Endless dirt roads to explore

Great little campground up the Poudre. My kids, my lab and I took in a show from the late, great Justin Townes Earle at the Mishiwaka and needed a place to crash for the weekend. Found this gem a number of miles up the road and were really pleased. We had a moose and her baby visit our camper first thing the next morning. We were able to get on bikes and explore the endless dirt roads that spoke off in all directions. Little creeks abound. 

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Quiet and out of the way

Full disclosure, I'm not 100% on the long/latt I have provided here. I am doing this after our visit and think this is the correct spot. 

Cool spot up a dirt road on the way towards the Spence Trial Lawyers' College. We were on a loop by ourselves with a bathroom nearby, kinda surprising since it was dispersed. Just a 100 yards or so from a beautiful river. We never saw another person. 

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Starter Camping

This is a pretty, but small lake. It's nice to be able to camp so close to the lake, but ultimately you are shoulder to shoulder with your neighbors and your are fully exposed to the wind and sun. The Summer is packed. Winter you will be by yourself. 

Perhaps this is nice if you have kids, want to allow them on the lake but in close view, and are new to camping. But ultimately, this is not that great of a place. 

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Vedauwoo Dispersed

This review is for the abundant dispersed camping, not the two official camping loops.

I love this place. With an asterisk. This seven mile dirt road is filled with sprouts of other dirt roads that is stunningly beautiful and fairly quiet. Beautiful spots to camp and you can tuck yourself away behind a rock formation and far from your neighbors. 

Great rock formations for climbing, mountain biking, abundant Aspen trees for your hammock and right on the edge of Curt Gowdy State Park, which has a broad network of wonderfully maintained mountain bike and hiking trails and plenty of motorized and non motorized water sports. Showers and flush toilet bathrooms and a camp store can be found in here in non-COVID days. 

The animal life is great too. We've had moose and pronghorn deer right at our campsite. And that gets me to…the asterisks. Not only are moose around, but so are mice. In 2 of my 7 visits here we have taken on mice. The last time it was a lot of mice. I mean a lot of mice. I now carry mouse traps with me because of this place. We had tens of mice inside our camper for two days straight. Eating our food and gnawing on wood. Ended up bringing some of them home with us too. The cat got 3. I trapped another 5. Our garbage can was like a Civil War photograph for mice. Also, this place has become popular and can get a little overrun on the weekends with people running generators, shooting shotguns and running around on OHVs. Hard to be more annoying. Last, Wyoming is synonymous with wind. So be prepared for that possibility.

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We were by ourselves that night

Not far from Great Sand Dunes NP, this state park has some very nice spots and a easy hike to the falls. We were there the last ski day of the year in April and we had the entire campground to ourselves. Maybe that's why I liked it so much. :)

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Knuckleheads Everywhere

I don't know what it was about this campground, but we were surrounded by lowlander knuckleheads who were loud, obnoxious (apparently it was the time for everyone in one family to get a haircut!) and throwing and letting trash blow everywhere. Dogs running wild and kids on little dirtbikes doing donuts. I wouldn't go back. I was able to pull up stakes and spend the day doing some 4WD roads that got me a lot of peace and serenity. That's what the pics I uploaded represent. 

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The Long and Winding Road

Heading north out of Steamboat towards Strawberry Park, you can peel off on to 38 and start heading up. Lots of opportunities to find a spot far from everyone else. It takes quite a bit of time to get to town or Strawberry Park, so the lower you are the better for that. At the top of Buffalo Pass are a number of good little lakes. They were quite buggy when I was there. Good hiking and mountain biking throughout the forest. A few motorcycles to watch for. 

The road up got rough and really did a number on my top mounted bike racks. I wouldn't take anything more than a teardrop or Airstream Basecamp up. 

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This is what I'm talking about.

Quiet and secluded. The previous reviewer did a great job talking about details and she and I were in slightly different locations. I'll let her words stand. For me a sense of tranquility washed over me as I sat by the river for hours sipping on a few well-earned beers. I wish I had spent more than one night here but I was on a bike headed to Monticello, Utah.

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Dispersed in Rabbit Valley

This is a good, strong 4WD space only. There are some campsites closer to the highway, but if you are intrepid you can travel a little further down and really nestle into some rocks in a small canyon. This is all about having access to some of the best MTB trails in Colorado and Utah. 

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A parking lot, a river and a great view

No frills. This was pretty much a gravel parking lot. We wedged our little camper in between a few scrub trees and suddenly felt secluded. A nice, free option far away from the crowded, loud spots in the parks. Longbow arch trailhead was across the street. 

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It's all about the park

The campsites are perfectly fine. The park is stunning. 

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Beautiful Lake

Very nice camping not far from Fort Collins. Great lake for non-motorized boats. 

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Far from the crowds, far from ordinary

Beautiful Aspen groves surround you as you roll on endlessly down well maintained dirt roads. I've put in specific coordinates, but you can follow any of these FS roads after you pass through the "town" of Columbine. I prefer to go up to the right along 550. But you can't go wrong. 

Free range sheep are being guarded by Great Pyreneese dogs, Moose and Pronghorn are all abundant. Bears too, so lock it all up. 

Great easy MTB on the roads and some smaller trails.

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Not what it used to be

Well north of Steamboat Springs, up a beautiful valley and on a nice man-made lake. The sites are on top of each other and the beetle kill of the pines have made this a bit barren looking. Campsite can get loud with lots of family stuff going on. The lake is nice for a canoe and paddle board. Good launching point for hikes and MTB.

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Mountain Bikers Paradise

Hey, if you are not mountain biking, you probably won't go this far into the desert. That said, free boondocking at the foot of some of the best mountain biking in Colorado isn't bad. I've stayed here multiple times and usually find a quiet space off the many dirt roads. Stargaze at night, ride straight from your campsite during the day. 

Pro tip: The Hot Tomato Pizza back in town is a great oasis. 

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Camping on the River

This was a very pleasant surprise. I normally do not go to campsites (that is put in for context) but was passing through on a business trip and needed a place with electric hookups. After a Harvest Host disaster I found this. Like I said, very pleasantly surprised. While there were a lot of campers who seemed to be setting up elaborate sites with everything you would need to live there for a year (laundry lines, flag poles, pens for their dog), I was able to get a spot that backed right up to the beautiful river and had plenty of space on all sides. The campsite was surprisingly quiet for how large it was. The sunset paddle boarding on the river was a real treat. Kinda cool to say you SUP'd from South Dakota to Nebraska with a beer on the board. 

Bathrooms were clean and had showers. Garbage and recycling on premises. AT&T signal was strong.

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This is camping?

I was up in the Oak Woods Campground. This was pretty much an open field with people crammed together. One of my neighbors sat and watched a certain cable news channel on a giant outdoor TV hooked up to their bus from 8am until 10p. I can tell you that a TV host named Tucker was very angry that night. Another "camper" had set up a giant playground, penned in areas for their multiple dogs, and had a bouncy castle set up for their daughter…that was running off of a very loud generator all day. The whole thing was lit up with string lights like it was an airport runway and gave the entire campground a carnival feel. WTF?  Unfortunately for your enjoyment, I deleted the video I took of the scene. Lucky for you, I still have a photograph of it. 

I had reserved 2 nights. I left at 6am after one pathetic night and went and stayed at a Harvest Host instead. 

Leave no trace (and set up no carnivals).

Camping just steps from downtown

Context is everything. This is a campground right at the edge of town, this is not a off-in-the-wilderness location. If you want to camp steps from top class restaurants and bars, you can't beat this place.

After four days on the road in very remote locations, our goal was to not cook or have to start the car even once and have a cheap place to stay in Telluride. Bingo. What a great facility. We got a great spot along the creek, deep in the trees where we could hang our hammocks, and close to the bridge into town. Showers and bathrooms were clean and safe to use in these days of COVID. 

Only downside was the clumsy and time consuming process to reserve online. Well worth it.

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Unique and Amazing

First thing is first, this is a place where clothing is optional. 

Valley View is a large swath of land with about 12 beautiful pools and about 20+ camping spots. You need to reserve well in advance as the demand is much higher than the capacity. 

The camp spots themselves are not all that great, though perfectly suitable. Most are exposed (interesting choice of words considering the naturist aspect of the place) and about 1/3 have a great view of the expansive valley below (hence the name). 

The gem here is the wonderful landscape and the soaking pools throughout. I can't speak highly enough about the pools, the overall vibe and the expansive views. But this place is not for everyone. You need to be able to chill and relax and be cool with nudity. If you meet that criteria, you just found your new favorite place.

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Reverend's Ridge

There are multiple camping areas in here, from giant RV to backpack access only. This is for Reverend's Ridge. 

The good and the bad is that it is close to Denver/Golden/Boulder and can feel far away. This would be a really good spot with kids or first time campers who don't want to spend hours in the car. But that brings problems as well. Lots of newbies who don't quite get the etiquette side of things. Spots are close together and many of the campers the night we were there thought this was a great place to drink, talk and run generators until 1am. Add in a few barking dogs first AM, it was not my favorite spot. 

Electric hookup and very large and clean showers available (though they were closed for COVID). I'll go back to what I said before, this is a great spot for those who are new to camping, have families and want easy access to bathrooms and showers.

Leave no trace.