Cimarrona Campground

We were just taking a Sunday drive to see the changing Aspens and at the end of the road, found this beautiful campground!

We were there late September and there were a couple campers there. No fee when there are limited services (no camp host, water may be off).

The majority of the sites are small, suitable for a tent or van but there are a few sites a larger rig could fit into but be aware of overhead clearance.

There is a little stream that can be accessed behind some of the sites and a trailhead is just a walk down the road. Vault toilets and water via a handpump.

The 20 mile road to get here is in surprisingly good condition (at least when we went in the fall after a summer with a lot of rain)!

We made a wrong turn and instead of going toward Lake City from South Fork (I'm the navigator and completely accept fault) we went over Wolf Creek Pass and ended up in Pagosa Springs. I consulted my book "The Wright Guide to Free and Low Cost Campgrounds" and we headed toward Bridge campground in the San Juan National Forest. They were closed. We went on to Williams Creek campground, also closed. We went further to Teal campground where the camp host told us the camp would be closed in the morning but down the road at Cimmarona campground, they would stay open even though the camp host would leave. This is where I decided that sometimes a wrong turn takes you to the right place. It's beautiful. No hookups and the only water is from a spring with a hand pump that is quite a workout and is easier with 2 people. The view is breath taking. There is no cell service at all so you are off the grid but it is worth it. Camp hosts kept the vault toilets spotless! I paid $11 (half price with my federal senior pass) for the last official open night but after that it was free. We bought some firewood ($7/bundle) and had a nice campfire. There is a creek that we tried to fish but caught nothing.
For breakfast I made a one skillet meal on the stove.
With a little olive oil in skillet, start to cook about a half an onion either diced or sliced. I bought a $1 packet of dehydrated hash browns to try. Put them in a bowl with 1 c. boiling water to rehydrate, then add them to the oil/onion in the skillet. While this is browning, I diced some Canadian bacon and tossed that in. Scramble 2 eggs per person in a bowl with a little milk. When hash browns are cooked to your liking, put them on the plates and pour the eggs into the skillet. It won't take them long to cook, then put them on plates and your breakfast is ready!

This nice little campground at the base of Cimarrona Mountain offers a natural setting in the aspens and pines. The 25 mile gravel road up can be washboard and mud, but they keep it in pretty good shape. The loop can be potholed and rutted from water runoff. About one third of the sites would fit my 30 ft motorhome with leveling required. Most sites are best for tent camping. There are pit toilets and a hand pump well. I stayed here late in the season when the other campgrounds had closed, so this one was free as was the horse camp up the road. I think it's $20 in season. I've stayed in the spring and July 4th and it's always beautiful. I got a picture of a big owl in the surrounding woods.
You can walk from your site to the Cimarrona trailhead and follow the trail to the top, but you don't have to go that high to get wonderful views. Williams Creek trail takes off from the horse camp is is best suited to horseback. Poison trailhead is at the end of Poison Road and a 45 minute hike takes you into the Weminuche Valley with beautiful views of surrounding mountains and aspen groves. A 5 hour hike takes you to Granite Lake and is best done on horseback. Poison has been taken over by outfitters and is chewed up by horse hooves. There is free camping along Poison Road.
No cell service here. You'll have to enjoy the best Colorado has to offer in this remote setting. Fall is the best time to be here. Usually the last week in September.