Black Canyon BLM

Most sites will accommodate tents or campervans only, but we were lucky and found a spot for our 31ft Class A near the entrance just off the road leading to the NP (SH 347) since a fellow camper volunteered and moved his small van to another spot so we could use the only site that our RV fit in. Sites are pretty unlevel but nothing that could not be addressed with some leveling blocks. Stayed over memorial day weekend, so the place was pretty busy (plenty of space when you drive down the dirt roads, but off road vehicles only!) and some folks thought it's a great idea to crank up the radio at 1am. Other than that great people around. Awesome views down south towards snow covered mountains

Site is very convenient to the Black Canyon National Park, gate is a mile or so up the road. There is a pretty long steady uphill climb to above 8,000’ to get to it. Keep the elevation in mind if depending on propane alone for your fridge.
We accessed the site easy enough with our 38’ travel trailer and were able to turn around at the road. Would not advise attempting to venture any further back with anything not for off road. There was what looked to be an abandoned RV backed into one of the sites.
We stayed at the end of October and did have lots of hunters coming in and off loading ATVs starting around 5 am.
The view was pretty nice of the San Juan Mtns in the distance. Would stay again if in the area.

Views are great. Surfaces are uneven. There are only two spots ideal for big rigs 30-36’ ft so get here early enough to take them since this is the closest BLM land right before the park. It tends to become a popular spot. The two spots I’m referring to are to your immediate right once you enter.

After that. There are plenty of spots (around 15) for small camper vans but please, if you are in a camper van. Be kind enough to leave the two large sites for bigger rigs. Enjoy!

We stayed in the first spot on the right as soon as you pull in. It had an amazing view of the mountains, but was extremely unlevel.

We were able to use leveling blocks to get “close enough” and all was going well until around 10 at night. Winds started picking up and the whole camper was shaking. Neither my wife or I got much sleep due to the winds shaking our camper all night.

Pros:

• incredibly close to Gunnison National Park, about a mile away from the entrance.
• insanely beautiful Mountain View’s, at least from our site.
• lots of available sites if you arrive early-ish in the day, around 2 or 3pm.

Cons:

• few good sites for trailers/RVs. We were able to get one right by the entrance to the campground, and there looked to be another 1-2 good trailer spots in that area, but that’s all we were able to find.
• other spots were accessible further back down various roads but due to recent rains were inaccessible to low clearance vehicles or anyone with a trailer.

TL;DR: we would absolutely stay here again, but with a trailer we’d have to get here early enough to secure a spot that we can fit into/will be level enough, otherwise would have to stay in the park. If we were tent camping, there are many more options.

This campsite is about a 10 minute drive from Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It has spectacular views and sunsets. The sites overall are REALLY un-level (more so than other boon docking spots we've stayed at), and the sites are small. We are a tall 36 ft. fifth wheel and were able to find as pot tucked between two trees, but it was tight. There are a few other spots, but mostly for smaller Class Cs, Vans, or small travel trailers. It's definitely do-able for a big rig, but always scout it out first.

We would stay here again, but it wouldn't be our first pick.

Dan & Jaclyn are world travelers, having kicked the dirt in over 100 countries and sailed within all 7 seas. Currently, we are full-time, location independent, perpetual travelers, roaming around North America.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park campground. Anything shorter than us, would fit, but we were just a couple of feet too long. That said we hoped to utilize this location as our home base to fully explore park.

With warmer temperatures comes the melting of snow and therefore our ability to camp at unmaintained locations throughout North America. One such location was right here within walking distance to the entry gate of The Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park.

WHAT OTHERS ARE LIKLEY TO EXPERIENCE
The entry could be rutted, although with such a wide entry, our BiG RiG rode over the ruts. Not that far off the road, although with the ability to snuggle into a treed spot, your privacy is maintained. There are about 5 spots within this location, only a couple I say could hold something our size.

We chose the most forward of the available spaces due to our ability to snuggle the BiG RiG into a cozy, very private setting. The ground turned from solid to soft as I backed her into our spot. Although soft and the area had recent rains, we did sink the duel wheel in about two inches, but she never had any challenges on departure day pulling right back out of her space.

During our 4 days we were free camping, we had the park rangers stopping in about once each day that I noticed. There are no amenities here and therefore the closest toilets were the many vault toilets within the national park viewing loop road.. That said, we did have AT&T service boosted that worked without any delay each day.

SPECIALEXPEREINCE
Our particular site had a story looking, out of the way fire pit. We decided to dismantle the fire pit, turning the ground back to its original condition. We then built a solid, better positioned fire pit for many others to utilize long after we have departed.

We found ourselves Jeeping, hiking and exploring our immediate grounds. Most afternoons, we walked into the park and played on the cliff edge boulders, as boys do. Most evenings, we were settled back within our cozy spot with a raging fire taking us late into the night.

RATING - CAMPING MET OUR EXPECTATIONS

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CAMPED APRIL 2018
POSTED SEPTEMBER 2018

We were heading to Crescent Butte but decided to cut our drive short and stayed here. There are a couple dirty roads that keep going deeper but not suitable for a trailer, mostly if it’s raining. This whole area has a pretty good slope so if it rains, it can get really nasty. You can see by the old marks that people have struggled to get out of here.
Bring your blocks, I have 5 lynx levelers on the passenger side!
Descent scenery, even though we are spiked after staying in Silverton and Telluride, very different scenery here.
But the place is free, located 2 minutes away from the NP south entrance and about 10 minutes away from Hwy 50.
2 bars of LTE for Verizon works great.
Road to the park is not noisy at night, normal traffic during the day.