How tough has dispersed camping gotten? (Denver, Buena Vista: place to live, cost of, cabin)

[MuncherBier]

We lived in CO back in the 2010's. We loved car camping up in the National Forests and BLM lands. We now have the possible opportunity to move back to the Denver area. Everyone tells me how crowded it's gotten. I know areas like Crested Butte have started to regulate dispersed camping. I'm hoping to get the opinions of people who also enjoy this type of camping. Has it gotten too crowded to find sites on the weekends? I'm interested in within a few hours of Denver for a weekend trip and further out for more extended trips.

If we can head up on a Thursday, is it reasonable to find a spot somewhere?

[Spot]

[quote=MuncherBier;62795855]We lived in CO back in the 2010's. We loved car camping up in the National Forests and BLM lands. We now have the possible opportunity to move back to the Denver area. Everyone tells me how crowded it's gotten. I know areas like Crested Butte have started to regulate dispersed camping. I'm hoping to get the opinions of people who also enjoy this type of camping. Has it gotten too crowded to find sites on the weekends? I'm interested in within a few hours of Denver for a weekend trip and further out for more extended trips.

If we can head up on a Thursday, is it reasonable to find a spot somewhere?[/QUOTE]

Yes. You can usually find a spot if you go Thursday, but if you leave later in the day you will have to go further up to find it. Friday is hit or miss, and forget about going on Saturday.

The real problem isn't so much finding a spot in my opinion. The larger problem is that there are a lot of inexperienced newbies that started "camping" after COVID came along. Many of them don't understand camping etiquette. For that reason, I always seek out pretty remote campsites when I go nowadays. The people with the RTT on their Subaru will make you listed to their music all night while they break their beer bottles against the rocks. You can't shoot them (I asked a Park Ranger), so I just avoid them.

[cowboyxjon]

I guess I’ll give you an answer of “it depends” on where you go. Generally, yes, dispersed camping near Denver is hard to find on weekends -unless- you’ve got a high clearance 4WD vehicle suitable for getting to campsites that other vehicles can’t get to.

Going during the week or in fall/winter/spring (basically, once it gets colder) works well. I tend to camp closer to Denver in fall/winter/early spring because it’s easier to find a site then, and farther from Denver in summer.

And I agree with Spot, there are a lot of newbies who don’t know/don’t understand/don’t care about camping etiquette, unfortunately. I’ve cleaned up a lot of trash in the backcountry over the past two years.

[MuncherBier]

That's infuriating. One of the things we loved about camping in CO was the general respect for the environment. It was very different when we moved to the east coast and campsites are filled with broken beer bottles and shotgun shells. Sorry to hear it's getting this way out there.

[waltcolorado]

Moved from the area two years ago but I saw a lot of it driving to a cabin in Park County. Most people are respectful and understand that if they want to keep that access, they have to take care of it. Most people also were respectful with campfires (such as not having them when there was significant fire risk). But you get a small handful that need to shoot at exploding targets right in the middle of fire season, leave a smoldering camp fire, leave spent bullet shells, leave bags of trash (at least it was left in a bag). A few years ago Park county had to go clean up a somewhat remote area where multiple people had been building hunting forts.

Good for the poster who cleans up leaving areas better than they found them. Its a nice thing to preserve..

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

We spend our summers in Buena Vista and this is what we see. in some well-known areas for dispersed camping, people will park their trailer and just leave it all summer. So they have "their" spot when they come up on the weekend.

Unfortunately, with the cost of housing going sky high, there are more people squatting all over the place just to have a place to live. Some get chased out and some don't. It's like coming across a homeless encampment out in the middle of nowhere.

[Klassyhk]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

I’ve cleaned up a lot of trash in the backcountry over the past two years.

Thank you so much for being one of those people. I'm not a camper but I am an avid hiker. I travel a lot for work or family reasons to different states. I usually try to hike at least once wherever I visit: having family in Denver means I'm there about twice a year. I never get to the backcountry. Nevertheless, what you're doing is appreciated by all who love and respect the beauty of nature.

[Phil P]

People were more trashy back in the day than they are now, there's just way more people outside in CO than there used to be. There's hundreds of great free camping spots. Check out Buffalo Peaks near Buena Vista, went there 4th of July in 2020 and it wasn't even full for being free.

Basically ignore the instagram spots, 14ers, and I 70 and there's spots all over.

[interloper1138]

Originally Posted by Phil P

4th of July in 2020.

Not a lot of people were flying in from out-of-state in the summer of 2020. Plenty of people didn't feel safe with flying at that point due to COVID.

I hiked the Buffalo Peaks on a Sunday (camped the night before) late this past summer and while it wasn't exactly 'crowded' near my camp site, it certainly wasn't deserted.

If OP wants mountain solitude not too terribly far from Denver, the western side of the Sangre de Cristos (except the Crestone and Mt. Blanca areas) are where to look. Just bring your bug spray.

[MuncherBier]

Originally Posted by interloper1138

Just bring your bug spray.

What? We're moving back to Colorado to get away from the mosquitos! I don't remember any stinking bugs out there.