Colorado Indecision--Where to go this week?
We are new to Colorado and used to boondocking in Arizona. Our 22 ft. Spirit is great on backroads that are dirt or gravel but the roads need to be fairly well graded. I have been researching for over...
Forum Discussion
I'm north of you, in Loveland. Larimer County has an abundance of dispersed camping areas. As mentioned in other posts, the Red Feather Lakes area offers dispersed camping as well as Dowdy Lake, which is open all year. West of Red Feather along the Deadman Road, as well as south along the Manhattan Rd, there's also dispersed camping areas. Deadman Road does close in the winter, but the Manhattan Rd is open all year, and eventually takes you down to Rustic in the Poudre Canyon.
And speaking of the Poudre Canyon, there's a wealth of opportunities off CO 14 in the Poudre Canyon area. Besides a variety of USFS campgrounds, there's dispersed camping along the Pingree Park Rd, the Long Draw Rd, and the Laramie River Rd. The Laramie River Valley is particularly beautiful with access to the trails of the Rawah Wilderness Area to the west. The Tunnel CG is very popular in that area, but there's lots of dispersed camping, heading up toward Glendevey and the Hohnholz Ranch area, and access to Rawah trails. The Long Draw Rd gets you access to the northern, remote parts of RMNP. With the exception of the Pingree Park Rd, however, Long Draw and Laramie River Roads close in the winter since they are not plowed. This area of Larimer County is fairly remote, and not as heavily used as some of the lower reaches of the Poudre Canyon. It's popular, just that a lot of folks don't take the time to get that far up the canyon, and stick to the lower areas.
You can also drop over Cameron Pass and go into Jackson County, which opens up a whole 'nuther world for ya! Just west of Cameron is the Colorado State Forest SP, and Ranger Lakes CG. They do keep Ranger Lakes open as long as they can, particularly during hunting season, but it does close due to heavy snow in that area. There's also, believe it or not, a KOA CG in Gould. It's not what it used to be, beetle kill got the trees and they were all cut down, but it's still there. There's also access to several USFS campgrounds in that area as well as dispersed camping around the SP.
I mention road names, something to be aware of...Larimer County went to a system of NAMING roads and not just route/fire road numbers several years ago. Many maps will still have numbers for roads, but the actual SIGNS for the roads will have the road names.
And speaking of the Poudre Canyon, there's a wealth of opportunities off CO 14 in the Poudre Canyon area. Besides a variety of USFS campgrounds, there's dispersed camping along the Pingree Park Rd, the Long Draw Rd, and the Laramie River Rd. The Laramie River Valley is particularly beautiful with access to the trails of the Rawah Wilderness Area to the west. The Tunnel CG is very popular in that area, but there's lots of dispersed camping, heading up toward Glendevey and the Hohnholz Ranch area, and access to Rawah trails. The Long Draw Rd gets you access to the northern, remote parts of RMNP. With the exception of the Pingree Park Rd, however, Long Draw and Laramie River Roads close in the winter since they are not plowed. This area of Larimer County is fairly remote, and not as heavily used as some of the lower reaches of the Poudre Canyon. It's popular, just that a lot of folks don't take the time to get that far up the canyon, and stick to the lower areas.
You can also drop over Cameron Pass and go into Jackson County, which opens up a whole 'nuther world for ya! Just west of Cameron is the Colorado State Forest SP, and Ranger Lakes CG. They do keep Ranger Lakes open as long as they can, particularly during hunting season, but it does close due to heavy snow in that area. There's also, believe it or not, a KOA CG in Gould. It's not what it used to be, beetle kill got the trees and they were all cut down, but it's still there. There's also access to several USFS campgrounds in that area as well as dispersed camping around the SP.
I mention road names, something to be aware of...Larimer County went to a system of NAMING roads and not just route/fire road numbers several years ago. Many maps will still have numbers for roads, but the actual SIGNS for the roads will have the road names.
