than occasionally coyote calls, which add to the ambiance. We had a few thousand acres all to ourselves for four nights while climbing on nearby El Rito walls.
GuideWe spent a few nights in the dispersed area near Hopewell . We rolled in at 5 and had plenty of sites to choose from. We chose one of the lower areas, with one large open space surrounded by smaller sites. There were many more up the road, and there was constant traffic headed uphill until about 9PM. Once the traffic stopped it was very quiet, only the cattle calling through the trees. It rained for several hours and our spot stayed solid. Some offshoot roads were rutted out. The main road had minimal rocks and holes, didn't get very muddy. TMobile\Google mobile service worked well enough. Verizon did not work.
ScoutThere were plenty of available campsites the majority of which had access to the river. It was relaxing with the exception of the occasional can am with music blaring. The road is rough in some spots but I never saw a section a car wouldn’t be able to do.
LegendWe had no problem getting to these sites with our Chevy camper van. Road is bumpy and rutted but nothing your average passenger car couldn’t get to (IMO). There are about 4-5 sites right at this pin for Del Norte dispersed. Most were filled when we got here on a Tuesday afternoon in May. They were also pretty close together and not too private. We continued on for prob less than a mile and there were LOTS of private, beautiful sites right on the river, starting just after the coal creek trailhead turn off. So so beautiful and peaceful. We camped right after the Coal Creek Trailhead turn off and it was one of the best sites in our opinion. You could continue about another mile beyond that and find lots of sites. You will then come to a “high clearance vehicle” needed sign and the road does get a bit more rough but not considerably and we felt it was still very passable in a car. Another mile beyond the high clearance sign you come to an East Fork Ranch sign denoting private property for the next five miles, so prob best to find your spot before here. River was cold and rushing with snow melt but lovely to camp by! We would for sure come back again.
ScoutIncredible spot, river is incredibly cold even in August. Most sites have river access: Wildlife is abundant. Air is cool. One of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever camped at. The only downside? The F’n ATVS. Disrespectful to other campers and stir up SO much dust, also just out right dangerous? Because of this the road is full of washboards. Folks out here apparently also do not care to pick up their trash or have any common curtesy of how to leave a campsite. Very unfortunate:( PSA: clean up your trash and pack out your used toilet paper…. 🤢 We stayed at 3 different sites. Sites get better the further along you go, road is rough but nothing a standard 4x4 vehicle can’t handle. (We have a Toyota Tacoma) There are hiking trails/ ATV trails too. We will definitely be back. Great spot during the week when there’s less traffic!
RangerIt can be a little bumpy going in, but its well worth it. We did alright in a HHR. We camped right on the river, got some amazing starlight, and one of the coldest nights of our adventure. (remember you're in the rockies so bundle up) Our neighbor dog was a klepto and stole ALL our pupper's bowls and toys in the night. :P The site marked is only the first one, there are a ton of sites, just keep going up the mountain. There is one in particular called Stunner Campground that is also free; it was our original desitination, it was just a long haul up that hill. There's plenty of exploring and fishing opportunities all along this road.
Here's a clip of the road in and a little of the site itself.
GuideI came here at the height of summer and had no problems finding a site, but I feel like I got lucky! This area is popular with kayakers and the roads leading to this area are busy with trailers. Seems a given, since it’s close to the river!
I found a site right next to the Rio and even though it was muddy, I still appreciated being able to get in to cool down a bit. My site had plenty of room for my truck and hub tent. Only real complaint is the trash the previous campers left behind.
Days were hot as they are in NM but the nights were pleasant. People were having a good time but were chill at night, something I always appreciate at free sites.
Roads were good and any vehicle can make it. Just go slow as usual! I had a sparse cell signal but didn’t want it anyway.
Clean bathrooms and plenty of sites- maybe 12 or so?- lots of space to spread out. A great option for camping along the Rio.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Los Ojos, New Mexico, where nature's tranquility meets the freedom of the outdoors. With a variety of options available, campers can enjoy stunning landscapes and a sense of adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Los Ojos, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Los Ojos, NM is Dispersed Camping Near Hopewell Lake with a 5-star rating from 2 reviews.
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