Gateway Recreation Area Dispersed, BLM

Took my 2wd hatchback all the way up the canyon. Could've gone further but needed to be in Gateway early next morning. The road didn't have clearance issues for me but was pretty washboardy going up.

I stayed here at the beginning of June before it got too hot. I will say it was in the mid 90s when I arrived, but nights cooled down considerably and were into the 60s. I had one of the bigger campsites, and was surprised to find that even during memorial day weekend there wasn’t a lot of traffic coming or going. I saw a few other cars and maybe one otherfamily that set up camp. Plenty of shade in the site that I had, which is one of the first so you’ll drive onto once you’re up into the canyon area. I had decent cell service the entire time, and the road into and out of the camping area was really nice so any vehicle can make it. I didn’t venture too far away from the main camping areas, but did so on foot. I didn’t see any significant road issues. On the way out of the area, I was led through a herd of cattle by sixth generation cattle ranchers— One of the coolest things that happened during the entire trip. Views are amazing, the sunset was awesome every night, and the sunrise is equally as spectacular. The only sad part about these dispersed camping sites is that more and more people will find them. The only issue that I had, and a big one, is that there were broken beer bottles all over the side. Just a reminder to police yourselves so the rest of us can enjoy it without remnants of stupidity.

I arrived in Grand Junction with intentions of seeing a buddy, but when he was not there I had to find a place to camp out in a hurry. Luckily I found this place thanks to The Dyrt!

There is a long pavement road that takes you down further than I wanted to travel. There were numerous locations that I passed up, first there was a narrow area surrounded by cliff face and some trees, further on down there was canyon land. Many of the spots in the canyon area were already taken by other campers, some of the locations they had seem to have spectacular views.

A couple miles into the canyon land I decided to pull off to the right and set up shop there. This place gets completely dark at night and the stars will come out and shine if the sky is clear. It does tend to get a little windy if you are near the canyon edge.

There is no bathroom or even running water that I've seen. There seems to have been a creek a long time ago but the water has since dried up and is no longer flowing. Not much snow in the area. 4x4 is not necessary. I had decent connection (AT&T) which was spotty at times, and my handheld radio picked up several stations as well.

Overall I would definitely return again next time I am visiting Grand Junction or the National Monument.