Piney Crossing Primitive Campground - CLOSED

I love this campsite because it is so close to Piney River Ranch which has so many activities you can do. The campsite itself was very big and close to the river.

Lots of sites along the road, as well as Red Sandstone Road. Great views all around, especially sunsets because you are facing west. The dirt road up is decently long, but can be done in most 2wd cars. High clearance vehicles preferred, but my friend took his Toyota Camry and it did (mostly) fine. We picked a dispersed spot on the side of the road.

So I am not sure if this is still a “campground” as of 2019. It is no longer marked on the forest service map for 2019. Regardless, there’s still primitive/dispersed camping in the area. I stayed at one of the primitive sites last fall and spent most of my time in Piney River Ranch. There was a wedding at the ranch when we were there, and we didn’t want to intrude on it so I don’t know much of what the ranch has to offer. I do know that there’s a restaurant and a store, as well as cabins. My guess is that there is a wedding there almost every weekend summer-fall, so that is something to take into account if you come here for the ranch.

You are allowed to hike in the ranch during weddings, so that is what we did. We hiked the trail to the left of Piney Lake. It is a great trail to do in the fall because it goes through numerous aspen groves. We took the trail all the way to a waterfall area, but the trail does continue further to Upper Piney Lake. The trail became hard to follow after the waterfall area though, so we turned back.

As for the drive up to the ranch and camping sites, it’s about 45 minutes on a dirt road from Vail. It is a beautiful drive, but it is slow. The road is also in pretty good condition - I’d say a 2wd car can do this drive if the road is dry.