Boondocking I-70 in Colorado?

KazooTom wrote:
I have checked the Nat. Forest campground (Heaton Bay) and found it to be booked up, both electric and non electric for my size rig. I will keep checking in case of cancellations.

Leadville may be a possible alternative for us. I'll have to check on availability there too.

Can anyone advise if Colorado allows overnighting in the highway rest areas and welcome centers? If my figuring is correct we will be dropping into Colorado on I-76 at Julesburg late in the day. Looks like a nice spot to sleep for the night.

If you head for Leadville, there are a couple of commercial campgrounds in the city, and some nice Forest Service campgrounds around Turquoise Lake. While they do fill up with reservations on the weekends (at least in August), I had no problem finding sites during the week.

I've also stayed at Camp Hale...

Off Pavement wrote:
If you don't mind a short drive, why not stay where the Army's famed 10th Mountain Division trained during WW2 at Camp Hale?

Other than the NFS CG, virtually all of the valley floor around Camp Hale was closed to camping when we were there last year. Big cleanup project involving both asbestos and unexploded munitions. We haven't been by there this spring to see if the closure is still in place, so a call to the FS might be warranted.

It's a bit of a grunt out of Minturn heading south. If you do want to go that way, Hornsilver NFS CG is before you get all the way to Camp Hale. Little in the way of trees, but it is at 8700'so it doesn't get real warm. First come first served, no reservations.

Depending on what days you will be there, you might check Sylvan Lake SP. They have some spotty days open during the week in July. Again no hookups, but at 8500'.

Maybe someone else with more up to date info can chime in here, but there used to be dispersed camping on the Shrine Pass Road off the top of Vail Pass. I don't know the current conditions of the road either. But something to investigate. You'd be around 11,000' so a/c would definitely not be needed.

We have no problem at all spending money for an RV park site. Problem is that there are none available in the area we want to travel. Our first choice was Tiger Run but they are sold out. Then we checked in Leadville, sold out for our dates. Even checked national forest in Frisco, also sold out.

So you understand, we're not really trying to avoid a campground, just that there is no space available for our dates.

2gypsies wrote:
This site says no parking overnight at rest areas in Colorado:

https://www.codot.gov/travel/state-highway-rest-areas

Can't you splurge and go to a RV park for a night? :)

What is the exact date you need a site for one night?

You said Thursday at end of July so I chose July 28 at Heaton Bay national forest campground and checked on the reservation site. There are many available for that one night and if you could get there on Wednesday, you could have two nights. Naturally, Friday is pretty well taken.

July 28 - Site 1, 7, 13, 17, 18, 20, 25, 67, 68, 70, and many more.

Are you coming in a different date from the 28th?

I also rechecked Heaton Bay but could not find any electric sites available. We made the decision to use Gore Creek NFS campground at the east side of Vail. It is dry camping only, but that's ok with us. Made a reservation for Thursday (28th). Friday thru the weekend is booked up, BUT, there are 4 first come first served sites at the campground. We'll check with the host upon arrival to see if we can secure one of those for the second night. Since we would be dry camping anyway, this makes sense as it is only a mile or so from my brother in laws house.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions:)